20
2012
What Can Be Learned From The Yankees Collapse
An article by 
Ok, I admit, I did my best Quagmire impersonation the other night, in spite of my better angels trying desperately to keep me in check. Not even Charlie’s Angels could keep me from succumbing to the dark side when I saw the best team money could buy get brutally swept by the best thing to come out of Detroit that wasn’t bailed out by the government. It’s one thing to get to the American League Championship Series and lose but for the New York Yankees to lose 4 in a row and lose them by barely showing up was hard to watch, even for a Mets fan.
To think that the Yankees actually made President Obama look thoroughly engaged in his first debate in comparison to their performance against the Tigers. But I digress, who are we kidding; it wasn’t that hard for me to watch. I may have revelled in the poetic justice of it all yet I ironically realized in the end that I don’t despise the New York Yankees as some people do, and I’m very ok with that. Now, as to some of their fans – well that’s a whole different ballgame altogether.
Look I get it. Who am I to criticize the Yankees for being swept in the Playoffs? My team hasn’t even had a whiff of a whiff of playoff baseball since Carlos Beltran stood like a deer in headlights taking Adam Wainwright’s curveball for strike three in 2006.
You can make a good argument that stemming from that moment the Mets began their spiral into the mediocre mess that they have become today. And make no mistake about it; it’s rare to find a Yankee fan that doesn’t like to remind us of that among other things. Because you know, it’s always endearing to be an obnoxious bully.
What other things you ask? How about their 27 World Championships? Sure I’d be proud of my team if they racked up that many Championships, who wouldn’t? But I’m pretty sure, no I’m very sure I wouldn’t rub it into everyone’s faces or use it as my main retaliatory weapon anytime someone criticizes my team. It reeks of elitism – and that is why no one is shedding a tear that Detroit handed the Yankees a beatdown of the ages.
I particularly enjoy the brand of Yankee fan who just about takes personal credit for those 27 championships. As if it weren’t for their bloviating ad nauseum about their greatness, those teams never would have existed. Over-compensating much pre tell? We get it, your team is great.
I know I’m not breaking any new ground here saying this. We all know where the Mets are financially as an organization or at least we think we do and it’s no secret that times have been better. There’s that certain percentage of Yankee fans that love to say how the Mets are cheap and don’t care about their fans. Hell at times even I’ve felt the same malaise from this organization but when you look at the facts you realize that to say the Mets have always been cheap is more like a cheap shot than fact.
It doesn’t take much to Google the numbers and see where the Mets have ranked in payroll over the years. We all know they spend (spent). They’re just very good at doing it very bad. Athlon Sports ranks the Mets the worst of all MLB teams from 2001 to 2010 when it comes to spending in relation to wins. But don’t try and get intellectual when arguing with these particular Yankee fans.
To them it’s all about the bling and boy do they have the bling in the Bronx enough so that even their mistakes (Carl Pavano, Jose Contreras, Brien Taylor, A-Roid) can be easily swept under the rug. However even the mighty have their limits as Hank and Hal Steinbrenner have made it clear that they want to get their payroll under the luxury tax threshold.
Of course there’s that “aura” that playing for the Yankees brings. Even I fell for it when Raul Ibanez seemed to channel every Yankee great in this postseason with his homerun fest. Not bad for a 39 year old. Yet if you ask anyone impartial, which team regardless their finances, has a better crop of young talent making its way up, one would be hard pressed to say it’s the Yankees.
It’s not like I’m drinking the Kool-Aid here. I know the Mets aren’t exactly overflowing with minor league talent – as a Mets fan I know that’s hardly the case – but tell me what version of Zach Wheeler or Matt Harvey or even Wilmer Flores do the Yankees have? If they did, don’t you think one or two would have been promoted this year and don’t try to pull Ivan Nova out of your pinstriped posterior.
