by Paul Semendinger
February 2, 2025
***
Well, it is Groundhog Day . The Yankees are doing what they have done year-after-year - not completing the team and complaining about the cost of salaries.
The Yankees have become so predictable, they have become boring.
***
Since Hal Steinbrenner feels a team should be able to win without a $300 million dollar payroll. And since they haven't won. Why does he keep Brian Cashman around as his General Manager?
Doesn't Steinbrenner's own thoughts on payroll demonsrate that Cashman isn't doing a good enough job?
It makes no sense...
Unless the bottom line is that the Yankees don't care about winning as much as they sometimes claim to.
I believe Hal Steinbrenner feels a $300 million payroll should be enough to compete and, at the same time, maximize profits. I also believe he feels that maximing profits is of more importance than winning.
That's actually fine, it's his team.
But, please don't, at the same time tell the fans that winning is the number one mission when it is clear that it isn't and hasn't been for a long time.
***
There have only been two periods in Yankees history, since the arrival of Babe Ruth, when the owner was unable to deliever a championship, let alone multiple ones: The CBS years and the Hal Steinbrenner years.
That's some legacy Mr. Steinbrenner is building.
***
Yankees Owners and World Championships:
Jacob Ruppert/Estate (1915-45) = 10 World Championships
Dan Topping/Del Webb (1945-64) = 10 World Championships
CBS (1965-73) = 0 World Championships
George Steinbrenner (1973-2010) =7 World Championships
Hal Steinbrenner (2010-Present) = 0 World Championships
Again, that's some legacy
***
Now, I know some people will say that Hal ran the team in 2009, but I disagree. That season is an outlier because the Yankees went huge to win one last championship for George Steinbrenner. The Hal Steinbrenner Era really begins in 2010.
***
The Yankees, it was reported, are discussing giving Aaron Boone an extension.
Hey, why not? He fits well on a list like the one above:
Aaron Boone's World Championships = 0
***
I know there are some that say that Aaron Boone doesn't deserve criticism for failing to win.
I know there are some that say that Brian Cashman doesn't deserve criticism for failing to win (since 2009).
I know there are some that say that Hal Steinbrenner doesn't deserve criticism for failing to win.
The fact is they all deserve criticism for failing to win. They each play major roles in why the Yankees no longer win World Series.
***
There was a time when the Yankees were the gold standard for baseball. They are no longer that.
George Steinbrenner once compared owning the Yankees to owning the Mona Lisa. The Mona Lisa now hangs in Los Angeles.
This Yankees administration let that happen.
The only way that will ever change is if the leaders change their approach. But we've seen this approach for far too long to expect anything different at this point.
This is who the Yankees are.
And it's a shame.
Everyone is missing the real point of the story, one that Paul implies but does not state explicitly. Cashbrenner have trashed the Yankees' brand and soiled the organization's legacy.
I am waiting to see what Durbin does with Milwaukee this year. I never would have given him up. He looked like the real deal and could have solved the leadoff problem as well as infield. They should have gotten Milwaukee to take someone else and if they couldnt then pivoted to signing another top reliever. As it is they have Williams for only one year. Williams is a great pickup, but if he has another great season, there will be a bidding war. I think they could have looked at someone they could sign for 2-3 years.
Sad news that Fay Vincent has died. https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/43667090/former-mlb-commissioner-fay-vincent-dies-86 He ranks with Happy Chandler and Bart Giamatti as the best Baseball Commissioners. The Yankees had no better friend in history than Vincent, who banned George Steinbrenner for life. Of course, Vincent was forced out because he was too player-friendly. The owners replaced Vincent with Bud Selig, the worst Commissioner in history, who among his many predations, reinstated Steinbrenner and turned a blind eye to steroid abuse.
The 9 years of CBS ownership was a disaster, but only half the disaster of the 17 years of George Steinbrenner's colossal failure to produce a championship from 1979 through 1995. It's only been 15 years of Hal frustration, and unlike under George, where they only went to one World Series in that time, Hal has also been to one, plus five more ALCS's.
George Steinbrenner has the longest record of Yankee failure (defined by you as not winning the World Series) by an owner ever -- Farrell and Devery owned the Yankees for only 12 years before selling to Ruppert and Huston.
I feel like this is "old news"...nothing new here from Hal to Cashman to Boone these last 14 years have revealed the one truth... the Yankees do spend money, but they do not spend wisely because they are handicapped by the self-imposed CBT limitations!. The golden age of NY Yankee baseball is long gone!