Massarotti at it again.
While Massarotti is correct to say that the Yankees are no longer the automatic free agent destination they were in the late nineties, he seems to imply that the Sox have taken their place…That is just plain wrong, there is much more parity in baseball these days and players seem much more willing to choose cities where they want to live vs. where they think they are guaranteed to win a championship.
As Sox wait, Yankees worry
Email|Link|Comments (31) Posted by Tony Massarotti, Globe Staff December 3, 2008 09:17 AM
The longer they wait, the longer you cannot help but wonder: Are the once-mighty New York Yankees being used? Have they lost their cachet?
Does anyone really want to play for the Yankees anymore?
Postseason spectators for the first time since 1993 – the first year of Bill Clinton’s first term – theYankees began this offseason by dropping a six-year, $140 million deal on the lap of free agent pitcher CC Sabathia. Weeks later, like the rest of the baseball world, the Yanks are still waiting. As recently as two days ago, one major league general manager joined the popular chorus and wondered whether Sabathia wants to pitch for the Yankees at all.
Talk about a recipe for embarrassment: take more than a century of unmatched history, add $140 million, and wait.
The result: One very potent CC of humility.
Wow. What a kick in the rosin bag.
Before we go any further, let’s acknowledge there is every possibility that Sabathia will still sign with the Yankees. Maybe he’s just trying to squeeze a few more shekels out of nature’s genetically different sons, Hank and Hal Steinbrenner, the Heat Miser and Snow Miser of their industry. Sabathia already has been offered the richest pitching contract in baseball history, but we all know that professional athletes would rather shoot themselves in the thigh before taking a penny less than the max.
Business, folks.
Just business.
Regardless of the outcome, the Yankees clearly have recognized a need to be overtly aggressive, which means they know they’re in at least some trouble. The entire manner in which the offer to Sabathia was publicized now is being used against them. In the end, the Yankees are either going to pay an absurdly high number for Sabathia or be left with their hats in hand, neither of which speaks well for the trend of the once impenetrable Yankees brand.
Think about it. Eight years ago at this time, Mike Mussina actually took a little less to pitch for the Yankees instead of the Red Sox, who similarly coveted the free agent righthander. At the time, we focused on trivialities like New York’s decision to send flowers to Mussina’s wife as an indication that the Yankees were far more skilled in the art of negotiation. In reality, Mussina chose New York because the Yankees had won three straight World Series and four in five years.
Of course, the Red Sox ended up with Manny Ramirez, all of which proved to be a blessing in disguise. But that’s not the issue. The point is that the Yankees had the swagger then, the credentials that go along with being the best organization in baseball, the ability to walk into any negotiation and immediately take control. When the Yankees talked, everyone listened. And before long, most everyone signed.
Remember: As recently as 2003, even Curt Schilling wanted to go to New York before Theo Epstein visited Schilling over Thanksgiving and made his pitch while asking for the mashed potatoes and stuffing. Kudos to Schilling for buying in, though he already had the one thing Mussina did not: a World Series championship ring.
Now here we are, eight years after Mussina’s fateful decision, and the Moose effectively has filed for social security devoid of that elusive ring. Schilling might be done, too, albeit with two more titles tucked under his keyboard. The Yankees are coming off a season in which they finished third in the division behind the Tampa Bay Rays and the Red Sox, and New York is about to move into a lavish new stadium during a time of international economic turmoil.
Translation: The Yankees are desperate and everyone knows it. The more you look at them, the more the Yankees look like Louis Winthorpe III, the riches-to-rags character played by Dan Aykroyd in “Trading Places.”
At a moment like this, here in Boston, isn’t it astonishing to note how much the perception of the Red Sox and Yankees has changed? The Red Sox are now looked upon as being the elite franchise in baseball. The Red Sox are now looked upon as having a brighter future. The Red Sox are now looked upon as having superior ownership and shrewder management, and the Sox have the kind of magnetism that can draw people to play for them for a few million less.
Years ago, when players like Wade Boggs, Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn departed, the Red Sox were left looking like the bad guys.
Now Ramirez gets shipped off and he is the one with the damaged reputation.
Lest anyone interpret this as some suggestion that New York should now be discounted entirely, the point is once again being lost. The Yankees remain the richest franchise in baseball, regardless of whether baseball’s economic landscape has changed. New York always can extend a little further. The Yankees can buy their way back, just like Winthorpe, and they can once again reclaim their place as the preeminent franchise in professional sports. But at a time when most every franchise in baseball seems to be waiting for the prices to come down, the Yankees are spending wildly out of necessity more than free will, for one reason and one reason only.
In order to sharpen the pinstripes on those fading and tarnished suits, they have to.
December 4th, 2008 10:01
I think Tony is absolutely right. There is less desire among big year players to play in New York than there was before. Most players would much rather play for the Red Sox, a winning and functional organization, then in New York where the players hate each other, the fans boo like crazy, and if you don’t hit for 2 weeks Steingrabber calls you out personally.
