Tanaka is a Yankee!

[Behindenemylines]

I respect the way the Rays and A's do business and create their teams. The year the $pankees win a title without having the highest payroll in the AL is the day I will put the name to rest. Any other team that made the mistakes they have made putting their team together over the last few years would have years like the Sox had in 2012. Their blank check policy ensures that they can fix any problem and make the playoffs every year. I think they have not been able to buy their way to the playoffs twice in the last twenty years. You think if Roberts gets hurt or Johnson flops at 3B that they won't reach for the check book again.

[jacksonianmarch]

Calling them $pankees makes you sound immature and ignorant

[a700hitter]

Calling them $pankees makes you sound immature and ignorant

I prefer calling them the Skankees

[rjortiz]

Calling them $pankees makes you sound immature and ignorant

 

It makes him sound like an idiot, because of the Red Sox payroll size compared to the rest of the league. A Rays or A's fan would find his complaining to be laughable. As for replacing an injury by signing a free agent in the middle of the season, I wonder how big a check they would have to write. I can't imagine a player unsigned that late into the season would be any good.

 

Why is everyone surprised at the Yankees spending spree, anyway? They had $160 million come off their books.

[Bellhorn04]

Why is everyone surprised at the Yankees spending spree, anyway? They had $160 million come off their books.

 

Because they said they were gonna get under the 189 million threshold, of course!

 

Seriously, there were a lot of stories about the Yankees being determined to get under the 189. In retrospect it seems laughable. However, there were two factors that lent the story some credibility:

 

1) Supposedly, there is a big, bad new financial penalty for luxury tax payers in 2014 - the 'revenue-sharing-disqualification' penalty, or words to that effect, which some stories projected could be in the tens of millions for 2014, on top of the 50% tax.

 

2) The Yankees did seem to be trimming payroll a bit the last few years, most notably last offseason when they cut Swisher and Martin loose and made no effort to replace them.

 

The current spending spree does raise the question of why the f*** they let go of their best hitter by far.

[jacksonianmarch]

The Yankees trimmed payroll because they thought they could make the playoffs with the core they had going into last yr. So many things went wrong that they decided to scrap that plan

[Bellhorn04]

The Yankees trimmed payroll because they thought they could make the playoffs with the core they had going into last yr. So many things went wrong that they decided to scrap that plan

 

Right. And what they are doing now is making it up as they go along, don't you think?

 

If they knew they were going to bust through the 189, and they knew it was going to be all about getting back to the postseason, why the hell not pay Cano?

[a700hitter]

Right. And what they are doing now is making it up as they go along, don't you think?

 

If they knew they were going to bust through the 189, and they knew it was going to be all about getting back to the postseason, why the hell not pay Cano?

Great point.

[seabeachfred]

Because they said they were gonna get under the 189 million threshold, of course!

 

Seriously, there were a lot of stories about the Yankees being determined to get under the 189. In retrospect it seems laughable. However, there were two factors that lent the story some credibility:

 

1) Supposedly, there is a big, bad new financial penalty for luxury tax payers in 2014 - the 'revenue-sharing-disqualification' penalty, or words to that effect, which some stories projected could be in the tens of millions for 2014, on top of the 50% tax.

 

2) The Yankees did seem to be trimming payroll a bit the last few years, most notably last offseason when they cut Swisher and Martin loose and made no effort to replace them.

 

The current spending spree does raise the question of why the f*** they let go of their best hitter by far.

 

Of course that lack of spending came when the Red Sox were heading into the toilet and were not a threat. Once the Red Sox won another World Series that cost cutting, if you want to call it that, went out like the baby and the bathwater. Nowadays the Yankee brass responds to the Red Sox. That is nice to say for a change instead of the other way around. As for losing Cano, I think the Snakees forgot momentarily that Yankee fan Boras was no longer his agent. I'm convinced that if Boras was still representing Robby he would have been resigned by the Yankees

[pinstripezac]

why the hell not pay Cano

 

LOL I C this is really is really bothering U today

 

the short answer is they didn't signed him in fear of those RSP's

 

showing up again

[User Name]

Wat?

