2014 Yanx - The Crumble Continues ???

[Lefty Specialist]

They'd really been working toward getting under the cap for one year to re-set all the penalties. But when push came to shove, outbidding everyone else for the best new toy won out.

[Edgy MD]

I don't think he profiles like Irabu. More like Halladay, I think, or Maddux. Coming off a 24-0 season and working on a 26-game winning streak... that's no joke. His ERAs the last few years... 1.27, 1.87, 1.27. That's not a bag of Goldfish crackers.

Downsides: His K/9 has been dropping, from 1.06 in 2011, to 0.97 in 2012, to 0.86 last year. They've changed the ball or something, haven't they? The real downside is that, like Daisuke, he had one of those legendary work loads in high school that are like something out of a comic book or a W.P. Kinsella novel. They should be happy to get three high-end seasons out of the seven.

But at least they didn't have to pay $51.1 million up front for the honor. And he's only 25, only four months older than Harvey. It's defensible, certainly, but it's hard to see how this is a safer risk than Cano.

[seawolf17]

I hate the stupid Yankees.

[ashie62]

So the deal is 7/155 and I assume add 20 million for posting.

Will Tenaka be a fat pussy toad??? Only the shadow knows....

Off topic..but seeing money flying around like this makes me wish Sandy would call Stephen Drews agent and get er dun. Its only money for chrissakes...

Lets Go Mets!!!

[nymr83]

Ashie62 wrote: So the deal is 7/155 and I assume add 20 million for posting. Will Tenaka be a fat pussy toad??? Only the shadow knows.... Off topic..but seeing money flying around like this makes me wish Sandy would call Stephen Drews agent and get er dun. Its only money for chrissakes... Lets Go Mets!!!

its only someone else's money you mean.

[ashie62]

Well..at least money is replaceable lol...

If certain major league teams are worth a billion or more why don't they spend more on payroll? It is supposed to be an investment..

I mean the Mets are being outspent by the Royals this season..so far anyway...Never would have guessed that could happen five years ago...

[Zvon]

Ashie62 wrote: Well..at least money is replaceable lol... If certain major league teams are worth a billion or more why don't they spend more on payroll? It is supposed to be an investment.. I mean the Mets are being outspent by the Royals this season..so far anyway...Never would have guessed that could happen five years ago...

What are the Royals ticket prices? I used to think: hey, it's only money. But unfortunately I've come to think its more like: Hey, its our freakin' ticket prices. I really don't care what they pay players. Sometimes I find it funny, like with this Tanaka guy.

I am very concerned about ticket prices. An average family should be able to afford a night at the ballpark.

[ashie62]

Zvon wrote: Well..at least money is replaceable lol... If certain major league teams are worth a billion or more why don't they spend more on payroll? It is supposed to be an investment.. I mean the Mets are being outspent by the Royals this season..so far anyway...Never would have guessed that could happen five years ago... What are the Royals ticket prices? I used to think: hey, it's only money. But unfortunately I've come to think its more like: Hey, its our freakin' ticket prices. I really don't care what they pay players. Sometimes I find it funny, like with this Tanaka guy. I am very concerned about ticket prices. An average family should be able to afford a night at the ballpark.

You have apoint...For me...its easier and more enjoyble to watch them on TV...I don't know what the price point is that keeps people home but I truly wonder how anything but a well-heeled family can attend a game at any of the major sports...

[Fman99]

I hope we're looking at "Kei Igawa 2: Electric Boogaloo," where Tenaka and the TKO crew have to break dance to save the rec center from the evil real estate developer.

[Edgy MD]

The Royals are an interesting test case --- no big ticket items, but a lot of guys between $3 million and $13 million. A willingness unusual for teams in their position to spend $4 million on supporting players instead of finding a rookie or a pre-arbitration guy that may be just as good but isn't as field-proven. Usually I think that's a poor use of money, unless you have it burn, but we'll see.

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: I don't think he profiles like Irabu. More like Halladay, I think, or Maddux. Coming off a 24-0 season and working on a 26-game winning streak... that's no joke. His ERAs the last few years... 1.27, 1.87, 1.27. That's not a bag of Goldfish crackers.

