Today Angels’ first baseman Mark Teixeira agreed in principle to an eight year $180m contract. With the signing of Texieras the Yankees have made presumably themselves a force to be reckoned with. And with free agent Manny Ramirez still available it doesn’t necesssarily bode well for those with aspirations of signing a big time free agent. And if the New York Yankees were able to sign Manny now that look really intense to all of the fans out there ? Having signed pitchers CC Sabbathia and AJ Burnett to a collective $243.5m combined. That being said with the influx of cash that the city of New York has benevolently given the franchise as of late. One has to argue what the hell is going on within Major League Baseball ? A stadium that was originally meant to cost $1.5bn now is now closer to $2bn and counting.
Mayor Mayor Michael Bloomberg addresses members of the press and public in attendance at a press conference. picture appears courtesy of newsday.com/ Bill Wasserstein….
Mayor Michael Bloomberg saw fit to be critical of Wall Street for bailing out the excess of Wall St. But at the same time has seen fit to further implement a bond issue to the tune of $250m dollars that’ll be of benefit to the New York Yankees. Never mind the fact that what was originally meant to be privately financed enterprise with the building of the Yankees’ new stadium. We were originally led to believe that the edifice would be built with privately financed funds. But Bloomberg and the city of New York were only too eager to please and acquiesce to all of the demands of their famed resident. Making sure that the land that the stadium was built on was unusually high in its assessment for tax purposes. But at the same time it was undervalued for the Yankees’ benefit.
Free agent slugger Manny Ramirez,sits ,waits and bides at the plate,knowing full well that in due time someone is prepared to pay his asking price. But the question on everyone’s lips is who is prepared to pay ? picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/Mark Wasserstein……..
I’m not one to suggest that there’s been any collusion on the part of the organization or the mayor’s office. But make of it what you will. As to the Yankees and their coffers it goes without saying that they’re a monumental cash cow of the highest order. The YES Network as their self owned cable outlet and their joint partnerships with several major corporate sponsors. It makes it all the more relevant as to what we’re seeing with regard to the game of the haves and have nots. The Yankees themselves will have to pay in excess of $32.5m in terms of the luxury tax that they’ve been assessed by the commissioner’s office of Major League baseball. This is meant to be the tax for which league clubs that go in excess of the mandated level is charge on a team’s payroll roster. And it’s meant to create some sort of equilibrium for the teams within the major markets and the mid-level to small markets of the league.
Commissioner Allan ‘Bud’ Selig and players’ representative Donald Fehr exchange a few quiet words before addressing members of Congress. picture appears courtesy of i.a.cnn/net/si/ Mark Roberts ………
So what the Yankees are now said to be paying this triumvirate of players will dwarf the payrolls annually of several teams across the league. And to highlight this situation even further four of the five highest salaried players annually within the league will now be on the New York Yankees’ roster. They are namely Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, CC Sabbathia and Mark Texiera. Now let it not be said that the Yankees will go the way of any small team when it comes to their want of success. Last year was the first time in over a decade that the team failed to make postseason in baseball. And when one considers the streak it is truly monumental to say the least. Seeing the rise of the Tampa Bay Rays within the AL East and their success in having won the division , the AL Pennant and then making it to the World Series made it all the more unpleasurable for the Yankees’ fans and the Steinbrenner family. Who as owners of the team have been used to having their way and winning pennants and World Series. This decade they haven’t won any and it can be said that there’s a strong possibility that they may not win another before the decade closes.
Joe Girardi , coach of the New York Yankees and their erstwhile GM Brian Cashman in the foreground. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/Luis M Alvarez …………………….
With the departure of Joe Torre to make way for newly appointed skipper Joe Girardi. It was felt that the team would be carry on in a similar vein with regard to the success garnered under Girardi’s predecessor. Well last season proved one thing to us all the Yankees are getting old and many of their high profile players failed to live up to the perceived expectations as to what they were thought to be capable of. Out with the old and in with the new as they say. The franchise has seen fit to revert to their old ways because they can no longer trust talent wholeheartedly within their farm system. Brian Cashman as the team’s general manager may not indicate that with his statements. But it’s clear that he himself knows what’s at stake for the franchise. Failure to win and with them moving into their new state of the art ballpark next season. It makes it all the more extreme for the Yankees to go on this major spending spree. And one can only summize that Santa came early for the Steinbrenners and granted them all of their wishes. Now if they can also land free agent Manny Ramirez it may well be one of those Christmas’s one can only dream of if you happen to be a Yankees’ fan. As to the rest of major league baseball they can only wish to have the financial strength of the franchise.
George and Hank Steinbrenner,father and son,principal owners of the New York Yankees. In reality the franchise is perhaps the most recognized name in all of sports here in North America and without a doubt perhaps the most lucrative and profitable sports franchise in the US in terms of just sheer net worth. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/Mark Shackleton ……….
These are the times that you can only fathom to think as to the financial constraints that many of the teams face. But as of yet they don’t seem to have affected the likes of the New York Yankees. Much to the malaise of others within the game as they now begin to face some of the hardships that’ll now begin to face not only the game of baseball but sports in general. The harsh economic climate and all that it now entails will affect many professional sport’s franchises. But the likes of the Yankees at present seem to go unperturbed by it all.
Abreu(53) back to picture along with then teammates Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez. The latter of the trio have contributed little to the franchise’s lack of postseason success. Merely turning up and being overpaid just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore. But it’s apparently acceptable to some in New York. What accountability if any has never come from the players themsleves as they’ve been very much cuckholded and sheilded to an extent. Moments out outspokeness from the owner has been very tempered in its texture. The fault therein lies within the franchise itself. picture appears courtesy of ap/photo/Marcus Walker ……………………..
As former Knicks’ player Patrick Ewing once said when giving testimony in a major Federal racketeering and grand larceny case. ‘We make a lot of money so we spend a lot of money’. And the fact that at the time when giving this statement he was actually talking about spending money in an adult entertainment emporium. We ought not to equate that the Yankees have become akin to a stripper or hooker working her Johns . In this case their fans and the citizens of New York.
tophatal ………………..
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