Anyone else ever day dream about owning the Yankees? I definitely have. It's fun to think about what you would do to make the team better.
There are tons of things I would do, starting with (1) CUTTING PAYROLL. I've made this argument several times in the past: a good team spends money wisely, no matter how much they make. "Spend smart, not hard" to borrow and slightly alter a common phrase. The Yankees once again lead the league in salary with $228 million. For the first time in several years, there was actually a close second, that being the Dodgers with $216 million. The Yankees have, by my count, a whopping $111 million coming off the books, (counting a 50 game suspension for Alex Rodriguez), but also at least 11 holes to fill. If they can fill those holes with just $77 million in salary, they can meet their stated goal of getting under $189 million for the season.
If I were the owner, it would be a mandate to get under that figure. And going forward in future years I would stay near or below the luxury tax threshold. Signing a big money free agent, especially one tied to draft pick compensation, would not happen often. We would do it, sure, but only when it makes sense for us.
It's just not necessary to gorge yourself with free agent talent. Look at the teams in the postseason and you'll see that's true. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Oakland, St. Louis, etc. These teams show you can win without signing big money free agents.
This brings me to the second thing I would do, which is (2) NEGOTIATE HARD WITH ROBINSON CANO. I want Robinson Cano to stay. Lets just get that factoid out of the way. I WANT ROBINSON CANO TO STAY...but for a reasonable sum. In Major League Baseball, if there are any free agents worth spending gobs of money on, it's your own. The system encourages players to re-sign with their teams. If a big money FA leaves their current team, chances are they're costing their new team a draft pick, (and also giving their now former team one).
I want Robbie to stay because I think he can be the next great bomber. We developed that kid. HE'S A YANKEE. But he doesn't deserve more money from the Yankees than he can reasonably expect from any other team. Pay him what he's worth, not a penny more. He's been paid handsomely by the Yankees. He's far from destitute. They don't owe him a thing. The team needs to do their research, make their offer and stick to it. If he walks, let him walk and take your draft pick. That's what I would do.
Now, I want to make this clarification. If I own the Yankees, we wouldn't be going cheap. I'd still spend a lot of money, but it wouldn't necessarily be on payroll. I would (3) DIVERT THE SAVINGS INTO PLAYER DEVELOPMENT. There's NO excuse for the Yankees not to have the best player development system in the league. The ability to spend money in player development has been tightened by the most recent CBA but not completely. If I was owner, the Yankees' budget for scouting and minor league coaching would lead the league by the same kind of margin they've lead the league in major league salary. I would go out and hire away the director of player development from St. Louis or Oakland or Tampa Bay. Whatever they want, I would show them the money. Then we'd work together to assemble the best scouts, minor league coaches, pitching and hitting coordinators that money could buy. Like John Hammond said in Jurassic Park "spare no expense". And this, in my opinion, is the way baseball teams should be created...from the ground up!
Now, for a few years, times may be lean. We'd probably lose for a while as we cycled off from the old wasteful contracts and built up the farm system. Fans would be mad, and I get that. And if there's one fan base you don't want to anger, it's the Yankee Empire. There are two things I would do about that, starting with (4) CUTTING TICKET PRICES. The Yankees lead the league in ticket prices, just like most other things that are related to money. The ticket prices are justified by the winning. Because I'd make an explicit effort to cut payroll and effectively make the team worse in the short term, I'd cut ticket prices as a goodwill gesture. There's actually another reason I'd cut prices- I hate seeing empty seats on TV. The Yankees should never have an unsold ticket. They are the most famous sports franchise in the Western Hemisphere. People pilgrimage to the Bronx just to see them. And those empty seats behind home plate are embarrassing. I'd slash prices on those, and all others, to create demand and make sure the seats get filled.
The other thing I'd do to appease then fan base would be (5) INCREASE CHARITABLE GIVINGS. I want to start by saying I realize the team is already VERY charitable. They're already amazing, so this is no slight to ownership. I'm just saying whatever it is they spend now, in order to smooth things over with the fans for slashing payroll, I'd take the rest of the savings from cutting player payroll and put it into local charity.
The final thing I'd do, and I'm sure there's a lot of hoops to jump through but I'd work hard to make it possible, is (6) GO PUBLIC. I have a feeling there are restrictions in place by MLB that forbid such a thing, so this may not be realistic, but if I could have those overturned, I'd make owning a piece of the team open to the public. Right now there are only two professional sports franchises that I know are publicly owned: the Green Bay Packers and Manchester United. The Packers are not publicly traded, but they are famously owned by their fans. (I am actually a shareholder). Man U and the Yankees are arguably the two most famous and successful sports franchises in the world. If Man U, (ticket symbol: MANU), can be publicly traded the Yankees should too. In fact, fans of all teams should be able to actually own a piece of their team, and I'd do what I could to give Yankees fans that opportunity. And where would the new capital go? That's right...it would go into player development.
One last thing: I know nothing can be done about it now, but I owned the team several years ago, I would have (7) SAVED THE OLD YANKEE STADIUM. A lot of the Yankees mystique was tied up in that building and I miss it. My first trip there was the greatest day of my life until I met my wife and we had our son. So that day is like number three on my list. I would have done whatever it took to keep that building alive.
Ok, now I'm done. What would you do? Email me at info@thebronxempire.com or tweet me @thebronxempire and let me know your thoughts.
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