ESPNNY article on Hal Steinbrenner's penny-pinching

[Pinstripe power]

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.

they;ve been shelling ou stupid money for almost 15 years now and have one world series to show for it. can't really argue with them no longer wanting to do it. you dont need to spend big to win. in fact, we should be more upset with the contracts for arod, tex, etc that have put us in this situaiton now

[Pinstripe power]

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).

they were the number 1 seed in the AL last year and have only really lost one major peice at the moment in swisher (arod missed a lot of time last year). with the way they pitched last year, who says this team cant win?

[NYY09]

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

I never said he has. My disdain is more general then specific to Hal.

[NYY09]

they;ve been shelling ou stupid money for almost 15 years now and have one world series to show for it. can't really argue with them no longer wanting to do it. you dont need to spend big to win. in fact, we should be more upset with the contracts for arod, tex, etc that have put us in this situaiton now

Exactly. General organizational ineptitude. Good thing it only took them nearly a decade to realize the problem...

[Pinstripe power]

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.

and if he was spending that kind of money and winning the world series evey year i'd agree. thats not the case, they've won 1 spending absurd amount the last 10 years or so. look at last year, we spent the msot in the elague for a team that couldnt socre any runs in the playoffs. big money doesn't equal success. unfortunately to get to the smaller payroll smarter baseball mdoel these kind of years are going to happen.



and don't act liek you arne't spending that kind of money at other stadiums. contrary to popular beleif, the avergae cost fo a game is not that much higher at yankee stadium then elsewhere. thats just the nautre of baseball right now, unless you go to a place like miami where they couldnt fill the stadium if they gave tickets away

[Pinstripe power]

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

forced pay cuts on every one! all players contracts are being slashed in half whether they like/agree to it or not!

[Pinstripe power]

Exactly. General organizational ineptitude. Good thing it only took them nearly a decade to realize the problem...

it serisouly is blowing my mind. we are in the trouble we are in now because our general policy was throw money at the problem.............and now people are upset they aren't simply throwing money at the problem.


especially since throwing money right now is all it would be. we haven't misse dout on a game changing knock out free agent. all the guys we missed on are expendable or replaceable. this team needs to get younger. whether its this year, next, 5 years from now, etc. eventually one of these bad seasons is coming, its just a matter of when

[NYY09]

it serisouly is blowing my mind. we are in the trouble we are in now because our general policy was throw money at the problem.............and now people are upset they aren't simply throwing money at the problem.


especially since throwing money right now is all it would be. we haven't misse dout on a game changing knock out free agent. all the guys we missed on are expendable or replaceable. this team needs to get younger. whether its this year, next, 5 years from now, etc. eventually one of these bad seasons is coming, its just a matter of when

the craziest thing is that they still are! how else do you explain 12mill to Youk?

It seems like the chances of them changing philosophies is about the same as sucking a watermelon through a garden hose.

[CostanzaNumba0]

and if he was spending that kind of money and winning the world series evey year i'd agree. thats not the case, they've won 1 spending absurd amount the last 10 years or so. look at last year, we spent the msot in the elague for a team that couldnt socre any runs in the playoffs. big money doesn't equal success. unfortunately to get to the smaller payroll smarter baseball mdoel these kind of years are going to happen.



and don't act liek you arne't spending that kind of money at other stadiums. contrary to popular beleif, the avergae cost fo a game is not that much higher at yankee stadium then elsewhere. thats just the nautre of baseball right now, unless you go to a place like miami where they couldnt fill the stadium if they gave tickets away

I'm an advocate of spending money wisely, the organization has burned themselves with ridiculous contracts-that is their own fault, why should the fans be hurt because of their ineptness? Just because they made a rash move by giving a 32 year old 10 years and 275 million doesn't mean we should suffer. Greinke at 4 years would be a good move, Hamilton at 4, front loaded would help as well, even swisher at 4 would help. The problem is the length of these deals not the overall money spent. After all of these years paying top dollar, these guys come in and say "listen, we've made the playoffs 90% of the time over the past decade with this model, but now we're changing it because of taxes" is completely ridiculous.

You couldn't be more wrong concerning costs to go to games in other cities. I live in DC, the Nats were one of the most exciting teams in baseball this year. You know how much a ticket in upper deck cost on weekdays? 5$. with a 3$ metro ride to get to the stadium. When the Yanks are in Baltimore its literally 35 to 40% cheaper, in fact, its less expensive for my parents to drive from Queens to Baltimore and get nice seats than it is for them to go from queens to the south bx and get nice seats. The costs of going to a game aren't even comparable between the yankees and other teams.

[Yankees 1903]

Hank is just like his father. However Hal stepped in and is really running the show leaving Hank to sit there and do nothing.

[rrzubnyy]

it serisouly is blowing my mind. we are in the trouble we are in now because our general policy was throw money at the problem.............and now people are upset they aren't simply throwing money at the problem.


especially since throwing money right now is all it would be. we haven't misse dout on a game changing knock out free agent. all the guys we missed on are expendable or replaceable. this team needs to get younger. whether its this year, next, 5 years from now, etc. eventually one of these bad seasons is coming, its just a matter of when

I have been hearing that about a bad season coming since 1994 when George started throwing money at problems AGAIN...They only missed 1 postseason since.....let's face it folks, money can solve problems if those players stay healthy and perform up to their abilities....

On the flip side the team still needs to develop young players for trades and possible jobs to win in spring training.....a good mix is needed for the organization to stay healthy....They are 2 years away with starting pitching and probably the same with a few of the better position players as well...they need to develop a 3rd basemen by 2015.....

[infernoscurse]

i can get 5 dollar upper deck seats at yankee stadium too, but who the hell wastes 5 dollars on those seats, i dont go to games unless i have good seats otherwise i watch it better at home

[CostanzaNumba0]

Additionally, an even bigger issue of late has been the lack of enthusiasm for international free agents from the yankees. Before the current CBA, the last handful of years we have been outbid on the international stage by several different teams. What used to be a major advantage has now turned to victim to austerity yet again. You think for one second in the 90s if a young cuban lefty who sat 98 was available, that George wouldn't have been all over it? What about Profar? In 2011 we signed the 18th best international prospect-its unfathomable
http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/...ngs-and-talent

[CostanzaNumba0]

i can get 5 dollar upper deck seats at yankee stadium too, but who the hell wastes 5 dollars on those seats, i dont go to games unless i have good seats otherwise i watch it better at home

That's just not true.

[rrzubnyy]

Hank is just like his father. However Hal stepped in and is really running the show leaving Hank to sit there and do nothing.

I was starting to enjoy Hank for the few months he was the face of the organization.....but once Hal saw a serious train wreck developing he stepped in and told his brother to be quiet.....and to leave Dad's money in the bank....

We had the guy who wanted to spend but his little brother paid attention in college and had to explain to his brother about profits....