To paraphrase an old baseball joke, we should sign the guys who were able to hit him.

Later

[Vic Sage]

Zvon wrote: Well..at least money is replaceable lol... If certain major league teams are worth a billion or more why don't they spend more on payroll? It is supposed to be an investment.. I mean the Mets are being outspent by the Royals this season..so far anyway...Never would have guessed that could happen five years ago... What are the Royals ticket prices? I used to think: hey, it's only money. But unfortunately I've come to think its more like: Hey, its our freakin' ticket prices. I really don't care what they pay players. Sometimes I find it funny, like with this Tanaka guy. I am very concerned about ticket prices. An average family should be able to afford a night at the ballpark.

A team's payroll has no direct relationship to its ticket prices, just like the price of crack and crystal meth isn't determined by its production costs. Prices are determined by demand, and continually float up to the highest level that the team can sell them at. If a team is losing regularly, the lesser demand causes downward pressure on price, but they don't cut ticket prices just because they cut payroll. Less attractive games cost less, not because the payroll is cheaper those days but because tix are harder to sell to such games.

But ticket sales are an increasingly less important revenue source for most franchises anyway; they make more from concessions, merchandising and parking, but mostly from their share of media licenses (some even having their own networks), and revenue sharing from other teams, than they do from ticket prices.

I think teams like it when we blame their high prices on how much they have to pay those "overpriced ballplayers"; it displaces their responsibility.

[Ceetar]

Mets ticket price average is probably what, $30? if they drew 3 million fans again that's 90 million dollars.

[Vic Sage]

current Yankee lineup:

CF - Ellsbury (30/$22m)
SS - Jeter (40/$12m) / Ryan (32/$2m)
RF - Beltran (37/$15m) / Ichiro (40/$6.5m)
1b - Texiera (34/$22.5m)
DH - Soriano (38/$5m)
C - McCann (30/$17m) / Cervelli (28/$0.7m)
LF - Gardner (32/$5.6m)
3b - Nunez (27/~$1m) / [? ]
2b - Roberts (36/$2m) / Johnson (32/$3m)

SP - Sabathia (33/$22m)
SP - Kuroda (39/$16M)
SP - Tanaka (25/$22m)
SP - Nova (27/$3.3m)
SP - [Pineda] (25/~$1m)

RP - Robertson (29/$5.2m)
RP - Thornton (37/$3.5m)
RP - Kelley (30/$1.75m)
RP - [Eppley] (28/~$1m)
RP/SP - [Phelps] (27/~$.5m)
RP/SP - [warren] (26/~$.5m)

additional 2014 payroll:
*A-Rod ($3.15m)

[Vic Sage]

Ceetar wrote: Mets ticket price average is probably what, $30? if they drew 3 million fans again that's 90 million dollars.

First of all, you have no idea what their "avg tkt price" is. They have corporate boxes and luxury seats purchased as business expenses that are pre-sold at obscene rates, and your averaging that against $15 day-of tickets in the corners of the upper deck? Overall attendance can fall and they could still make more, depending on the sales of the high-end seats. similarly, attendance can rise dramatically and likewise have little impact on the bottom line, if increase is based on low-price seats.

second of all, so what? Do you think for a second that if the Mets were able to drop their payroll even further but still drew 3M, that ticket prices would go DOWN? In this industry, price is based on demand, not production cost.

[Ceetar]

Vic Sage wrote: second of all, so what? Do you think for a second that if the Mets were able to drop their payroll even further but still drew 3M, that ticket prices would go DOWN? In this industry, price is based on demand, not production cost.

no, ticket prices won't go down. They'll creep up, because that's what they do.

But payroll? If the Mets are in an 'don't spend more than the Mets make' mode, then absolutely they might push it higher based on making more money.

[Edgy MD]

Mets ticket prices haven't really crept up in recent years, but inched down, as demand has diminished.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Mets ticket prices haven't really crept up in recent years, but inched down, as demand has diminished.

correct. Although really it's mostly shifted to premium games and weekends more than really went down. And they've done all sorts of deals and giveaways. But the amount of money they make directly from fan tickets is not trivial, and absolutely factors into the teams overall budget which includes payroll.