[Spitball]

The Yankees trimmed payroll because they thought they could make the playoffs with the core they had going into last yr. So many things went wrong that they decided to scrap that plan

 

The Yankees just spent $475 million on new baseball players. Going into the 2013 season, the Sox spent only $54.35 million on Victorino, Napoli, Drew, Dempster, Gomes, and parts. I see a big difference in the approaches.

[rjortiz]

The Yankees just spent $475 million on new baseball players. Going into the 2013 season, the Sox spent only $54.35 million on Victorino, Napoli, Drew, Dempster, Gomes, and parts. I see a big difference in the approaches.

 

Of course, you compared the total contract value to just the 2013 AAV.

[User Name]

475 million to just over 100 million is still quite a significant difference though.

[Spitball]

Of course, you compared the total contract value to just the 2013 AAV.

 

I did, but as UN said, there was a different approach. The Yankees spent unreal millions going into the coming season while the Sox spent on lower profile players in 2013 that brought them a championship.

 

Despite their spending, the Yankees are still old and full of question marks. Their pitching has been improved a bit by Tanaka, but their infield is questionable and their outfield is crowded with 30-something question marks. Cashman built a team that accepted very high dollar contracts while Cherington systematically built a team constructed of reasonably priced players who were well meshed to win.

 

If the Yankees don't win in 2014, Cashman should be replaced.

[Palodios]

If the Yankees don't win in 2014, Cashman should be replaced.

 

Cashman seems like he was in the same boat last year as Cherrington was in 2011 -- a guy with no money to spend, and no great solutions. Then the team's top brass blows their wad on big name players, lose a pile of first round draft picks, and hurt their own depth in the process.

 

It doesn't seem like Cashman led the charge this offseason, too splashy and messy.

[pinstripezac]

I did, but as UN said, there was a different approach. The Yankees spent unreal millions going into the coming season while the Sox spent on lower profile players in 2013 that brought them a championship.

 

Despite their spending, the Yankees are still old and full of question marks. Their pitching has been improved a bit by Tanaka, but their infield is questionable and their outfield is crowded with 30-something question marks. Cashman built a team that accepted very high dollar contracts while Cherington systematically built a team constructed of reasonably priced players who were well meshed to win.

 

If the Yankees don't win in 2014, Cashman should be replaced.

 

their OF is a definite strength

 

knocking an OF of gardner, johnny jr while rotating bethran & soriano between OF and DH

 

kinda ruins the rest of a reasonable post

[Youk Of The Nation]

their OF is a definite strength

 

knocking an OF of gardner, johnny jr while rotating bethran & soriano between OF and DH

 

kinda ruins the rest of a reasonable post

 

Soriano is a few years away from going to bed at 9PM and watching daytime court shows at high volume. His stats would probably be HOF-worthy if he hadn't lost a couple years to service in the Korean War. Beltran had a good season, but given recent history it's very reasonable to label him a "question mark". In the last five seasons, he's only played over 100 games three times, and almost all of his stats show a decline over the last six or seven seasons. He's also not getting any younger. Brett Gardner is an asset to the team in the field and not too much of a detriment to the lineup, but he's also not powering baseballs out of the park on a regular basis, despite playing in a stadium that is only slightly larger than the trunk of a Volvo.

Edited January 30, 2014 by Youk Of The Nation

[jacksonianmarch]

Our OF will generate a significant amount of wins. Beltran in RF in the Stadium will be able to hide some of his defensive inconsistencies, but at his age and with his injury history, he is definitely a questionmark. Soriano will see little time in the OF, mostly against lefties. But Ells and Gardner should have 10 wins between them.

[User Name]

If they can both play a full season, which is more of a certainty with Gardner than it is with Ellsbury.

[Palodios]

I can barely believe it, but Ellsbury has produced 100+ runs exactly one time in his career, and that was his mvp#2 season. He has come close plenty of times, but the only time he was over it, he drove himself in 32 times.

