If Hank doesn't shut his mouth, I really don't know how I'm going to be feeling about this franchise in a year or two, and this is coming from a season ticket plan holder.
Hahaha. It's like the 80s all over again! I wouldn't worry too much though. As Rich has pointed out, Hank's getting painted a bit wrong. He didn't cave on ARod. Regardless of other circumstances, Alex did come back to him looking for a deal, not the other way around. In the situation Rich pointed out, the deadline Hank set was just for the winter meetings, and that was made pretty clear to anyone who isn't in the media, and just reaching for a story, at this point. Honestly, I like how Hank is conducting business right now. He's got Dad's big mouth, but he's far more calculated than Pop. The things he's saying are painting his targets into a corner, rather than himself. And as for the article Jack posted, I love how it almost says Hank lost in a negotiation against himself for ARod. Let's see, Boras was demanding 350-400 million. (Anyone who thinks he wouldn't have received something in the ballpark, at least after the Mitchell report was released, is crazy.) Rather than anywhere in that range, Alex walked away with 275 guaranteed. He can escalate into his desired range if he puts on a historical performance, and that contract money will be subsidized by advertising revenue on tv, and ticket sales. He's also still letting Cashman pull strings behind the scenes. That's what made things work right before Torre took over. The supposedly quiet Yankees front office, that was actually laying the groundwork for championships. Hank's a winner. I'm taking his side until he does something to make me feel different.
Hank has had good success in the horse industry, although the Steinbrenners keep trying to break through to a Triple Crown win, and can't seem to do that. A good breeder, though. And, the funny thing is, in the thoroughbred racehorse business, the Steinbrenners are prudent with their money and breeding. Frugal, even. They've been out-Steinbrennered fifty-times over by so many others in the business. Of course, in terms of net worth, the Steinbrenner family is just middle of the pack for horse racing. They have been impetuous with jockeys, and will fire them like little Billy Martins if they think a jockey has taken a bad ride. But, for the most part, they're real good horse folk.
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that the goal in horse racing? Wouldn't all horse owners want to own a triple crown winner? I mean it's been what? 20, 30 years since the last one?... so it can't be that easy....
Right. And, it's not like that hasn't been a well-publicized frustration of theirs. Beyond that, Ollie, the goal of horseracing is, first and foremost, to make money. As far as I can tell from the outside, the Kinsman Farm achieves that goal routinely.
Well. Glad to see you coming around to my side of this. The people who scream about Steinbrenner's tactics are the same people who hoped their favorite team would get Arod or Santana on the cheap. Arod may or may not have gotten any other offers but only because people thought the Yankees were out of it. Logic says that the Arod sweepsteaks wouldn't have heated up until much closer to the beginning of spring training. The same is true with Santana.
Believe me, spending oodles and oodles of money on the Yankees is making them oodles and oodles more then if they weren't. George realized that in 2000. The more he spent the more he made and the more valuable the franchise became.
I would like to see what they include. If they are looking at just the team then maybe they are right. If they are looking at the empire (team, YES, overseas income) then I'm sure they are wrong. If you add in the stadium next year then it's not even close.
I'm not sure what you mean about me coming around to your side. It's the same stance I've held all along. If anything, my post is conflicting with things you say, since I credit Hank with allowing Cashman to do his job, which is going rather well. You don't believe that at all. Alex wanted to be a Yankee. That's the factoid no one wants to accept. He made a bad decision listening to Boras about opting out, and lost money for his trouble. As I said all along last season, ARod wanted to be a Yankee. It wasn't a matter of going wherever the best money was, regardless of location. It was about trying to increase his asking price as high as possible from the Yankees, and then signing the contract. It backfired. He accepted that, and came back for less. If it were always just about the money, he'd still be a free agent right now. The man wants a monument in the new park.
I wasn't aware that Hank was even invloved. I know George has been chasing that Crown for a long time, but I don't follow horse racing, so I wasn't aware of total family involvement. Didn't George have a very good horse this past year? I think I remember hearing that. Funny that they handle jockeys the same way they handle baseball managers. The Steinbrenner family is not known for their patience.
Won't give up Hughes Twins General Manager Bill Smith said he was told by Yankee GM Brian Cashman that when lefthander Andy Pettitte decided not to retire and instead pitch in 2008, New York lost interest in trading for Johan Santana. Well, my Yankees sources tell me that they are not going to give up pitcher Phil Hughes in any deal. Cashman doesn't want to give up Hughes, who nearly pitched a no-hitter last year against Texas before having to leave because of an injury. But no doubt the Yankees don't want the Red Sox to get Santana, so there always is a chance they change their minds. Source: Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune- Dec. 15, 2007
Just sayin' . . . . Not that I care, though. Certainly not my money. Code: [B]FORBES[/B] The Business Of Baseball 04.19.07, 6:00 PM ET Rank Team Current Value 1 ($mil) 1-Yr Value Change (%) Debt/Value 2 (%) Revenues ($mil) Operating Income 3 ($mil) 1 New York Yankees 1,200 17 79 302 [COLOR="Red"]-25.2[/COLOR] 2 New York Mets 736 22 83 217 24.4 3 Boston Red Sox 724 17 33 234 19.5 4 Los Angeles Dodgers 632 31 67 211 27.5 5 Chicago Cubs 592 32 0 197 22.2 6 St Louis Cardinals 460 7 53 184 14.0 7 San Francisco Giants 459 12 32 184 18.5 8 Atlanta Braves 458 13 0 183 14.8 9 Philadelphia Phillies 457 8 38 183 11.3 10 Washington Nationals 447 2 56 144 19.5 11 Houston Astros 442 6 12 184 18.4 12 Seattle Mariners 436 2 23 182 21.5 13 Los Angeles Angels 431 17 8 187 11.5 14 Baltimore Orioles 395 10 38 158 17.1 15 Chicago White Sox 381 21 10 173 19.5 16 San Diego Padres 367 4 48 160 5.2 17 Texas Rangers 365 3 73 155 11.2 18 Cleveland Indians 364 4 27 158 24.9 19 Detroit Tigers 357 22 59 170 8.7 20 Toronto Blue Jays 344 20 0 157 11.0 21 Arizona Diamondbacks 339 11 68 154 6.4 22 Colorado Rockies 317 6 28 151 23.9 23 Cincinnati Reds 307 12 13 146 22.4 24 Oakland Athletics 292 24 31 146 14.5 25 Minnesota Twins 288 33 31 131 14.8 26 Milwaukee Brewers 287 22 42 144 20.8 27 Kansas City Royals 282 18 14 123 8.4 28 Pittsburgh Pirates 274 10 37 137 25.3 29 Tampa Bay Devil Rays 267 28 15 134 20.2 30 Florida Marlins 244 8 36 122 43.3
Actually, Hank knows about as much about breeding thoroughbred race horses as anyone in the business. Self-taught. And, yes, Bellamy Road was a Derby favorite from last year. Came in middle of the pack. Unfortunately, Hank can't take credit for breeding Bellamy. That horse was bred elsewhere and bought by the Steinbrenners at auction.
Sort of what I thought. They don't include YES which I believe made in the hundreds of millions last year. The Yankees only own 45% of it but still they get a lot on that alone. When their were rumors of Matsui being traded I read that they make 45 million a year in Japan alone and suppossedly more then that in Latin America. It's very difficult to figure out all the different ways they make money because the books are not open and the number of corporations is probably endless anyway.
I wouldn't be so quick to believe that. The very fact that they are back in talks with Minnesota means Hughes is still on the table. What Cashman may want and what Steinbrenner ultimately decided could be two very different things.