The difference from KC is the potential money from the other 2million fans that could, and would, attend Mets games if they were winning. The Royals drew 2 million in their post WS years, but that was 20-25 years ago. The Mets drew 3.5 6 years ago.

[Edgy MD]

Revenues factoring into payroll does not mean payroll drives ticket prices.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Baseball�s Worst Contracts

1. 3B Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees: four years, $61 million* So, let�s see. Even after a season-long 2014 suspension that takes the Yankees off the hook for almost all of his $25 million salary, Rodriguez will still make a tick more than $20 million a year through his 42nd birthday. Amid major hip problems and other maladies, it�s hard to know if he�ll ever be able to play anything close to a full season again, even after resting this year. The notion of A-Rod playing for the Yankees or anyone else again might be merely hypothetical at this point, anyway. Baseball colluded against Bonds after the home run king hit .276/.480/.565 in 126 games for the Giants in 2007. From a PR standpoint, A-Rod has been 10,000 times the pain in the ass Bonds was, and he�s nowhere near the hitter Bonds was when teams slammed the door in the San Francisco slugger�s face. In all likelihood, the Yankees are going to end up eating the rest of his contract. Given the expectations the fan base has, and given the big revenue hits the Bombers might suffer if they settle for third-place rosters, it would behoove the Yankees to ignore A-Rod�s sunk cost, embrace their Evil Empire reputation, and go buy more players who might one day appear on this list. *Well, four years and $63.9 million, if you want to get technical. While A-Rod�s 162-game suspension will cost him the bulk of his 2014 salary, a quirk will allow him to pocket $2.9 million this year.

http://grantland.com/features/mlb-worst-contracts-alex-rodriguez-albert-pujols/

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

Hey, it works out perfectly for the Yankees, because they can slide A-Rod to SS in 2015.

[Fman99]

Mets � Willets Point wrote: Hey, it works out perfectly for the Yankees, because they can slide A-Rod to SS in 2015.

This gave me a hard on.

[MFS62]

Fman99 wrote: Hey, it works out perfectly for the Yankees, because they can slide A-Rod to SS in 2015. This gave me a hard on.

So do a lot of things.

Later

[Ceetar]

I like to slide this picture into any Yankees thread..

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

In a way, it's comforting. The Mets aren't the only organization in this burg that sees its loyal ex-foot-soldiers get a proper sendoff in the press... right, Kevin Long and Mark Teixeira?

Teixeira said teammates tried to talk to Cano, but didn't seem to get through to him. "Running hard down the line, that doesn�t cost anything. That�s just, it�s easy to do, and I think Kevin�s point was, why are you letting people criticize you when all you have to do is hustle a little bit?" Teixeria said. "It wasn�t a huge deal in the clubhouse, but we did notice it."

But, y'know, at least Teixeira's ready to give his all the moment Spring Training start-- oh, wait.

[Frayed Knot]

Four-year deal for Brett Gardner despite the lengthy commitment to Ellsbury in CF.
It is nice to see Yanx mgmt investing in their young players though (Gardner turns 31 this season)

[Edgy MD]

Yankees play in Panama, salute Mariano Rivera, then proceed to get no-hit by four Marlins pitchers.

Oh, well, it's spring. You just know the Yankees, taking a road trip like that, packed their lineup with high numbers and no-names. Looking at the lineup now, I'm finding names like Derek Jeter, Carlos Beltran, Alfonso Soriano and Brett Gardner. Who ever heard of them?

The Marlins, by the way, are looking pretty Oriolian in their springtime togs:



Here's to more victories over the Yankees by teams clad in that color scheme.

[Guest Mets Guy in Michigan]

Jeter in mid-season form -- two wiffs in three AB.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I don't know if anyone's watching the opener in Houston, but it's hilarious. (All the moreso as I-- a fan who generally pays attention to other teams and an avid fantasy baseball player-- only recognize about 4 of the Astros starters offhand.)

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

It was really great. Balls hit past drawn-in infield, Sabathia appearing to jaw at McCann who looks like shit behind the plate, Beltran making an awful throw to third base, Teixera making a terrible throw to home, Jeter getting drilled in the arm. It is beautiful.

Houston threatening again, 2 on 0 out in the 4th up 6-0.