December 4th, 2008 10:05
Perhaps you haven’t been to Fenway recently enough…Sox fans boo as much as Yankees fans, and run as many solid players out of town due to their inability to deal with the scrutiny here.
Name some recent players in which the Yankees and Sox have gone head to head, and the Sox pulled the player out from under them.
Steinbrenner is dying, his kids are soft…that’s really a non-issue these days.
December 4th, 2008 10:12
There is no way Sox fans boo as much as Yankees fans, that’s just empirically incorrect. Name a Red Sox player that got booed as much as A-Rod in recent years. Hell, even with Manny being a complete douche he wasn’t booed all these years, only his last few games at Fenway. Or Papi. He’s old and has had terrible years the last two relative to years past, how often was he booed?
I remember watching a Yankees game this year on tv where POSADA was booed. Do you think Varitek has heard a boo in his lifetime at Fenway?
Finally, the test of whether a player wants to play in Boston or New York is not where they end up, Yankee money is still money. But look at A-Rod. He’s on the record saying he would have rather been in Boston than in New York. For good reason, too. He would have been embraced at Fenway, not booed everytime he pops up.
December 4th, 2008 10:15
When did a-rod say that? I need to see that in print.
Papi = Bernie Williams…great for years, would never get booed when he slows down.
Manny was booed ALL the time, and HATED Boston…and yes, I saw Sox games where Varitek was definitely booed…or Francona for leaving him in all the time down the stretch…not sure who they were booing, perhaps both.
December 4th, 2008 10:18
I will get you the a-rod quote, it was an interview with Sports Illustrated as I recall.
Do you honestly believe what you’re writing? Yankees fans are *notorious* for booing. It’s what they do. I, unlike you, don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think booing is ok. But you should at least accept that it is something fans of your team does.
My argument isn’t that Red Sox fans never boo. They do as well. But it is never with the enthusiasm and velocity that Yankees fans display.
Face it, dude. Yankees fans are not satisfied having the RS win the AL East every year, winning World Series or going deep into the playoffs while the Yankees players are golfing in Tampa. That frustration comes out. And it comes out often.
December 4th, 2008 10:22
From wikipedia referencing Sports Illustrated:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rodriguez#Criticism
“I would have preferred to play in Boston at the time. I thought it was the best team and city for us. But I am happy here now, and that is what matters.”
December 4th, 2008 11:41
So that sentiment came prior to Massarotti’s article reference here…he’s talking post 2003…AROD was trying to choose prior to that date…which is fine…some people would prefer Boston to New York, but not necessarily for the reasons that Mazz states.
December 4th, 2008 11:42
For what rational reason, other than money, would a player choose NY over Boston at this moment in time?
December 4th, 2008 11:44
History, teammates, lifestyle, manager (not saying girardi is better, but his style is differnt from titos)…a bunch of reasons…and vice versa for someone to choose Boston over NY…don’t be so biased.
December 4th, 2008 12:35
Convenient how you left out the most obvious one for Boston: being on a winning team. Funny how you discount that but you place “history” as number one. You really think these players care more about history than getting a WS win?
Would you rather play for a bottom feeder in the AL East or a team that makes the playoffs and contends for a title every year?
December 4th, 2008 12:42
Your analysis is way off. In this decade (to look at a recent time frame), the Sox and Yankees have made the playoffs the same amount, they have made the WS the same amount, and the Sox have one more WS win than the Yankees. To say that an out of playoffs finish by the Yankees last year means that they are a bottom feeder in the AL is just retarded and demonstrates your ever present bias.
December 4th, 2008 12:45
You honestly believe this is how players look at teams? It’s not. It’s what have you done for me lately. No one cares about the last 10 years. These players look at the team that is being put out onto the field and look to see who gives them the best chance of getting a ring. The answer here is obvious: Boston.
December 4th, 2008 12:48
You couldn’t be more wrong. History has a great impact…so many players talk about how much the’ve wanted to wear the pinstripes…what it means. That’s part of the draw of the Celtics…to be able to play at the almost Garden…sox really are just a history of failure.
December 4th, 2008 13:09
This is silly. The botom line here is that if a player wants to win, they hae a much better chance with the RS than Yanks. That is objective fact, not opinion.
December 4th, 2008 13:16
Perhaps you need a 101 session on the differences between opinion and fact.
December 4th, 2008 15:15
Who has the better team right now, the Red Sox or the Yankees?
December 4th, 2008 15:23
There you go, now you are asking the right questions. As the teams stand now, obviously the Sox have the better squad. Luckily for the Yankees, they don’t play the season until starting in April, when this team is going to look quite different. So the ultimate question facing someone like Sabathia, come April, will one team put him in a better position to win the World Series than the other. That question cannot be answered with any kind of fact, but rather mere conjecture. Based on how active the Yankees plan on being, one can make a strong argument that by the end of this free agent season, the Yankees will be in a position to challenge for the title again…let’s face it, the Sox need to make some moves too, we shall see how agressive they are.