ESPNNY article on Hal Steinbrenner's penny-pinching

[Pinstripe power]

how can anyone rip hal for this? its easy to say spend spend spend when its not your money. this team has a lot of problems to fix, and there really weren't the names available out there to fix them this year. at some point the yankees will need to rebuild, it just seems like people wnated to pretend that was not the case. it is, and it appears to be starting

[rrzubnyy]

Exactly.

This is exactly the point...I think most fans understand the financial impact of the luxury tax and the need to get below $189, but for god's sake, have a fck'n plan for the year leading up to it and not look like a bunch of idiots losing out on below average, 1 year stop gaps.

This all changes, however, if they trade Granderson and sign Hamilton and Ichiro...then all of a sudden, they're geniuses!

They are not trading Granderson just to sign Josh...It would be more wise to let him walk and offer the $13 million for 1 year and then get the sandwich pick, the same with Cano...

When they resigned Kuroda, Pettitte and Mo they should have continued and then waited until next offseason to start penny pinching...then use prospects who are AA-AAA ready and throw them into the fire in the depleted positions to start 2014...

[sauronthepower]

This might be a great plan if we had an amazing farm system with players ready to jump up, but we don't. Nice kids in single A ball, years away.
The 50 million that Hal gets to pocket in luxury tax savings won't seem so tasty when the stadium is empty in 2014 when we field a joke of a team.
We are going to have two or three very lean years of rebuilding.
Maybe 2015 opens with a boatload of fresh puppies who will have many growing pains. Could be exciting. Maybe Hal lets Cash supplement those puppies with some big free agents.
Only thing is Hal is sending big smoke signals that he is selling this team.
Already sold off half the YES network. Publicly stated he's a businessman, not a baseball man.
Stay tuned.

Absolutely.

He'd better hope though that he doesn't damage the brand in the transition process and compromise its value because of it.

If the fans start to revolt in August he may hit a major obstacle.

And please.....no Mark Cuban.

[Decimotox]

how can anyone rip hal for this? its easy to say spend spend spend when its not your money. this team has a lot of problems to fix, and there really weren't the names available out there to fix them this year. at some point the yankees will need to rebuild, it just seems like people wnated to pretend that was not the case. it is, and it appears to be starting

This.

Why is everyone here freaking out like we, or anyone not in the Yankees front office, can do anything about it? We can't change their minds, so let's just stop moaning and complaining about it. Our team is gonna look thin offensively for the next year or two. Unless ninja Cash has something crazy in store, which he probably doesn't, we just have to get used to penny pinching. It's super difficult even for me as a Yankees fan to watch them cower away from free agents and contracts but the thing is, baseball IS A business first and foremost. Baseball a game that is fun to watch and play, but the MLB is a business. I can't fault the young steinbrenners for not wanting to shell out 50 mil just to have some better players for 2 seasons. It sucks that life isn't like MLB 2k12 where we can just do whatever we want with rosters.

I can't wait until the 2014 season.

[Mike64]

It's a business - but it's a business where 50 millions dollars is not a lot of money to the Steinbrenner family. I agree - their team, their philosophy, but if the team is bad (which I don't think it will be) it will be interesting to see if any lost money makes this a moot point.

[johnnyi]

This.

Why is everyone here freaking out like we, or anyone not in the Yankees front office, can do anything about it? We can't change their minds, so let's just stop moaning and complaining about it. Our team is gonna look thin offensively for the next year or two. Unless ninja Cash has something crazy in store, which he probably doesn't, we just have to get used to penny pinching. It's super difficult even for me as a Yankees fan to watch them cower away from free agents and contracts but the thing is, baseball IS A business first and foremost. Baseball a game that is fun to watch and play, but the MLB is a business. I can't fault the young steinbrenners for not wanting to shell out 50 mil just to have some better players for 2 seasons. It sucks that life isn't like MLB 2k12 where we can just do whatever we want with rosters.

I can't wait until the 2014 season.

And it gives us 2 years to transition. All is good.

[djall10]

With the money the Yankees take in every year and along with the new TV monies being dooled out this tax scare is just an excuse for more profit for Hal...the tax would not cripple the Yankees, please.......Hal is either selling or just doesn't care about winning championships....

Hal should be embarrassed with all of the profits he rakes in every year and is afraid of a stupid tax. That tax, no matter how severe it could be for them is ust pennies for a money machine like Yankees....

Do you know how powerful the Yankees brand is? World wide! The Steinbrenners are killing it with profits!

I understand your point, but all of this is irrelevant if it looks as if there is any kind of a plan in place for this off season. So far, they just look lost... Why sign Kuroda, Pettite and Mo for all that money if you are not going to put a potentially winning team on the field.

And you're right that the luxury tax should be a "cost of doing buisness" fee for the Yankees brand, but Hal admits it himself that he is a business geek and I can assure you he doesn't like leaving any money on the table that can be saved (just like any other CFO).

[CostanzaNumba0]

how can anyone rip hal for this? its easy to say spend spend spend when its not your money. this team has a lot of problems to fix, and there really weren't the names available out there to fix them this year. at some point the yankees will need to rebuild, it just seems like people wnated to pretend that was not the case. it is, and it appears to be starting

This is a bit dispicable, it may be Hal's bottom line money but lets not forget every time I go support this team I'm paying $30 to park, 16$ for a beer and hotdog, and $90+ for decent seats. 50 million is nothing to a billionaire, if you're going austerity have the decency to correct the outrageous prices you charge for your product.

[NYY09]

You know what, **** Hal and **** the FO. This organization has been slapping lipstick on a pig for a decade. They have been appeasing fans for years by signing big names to inflated contracts because they lack any kind of forward thinking or vision. Now that there is a "budget" and Cash just cant run around like a monkey with a checkbook we are seeing truly how deficient he is as GM. Venting complete, thanks

[infernoscurse]

This is a bit dispicable, it may be Hal's bottom line money but lets not forget every time I go support this team I'm paying $30 to park, 16$ for a beer and hotdog, and $90+ for decent seats. 50 million is nothing to a billionaire, if you're going austerity have the decency to correct the outrageous prices you charge for your product.

so your thought is, the yankees are trying to bring payroll to 189 just so hal gets richer and pocket that money? cause this is NY, you are paying insane prices where ever you go like say, dinner, broadway, a Jets game, the top of the rock.

[infernoscurse]

You know what, **** Hal and **** the FO. This organization has been slapping lipstick on a pig for a decade. They have been appeasing fans for years by signing big names to inflated contracts because they lack any kind of forward thinking or vision. Now that there is a "budget" and Cash just cant run around like a monkey with a checkbook we are seeing truly how deficient he is as GM. Venting complete, thanks

cause they could see into the future to know the new CBA rules? makes sense!

[NYY09]

cause they could see into the future to know the new CBA rules? makes sense!

Yeah, the CBA rules. right.

CBA or no CBA the FO has been inept for over a decade.

[CostanzaNumba0]

so your thought is, the yankees are trying to bring payroll to 189 just so hal gets richer and pocket that money? cause this is NY, you are paying insane prices where ever you go like say, dinner, broadway, a Jets game, the top of the rock.

Those locations aren't in the south bronx, it is significantly cheaper to go a Knicks game. And yes, I think a lot of the austerity budget is based on the Steinbrenner sons being cheap- hell they just sold 49% of their father's pet creation to evil incarnate himself, Rupert Murdoch.

[infernoscurse]

peoples logic here is funny, So how can the yankees reach 189$ without being cheap?

[infernoscurse]

Yeah, the CBA rules. right.

CBA or no CBA the FO has been inept for over a decade.

i kinow cause Hal has been running the ship for a decade