If he’s really one of their top prospects Brian Cashman has a lot more to worry about than how he’s going to try to convince a team to take Alex Rodriguez off his hands. It seems Cashman could care less that his team has become the professional sports poster children for AARP as they have the oldest team on average in MLB. This is what Cashman said about his geriatric lineup:
“I don’t care if it’s old. I care about if it’s good.”
Well Socrates has spoken I suppose. Talk about short sighted and the epitome of elitist. The only reason Brian Cashman can say that is solely because of his owner’s pockets.
The Mets and we as fans can learn a great deal from the debacle that is unraveling in the Bronx. Sure if you’re one of those superficial, seasonal Yankee fans that only come out of the woodwork in October then you probably should ignore the warning signs. Yes having almost unlimited funds can buy great players – eventual Hall-of-Famer players even. But if history has shown, it doesn’t buy championships.
It’s signing the right players to augment your team, when you’ve developed it enough from within. Sure the Yankees can sign whoever they want and I’m pretty sure they’ll make a push for Texas’ Josh Hamilton this winter. Talk about lighting a fuse on a Molotov cocktail. The moment he steps out of his taxi cab onto 42nd street, expect an epic implosion worthy of wall-to-wall TMZ coverage.
Some of those Yankee fans might think I sound like just another jaded Met fan. Sure it’s been rough the last few years but what they call being jaded I call appreciation. Mets fans appreciate their team. Darren Meenan over at the 7Line rounded up hundreds of his troops on the final game of the year at Citifield with his mantra: loyal to the last out. They came in droves fully knowing there was nothing at stake. Loyalty personified.
Now compare that to the empty seats in Yankee stadium during the playoffs. It was shameful that Yankee officials asked fans to move to the lower decks to keep the empty seats out of the TBS camera view. Elitist, entitled, arrogant and now you can add indifferent. There is no other way to define it.
If the Wilpons can ever get their financial house in order, hopefully with the proper gameplan which includes taking advantage of the amateur draft, including signing and developing the players they draft, and spending wisely in the free agent market, perhaps the Mets can right this ship. If the finances continue to tighten just enough to keep the Wilpon’s treading water and whatever funds made available are spent poorly, then nothing changes.
The greatest success the Yankees had happened when their core players were supplemented with talent around them. The opposite of that is what never seems to truly work at least not long term. All that’s going to do is make you laugh under your breath at your TV when that house of cards comes falling down.
Giggity. Giggity
About the Author: Joe Spector
I'm just your regular Joe. Staff writer @ Metsmerizedonline.com. Happily married and a father to a baby girl. I attended my first Met game at the ripe old age of 3 where my father scored a foul ball and had it signed by Lee Mazzilli, Joe Torre and Joe Pignataro. It was my Holy Grail - 'till I buried it in the backyard. I have my own website where you can read my drivel at your leisure @ www.thespectorsector.net
26 Comments + Add Comment
Recent Comments
- BadBadLeroyBrown: on Mets and Braves Suspended After Eight Tied 5-5, Will Resume Play Saturday: Only reason I brought up Valdespin was...
- El Sid: on Mets and Braves Suspended After Eight Tied 5-5, Will Resume Play Saturday: I wanted to thank the umpires for...
- Poconos: on If Zack Wheeler Is In, Then Who’s Out?: Boy, you sure seem like a prick... And...
- Josh: on Mets and Braves Suspended After Eight Tied 5-5, Will Resume Play Saturday: Parnell and Murphy should not be bullying...
- BadBadLeroyBrown: on Mets and Braves Suspended After Eight Tied 5-5, Will Resume Play Saturday: Im talking about how Bobby Parnell, Murphy...
Need Tickets To The Mets Game?
Check Out These Great MLB Links!
Photographs From Gordon Donovan
5394 Fans Follow Us On Twitter!
1269 Fans Like Us On Facebook!
2341 Fans Read Our Feed!
1702 Fans Subscribe via Daily Email!
Enjoyed this article. Well done, Joe
‘We all know where the Mets are financially as an organization …’
>> If only.
‘It’s signing the right players to augment your team, when you’ve developed it enough from within.’
