Well, for starters, that's just for next year. I don't think this team is going to be ready by next year anyway, but they need pieces. They still need to develop and see what they have in guys like Flores and D'Arnaud.
I understand the resentment the Mets have for the Yankees, being the red-headed stepchild in town. But I can't understand why Yankee fans should ever have issue with the Mets, and I grew up when the Yankees were the clear #2 team in town. Still they're in different leagues and are not competing with each other for anything but headlines. They're both the hometown team. The Subway Series is fun, but the "rivalry" component is manufactured to sell tickets and get headlines. The fans can not like each other, but that doesn't make the team rivals.Good post, but I don't know about the "manufactured rivalry" part. Where i'm from in Jersey, you grew up either a Mets or Yankees fan, no in-between. And when I speak to my old Jersey gang, nothing's changed.
It's always been part of the fun for me.
Absolutely not. The Steinbrenner kids simply view the franchise as an investment rather than a competitive sports team. They value brand expansion and profit margins over victories and titles. Don't get me wrong, George LOVED all the money that came with owning the team, but he was at least smart enough to recognize that winning is the ultimate revenue generator. His sons want to just sit back and collect easy money, and partner with the Cowboys and own a soccer team and host bowl games. All easy money. But the Yankees are always going to be their primary revenue generator and it's going to bite them in the ass when they have an empty park and a TV network no one watches because the team is so bad.
Yeah, Stanton would obviously be a big wild card. If they can get him without emptying the farm too mcuh, he'd be priority #1.
Well, you're entitled to your opinion, as are we all.
I know, I know. Especially when it comes to fandom. I just think the fans of the city should pull for the city's teams unless they're directly competing for something.Well, you're entitled to your opinion, as are we all.
On what planet are the Yankees winning 88 games this year? I figured they'd win 84-87 coming into the year BEFORE all the injuries. Now, they'll be extremely lucky to finish at .500. I'm thinking they're looking at about 76 wins.
Also, I think you need to look again. Between the absolute bleakness of their farm system and the fact the Steinbrenners are tightening the purse strings, and the albatross contracts currently biting them squarely in the ass, they're definitely in for a few lean years. They'll always spend, but I think they're hoping to spend more wisely in the future, and other teams' prime players aren't reaching free agency anymore. And, again, while the Yankees always spent big, they weren't these vultures looming over the small market teams like they were made out to be. That was always grossly exaggerated. I mean, how many free agent players did they really lure away from small market teams? Pavano? Sabathia? Giambi? That's about it by my count. And those guys all received fair market value. The rest of the players were either acquire through trades or signed away from other teams who were perfectly capable of re-signing the player themselves, and they spend a ton (and often overpaid) to re-sign their own players.
