Robin PottratzIs the Yankee spending spree financially irresponsible?
December 15th 2008 05:12
Anyone that is a fan of Major League Baseball is aware that the New York Yankees have a habit of using their presumably unlimited financial resources in order to purchase the best free agents every off-season in an attempt to for lack of a better term "buy a championship." Their attempts have been futile as they have not won a championship since 2000, and with every year of the "drought," they seem to spend more and more. From Jason Giambi to Alex Rodriguez to Roger Clemens to Andy Pettite, the Yankees annual visit to the free agent flea market seems to do little more then add big names and smaller results.
This year was presumably going to be different for many reasons. The first is that this year was the first time in thirteen seasons that the New York Yankees hadn't made the playoffs. Everyone assumed that the empire of Steinbrenner would go crazy at the thought of not only not winning the World Series, but not even making the playoffs. However, this year was supposed to be different for another reason: the Wall Street crisis has forced most business organizations (sports teams included) to be more conservative with their revenue. In fact, the main topic in the sports media headed into the MLB Winter Meetings was how the economy would impact the dollar amounts in free agent signings. However, this past Wednesday, the New York Yankees put all doubts about whether free agent contracts would be more reasonable and financially careful in the future.
The biggest free agent on the market was former Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia was coming off of a more than impressive stay with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he almost single-handedly got them into the post-season. On Wednesday, the New York Yankees signed Sabathia to a contract of 7 years that is worth $161 million dollars. It is the largest contract for a pitcher in Major League Baseball history and the fourth largest baseball contract ever. At this point, the New York Yankees now have handed out the three largest active contracts in baseball (Sabathia $161 million, Derek Jeter $180 million, Alex Rodriguez $275 million). The enormity of the Sabathia contract has led some people, namely the Florida Marlins President Dave Samson to criticize the Yankees for being financially irresponsible as well as hurting the parity in baseball.
Samson's quote in the Palm Beach Post:
"I very much feel like the producer of an independent film trying to compete with a big-budget studio blockbuster,'' Samson said. "That's hard. The only way to do it is to have a low-budget film that is actually good that people will watch. We are very much like Juno going up against The Dark Knight.''
That huge Sabathia contract would have been enough for most teams, but not for the Yankees. On Friday they went out and signed the second biggest pitcher on the free agent market, former Blue Jay A.J. Burnett, to a 5 year deal worth $80 million dollars. In a span of three days, the Yankees agreed to take on $39 million dollars of yearly salary on top of their already top tier payroll.
The biggest excuse that has been made for the Yankees is that they are opening the new Yankee Stadium so they need big names in order to fill the seats of their new home (which is complete with a Hard Rock Cafe by the way). It is my personal opinion that in our new economy where people are being laid off on a daily basis and unemployment is the highest it has been in nearly 30 years the spending spree of the Yankees is unbelievable and financially irresponsible. It appears that the desire to buy a championship has overrode any form of common sense that may exist in the freak show that is the New York Yankee organization led by the new Czar Hank Steinbrenner.
No matter what my opinion is, I know that the excessive and foolish spending of the New York Yankees will not cease anytime in the near future. It is sad because parity in baseball is dissipating at an incredibly fast rate and these new free agent signings are only adding to the dilution. However, the greatest irony that I see in all of this is that the New York Yankees can't seem to figure out that a championship cannot be bought. A championship team needs to be created from within, with a combination of free agent signings as well as homegrown talent. Until the Yankees grasp that, the drought will continue...but along with the drought so will exist, the unlimited pocketbook.
This year was presumably going to be different for many reasons. The first is that this year was the first time in thirteen seasons that the New York Yankees hadn't made the playoffs. Everyone assumed that the empire of Steinbrenner would go crazy at the thought of not only not winning the World Series, but not even making the playoffs. However, this year was supposed to be different for another reason: the Wall Street crisis has forced most business organizations (sports teams included) to be more conservative with their revenue. In fact, the main topic in the sports media headed into the MLB Winter Meetings was how the economy would impact the dollar amounts in free agent signings. However, this past Wednesday, the New York Yankees put all doubts about whether free agent contracts would be more reasonable and financially careful in the future.
The biggest free agent on the market was former Cy Young Award winner C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia was coming off of a more than impressive stay with the Milwaukee Brewers, where he almost single-handedly got them into the post-season. On Wednesday, the New York Yankees signed Sabathia to a contract of 7 years that is worth $161 million dollars. It is the largest contract for a pitcher in Major League Baseball history and the fourth largest baseball contract ever. At this point, the New York Yankees now have handed out the three largest active contracts in baseball (Sabathia $161 million, Derek Jeter $180 million, Alex Rodriguez $275 million). The enormity of the Sabathia contract has led some people, namely the Florida Marlins President Dave Samson to criticize the Yankees for being financially irresponsible as well as hurting the parity in baseball.
Samson's quote in the Palm Beach Post:
"I very much feel like the producer of an independent film trying to compete with a big-budget studio blockbuster,'' Samson said. "That's hard. The only way to do it is to have a low-budget film that is actually good that people will watch. We are very much like Juno going up against The Dark Knight.''
That huge Sabathia contract would have been enough for most teams, but not for the Yankees. On Friday they went out and signed the second biggest pitcher on the free agent market, former Blue Jay A.J. Burnett, to a 5 year deal worth $80 million dollars. In a span of three days, the Yankees agreed to take on $39 million dollars of yearly salary on top of their already top tier payroll.
The biggest excuse that has been made for the Yankees is that they are opening the new Yankee Stadium so they need big names in order to fill the seats of their new home (which is complete with a Hard Rock Cafe by the way). It is my personal opinion that in our new economy where people are being laid off on a daily basis and unemployment is the highest it has been in nearly 30 years the spending spree of the Yankees is unbelievable and financially irresponsible. It appears that the desire to buy a championship has overrode any form of common sense that may exist in the freak show that is the New York Yankee organization led by the new Czar Hank Steinbrenner.
No matter what my opinion is, I know that the excessive and foolish spending of the New York Yankees will not cease anytime in the near future. It is sad because parity in baseball is dissipating at an incredibly fast rate and these new free agent signings are only adding to the dilution. However, the greatest irony that I see in all of this is that the New York Yankees can't seem to figure out that a championship cannot be bought. A championship team needs to be created from within, with a combination of free agent signings as well as homegrown talent. Until the Yankees grasp that, the drought will continue...but along with the drought so will exist, the unlimited pocketbook.
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