>> Couldn’t agree more.
‘The greatest success the Yankees had happened when their core players were supplemented with talent around them. The opposite of that is what never seems to truly work at least not long term. All that’s going to do is make you laugh under your breath at your TV when that house of cards comes falling down.’
>> Looks like the Yankees mistake was riding that core 4 just a little too long, without turning over the roster at other spots with younger, next-generation type starts they always go for. Only one that comes to mind is Cano. Great hitter but another one who tanked badly in post season.
We might be seeing a new mindset with the Yankees. With the new CBA rules, Cashmen is hell bent on getting that payroll under $189 MIL so they don’t incur a huge penalty going into the second year. Will be very interesting to see how they go about this with the holes they’ve got to fill and a few long term contracts on the books.
Thank you SRT!
Nice article. My new motto, FA doesn’t take you to the top but it can put you over if you are already there.
Great post. I agree with everything except this one point:
“…My team hasn’t even had a whiff of a whiff of playoff baseball since Carlos Beltran stood like a deer in headlights taking Adam Wainwright’s curveball for strike three in 2006.
You can make a good argument that stemming from that moment the Mets began their spiral into the mediocre mess that they have become today…”
The downward spiral, in my opinion, began when Duaner Sanchez got into the taxi in Miami. Everything after that was a panic move that I feel disrupted the team.
I was at Game 2 of the NLCS that year. I always wondered if Scott Spezio would have hit his bases-clearing, game-tying triple if Sanchez was pitching instead of Guillermo Mota.
Much thanks AV
Time to blow up the Yankees
http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/the-gms-office/
And so it begins.
Ha. I disagree with so much of what Jim said. I guess that’s why I do what I do and he does what he does.
I can’t believe he gets paid to write. He sounds like he’s making decisions after playing The Show on his Playstation.
I think the Yankees would be best suited to remember that they scored a ton of runs, pitched well, and won 96 games over six months, and not to overreact to a two-week stretch of bad baseball. Swisher is gone, and signing Ichiro to a two-year deal would get him out before the luxury tax threshold they want to be under hits. I also don’t think anyone would give Ichiro a long-term deal at this point, anyway.
Rivera and Pettitte are not “free agents.” They’re Yankees. They play for the Yankees, or they retire. Pettitte is up in the air, and Rivera will come back. I think the Yankees would be smart to hold onto A-Rod and let him play a healthy year in 2013. I still think he has some left in the tank. He can certainly still run and play defense. His trade value now is at it’s absolute lowest. “Dumping” him would be reactionary and do nothing but leave a hole at third base. Eduardo Nuñez sucks terribly.
I think the Yankees are in fine shape. Kuroda is the biggest issue they have. They need to re-sign him. Then another middle reliever or two, which is a crap shoot, anyway, and they’re off to another 95 wins.
After reading this article, it’s not hard to understand how he never made it as a GM.
Nice piece of writing and the best part is I find nothing that I disagree with so I’ll just say thanks,
Thanks OG Met fan!
Hi Joe,
When a Yankee failure is means so little as far as satisfaction is concerned, we know how bad things have become for us.
The saving grace is that for Yankee fans, having made the post season ten of the last eleven years only to be eliminated in eight of them, being a division or wild card champion by this time must feel completely meaningless and unsatisfying. So in some strange way, that probably makes 2012 more bearable for us than for them.
We can at least laugh about this year which we couldn’t between 2006 and 2008. Can you imagine the empty feeling we would have if those things continued happening virtually year after year after year? We’d be going crazy!
“It’s signing the right players to augment your team, when you’ve developed it enough from within. ”
That is the rule both New York teams have forgotten. For the pinstripes it is buying those marquee players year after year which is fine for the regular season when they can play as individuals but when post-season comes, they need to be disciplined as a unit, not a team that could simply out-tee ball it’s opponent.
