Desperation Moves?
It’s been well-documented that the New York Yankees have spent more than $420 million this winter on free agent acquisitions. C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira will all call the Bronx home thanks to the sizeable checkbooks of the Steinbrenner brothers.
Several executives, including Milwaukee’s Doug Melvin and Houston’s Drayton MacLane renewed calls for a league-wide salary cap in the wake of the Yankees’ spending spree. One compelling argument was made earlier this week when an unnamed front office official called the Yankees’ moves the marks of a desperate team.
That begs the question: were the Yankees desperate?
First, let’s look at their immediate competition. The Bombers play in the toughest division in baseball. The Red Sox and Rays both finished 2008 ahead of the Yankees and cost the Bombers a postseason spot for the first time in 13 years. Both teams are young and promise to be contenders for the next several years. In addition, the Toronto Blue Jays finished with 87 wins and were perhaps the best fourth-place club in the history of the game. That leaves the Baltimore Orioles, a team blessed with young talent and destined to contend within two years. It’s safe to say the Yankees felt some pressure from the competition.
Next, let’s look at what the Yankees already had on board. They have Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, perennial All-Stars, manning the left side of the infield. They have Robinson Cano, a better-than-average second baseman. Johnny Damon is back as their centerfielder and Xavier Nady will man one of the other outfield spots. They also had Jorge Posada coming back. In the rotation, the Yankees had Phil Hughes and Chien Ming Wang, two good starters.
The core of a contending baseball team was clearly in place. What the Yankees had was two big holes in the starting rotation and an opening at first base. They had about $75 million in salaries coming off the books and several enticing free agents available at the positions they were looking for.
In short, the Yankees were not so much “desperate” as they were opportunistic. They had the money and opportunity to land the one of the game’s best pitchers in addition to inking a gold glove first baseman who averages 37 home runs a year. When you put these facts in context, it’s hard to blame the Yankees for making the decisions they did. The only move that can be considered remotely desperate was the Burnett signing. Committing five years for an injury-prone pitcher is questionable, but then again, any multi-year contract to a pitcher carries significant risk.
The real irony is that, despite the money and the new additions, the Yankees are not guaranteed anything with their actions this winter. It’s conceivable that they could win 92 games and still fail to earn a postseason berth.
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