[pinstripezac]

Youk Of The Nation;908647]Soriano is a few years away from going to bed at 9PM and watching daytime court shows at high volume. His stats would probably be HOF-worthy if he hadn't lost a couple years to service in the Korean War.

stayed up late enough to go yard 30 + times the last 2 yrs

 

Beltran had a good season, but given recent history it's very reasonable to label him a "question mark". In the last five seasons, he's only played over 100 games three times, and almost all of his stats show a decline over the last six or seven seasons. He's also not getting any younger.

 

LOL

thing is

those R the last 3 yrs in row after an knee injury

and who is getting younger

 

Brett Gardner is an asset to the team in the field and not too much of a detriment to the lineup, but he's also not powering baseballs out of the park on a regular basis

 

great D great speed and a 350 OBP

what's not to like

 

despite playing in a stadium that is only slightly larger than the trunk of a Volvo.

 

LOL X2

whenever I hear RSN questioning RF in the cathedral

I wonder if they have ever seen LF in fenway

at least in ny it's fair 4 both teams

[User Name]

Who cares that Soriano can hit 30 HR's if he can't get on base? Power without on-base ability is like a pair of huge biceps on a figure skater. Your point about Beltran is nonsense. His knee issues are chronic and he's missed time for them on a near-yearly basis. He's not making it up. Gardner is very good, period, but he's playing LF even though he's a better CF than Ellsbury, who has his own question marks.

 

Take off the rose-colored glasses. Oh, and "LOL X 3"

[jete02fan]

I like the signing. I'm not ready for JBJ to be the everyday CF yet. Sox learned last year that one year contracts with sketchy players could pay big dividends.

but better you find out now, no??

[redsoxrules]

Cashman's Expectation:

We think Tanaka has the potential to be a # 3 starter.

 

LOL SERIOUSLY?

 

You pay a pitcher the 5th largest contract for a potential # 3 starter? Funny stuff Cashman.

[Bellhorn04]

Cashman's Expectation:

We think Tanaka has the potential to be a # 3 starter.

 

LOL SERIOUSLY?

 

You pay a pitcher the 5th largest contract for a potential # 3 starter? Funny stuff Cashman.

 

I don't think everybody in the Yankee FO is on the same page LOL

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

You think that's funny, Jacko thinks he's a #4 LMFAO. Then when CC and Kuroda slow down, he'll be the first to claim he was an ace. Just wait until midseason, Jacko is in for a big ass plate of crow.

[seabeachfred]

You think that's funny, Jacko thinks he's a #4 LMFAO. Then when CC and Kuroda slow down, he'll be the first to claim he was an ace. Just wait until midseason, Jacko is in for a big ass plate of crow.

 

RDFFL---Listen carefully to this my young colleague....IF THE RED SOX TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AND PLAY TO THEIR ABILITY WE WILL NOT HAVE TO CONCERN OURSELVES WITH THE YANKEES AT ALL!!!!!!!!! This is one time that cliche "the ball is in our court" make total common sense.

[Youk Of The Nation]

RDFFL---Listen carefully to this my young colleague....IF THE RED SOX TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS AND PLAY TO THEIR ABILITY WE WILL NOT HAVE TO CONCERN OURSELVES WITH THE YANKEES AT ALL!!!!!!!!! This is one time that cliche "the ball is in our court" make total common sense.

 

No it doesn't...baseball is played on a field. "Court" makes no sense at all!

[pinstripezac]

Cashman's Expectation:

We think Tanaka has the potential to be a # 3 starter.

 

LOL SERIOUSLY?

 

You pay a pitcher the 5th largest contract for a potential # 3 starter? Funny stuff Cashman.

 

 

stop misconstruing ;-)

 

 

Cashman indicated that comments he made earlier in the day, when he told ESPN-Radio Tanaka should be viewed as a No. 3 starter, were misconstrued.

 

“The question was whether I thought [Tanaka] would be at the front of the rotation right out of spring training,” Cashman said. “I said that I didn’t expect that. You’re talking about the adjustment, transition, growing pains. We look for him to be a solid No. 3, and after that if it’s better than that, great.”

 

 

Yanks GM hesitant to call Sabathia an ace

Edited February 8, 2014 by pinstripezac