For the Mets, it’s not getting rid of the stars but to build around them. One doesn’t need to to un-build in order to re-build. Unfortunately, what Sandy Alderson has done to prevent ownership from losing the team now gives us no other choice – there is little to un-build with any more.
Enjoyed the article.
Jeter wants a new contract although he is signed thru 2013. Are they going to let him play 2013 without extending him? Jeter is therefore comparabe to DW and Dickey who will be offered a contract. Remember the hard time Jeter got during the present contract negotiations. Will they disrepect him by lowballing him in dollars or years or making him play 2013 w/o a contract. Its business vs. dealing with their icon/ legend. I am watching this carefully.
Jeter is signed through 2013 with an $8M player option for 2014. Plus, he is coming off ankle surgery at 38 years old. The Yankees would be insane to extend him.
Jeter is coming off a very ggod season and his angle injury is not career threatening. Jeter wants to break Pete Rose all time hit record. He is slightly under 1,000 hits behind. Pete Rose played ubtil 45 years old. Jeter definately wants to retire a Yankee and the pressure will be on the Yankees to extend him.
Is it wise from a pure baseball team first perspective. Of course not.
.
The Yanks should PUSH BACK their fences….change the lineup to one that focuses on scoring runs in a way that doesnt just depend on the HR…
this way when the playoffs come…they are not bounced by a team that has a half-decent pitching staff
they are used to manufacturing runs
A terrific article which really sums it up.
We are in the post-steroid era and I think some are a bit slow to realize that. Building a baseball team reverted to the way it was in the late 70s and early 80s. Free agents are a part of the picture but not all of it.
The biggest lesson from the Yankees is how long term contracts for aging free agents is the kiss of death. So few ever work out (Jeter was perhaps the only one of 8 years or more that went well). Players are somewhere around 30 when they first hit free agency. In the steroid days, no problem since people were still at a high level at 35 or 36 (or 40). Now, declines start at 32 and 33. That is a problem is a player has 3-4 years left on a large contract.
Another lesson is the value of the minor leagues. Teams need to develop talent not only to fill their own roster but also for trade pieces. Trading is becoming an important tool in baseball again. Much of the Tiger team was built via trades. We see the Braves, Cardinals, and Giants remain competitive while replacing their aging talent with homegrown prospects.
I am one who believes the Yankees are behind the 8 ball. A great deal of their money is tied up in aging players who performance is going to fall off over the next few years. Their minor league talent is only arriving at A ball with very little help in the upper levels. As you pointed out, Harvey, Wheeler, and even Flores are three “cornerstone” type pieces. I dont see that with the Yankees. In addition, unlike the Yankees, the Mets get a lot of payroll relief in 12 months. Payroll flexibility is crucial as the Cardinals showed.
The 8 ball is not as bad as it seems…
Tex
CC
A-Rod
thats it…
Trade A-Rod, pay half his salary…get some prospects…
Now u got Tex and CC left…
Tex is still performing at a decent level
is only 32…has 4 years left…after 2 more years, he is 34 on a 2 year 45 mil deal…if the yanks eat half of that…he is a 34 year year old on a 2 year 22.5 deal…and if he is still productive, he can be traded off for prospects…
that leaves them with CC as their one and only true dead weight ( no pun intended )
now in terms of actual TALENT…thats another matter altogether….
if they are smart, they are going to probably punt on Cano…move David Adams into his spot…use the prospects acquired to get a SS to replace Jeter….who they can then resign at a lower rate to be a DH….
3B they should trade A-Rod, eat the cash…and again…the prospects used will either play on the MLB team or be used to plug up current positions of need…
Gardner sorta has LF on lock…
Granderson is on his way out…( they should’ve kept Austin )
Swisher has one foot out the door…but he is easily replaceable by Mr. Angel Pagan…aka the OF Met fans love to hate
They have a top OF prospect in Mason Williams who some say is another top stud…
The fact that the Yankees have an aggressive cashflow model enables them to take chances
The fact that the Mets dont have cash flow and like to base their moves on polls and popularity ratings handicaps them from making bold moves
the yanks signed pavano to one of the most disasterous contracts in team history…
4 years, 44 mil…and only got 17 starts…missed time for everything on his body including a pair of strained buttocks…
pavano goes to Minny…does well…and guess who offers him a contract….
THE YANKEES !!!
Pavano actually TURNED THEM DOWN !!!
The equivalent of this would be Omar offering Ollie Perez another market value contract in 2012 after he had a good season somewhere else
Met fans would go APE-SH*T..
Yankee fans…ZZzzzz
not so much…
at the end of the day…they dont care about the name on the back of the jersey ( unless its jeter )…
its about if that player is going to help them win a RING or not…
Your numbers dont add up if the Yankees are going to get under the luxury tax level.
The cap is set at $179M starting in 2014. Each teams contribution to the players health/benefit plan is listed at almost $11M for 2013 (and likely to go up in 2014 since those plans tend not to decrease), effectively putting the cap at $168M. If you are saying the Yankees pay half of ARod and half of Texiera (ARod $13.5M cap hit and Tex $11M), that means they suddenly are at $144M not counting that CC and Cano (on an extension) are going to scoop up between $45M-$50M of that. So the Yankees will have to fill our 38 postions on the 40 man for around $100M.
While this is still very doable, it is not the free spending like the Yankees are accustomed.
As a Met fan the Yankees are an AL team and for all I care they could be playing in Utica or Great Falls,Montana. I don’t follow them or thr AL very much. Not because I don’t like AL teams but because the AL is a fraud ever since they put the DH rule in. It’s like the AFC being allowed to play with 13 men on the field while the NFL is only allowed 12 players. I watch the post season as a baseball fan. So the Yankees are old, overpaid and collapsed when it mattered most. That’s for their ownership and fan base to sort out. As a Met fan I look forward to the off season plan to improve our team and get ready for 2013 in the NL where REAL baseball is played.
Well written joe, baseball is a strange thing, one in which teams get “lucky” with a few players and then ride it out until it falls apart. The Yanks have been able to spend more than anyone else; therefore, compensate when the wheels come off. However, their perdiciment is similar to the Phils. The phils aging core was hurt rather than not performing but it’s close enough to see in the NL. Right now The Mets have Wright and Davis as core position guys with Tejada biting at their heels. Our pitching staff looks as strong as it did in 2000. Now we have to keep moving in this direction and not panic if things get wonky for a minute or two. I really think The Mets are just two or three core pieces away from being a team worthy of splurging in the free agent pool.
Sometimes I actually enjoy a good Yankees choke to a Mets win. Maybe it’s because we’ve been so bad for so long. But watching them get swept was fun to watch and the soap opera that is to come this winter will keep me entertained too. I guess misery loves company. I enjoyed the article.
The Germans have a word for it, Schadenfreude (deriving pleasure from the misfortunes of others).
I’m guilty of it myself when it came to seeing the Yankee’s implode.
Yankee success doesn’t bother me so much because I don’t follow the AL except in passing. However I cannot tolerate their arrogant, entitled fans (especially the younger ones) who need a return to those losing early 70′s Horace Clark, Mike Kekich – Fritz Peterson wife swapping circus days to give them a solid dose of reality.
Hi GamGeezer,
Don’t forget to include Ross Mosschitto and Roger Repoz……
You know what lesson you should take from the Yankees this year?
KEEP YOUR PLAYERS HEALTHY!
Nothing more and nothing less!
They got in trouble late in the season because they lost thier Ace and clean up hitter. Thier cleanup hitter never really got his swing back in time for the playoffs hence he got benched.
Then they lost thier captain which took all the wind out of thier sails!
Cashman shouldn’t over react to that and while it was always a goal to reduce payroll the reason was to be able to do what they have always done pay top dollar for the most recently top performing team carrier without going too far past the Luxury tax.
The guys who had at one time been cheap enough to let them do that are no longer cheap because they too are superstars.