Report: Hal "Willing" To Spend At The Trade Deadline

I don't think there's anything he could have said differently given the team's current physical status, but in speaking to reporters on Thursday, Hal Steinbrenner indicated a willingness on his part to add payroll at the trade deadline to improve the team:

“[We’re] always willing to look at options come July ... Some years we've done stuff, like last year with Soriano. Some years we haven’t. But we’re not going to ever lay down and die. We’re going to do what we need to do to stay in.”

Hal got a little tight with the wallet after the team locked up Masahiro Tanaka and landed McCann, Ellsbury, and Beltran earlier in the offseason.  The holes left on the roster as a result have shown through over the first 40 games.  The infield is weak defensively and incredibly weak on both sides of the ball up the middle and there have been some whispers about Stephen Drew again this week.  The rotation is in tatters with 60% of it on the DL and the internal replacements not doing much to ease those losses.  Every team out there knows the Yankees need pitching, so the cost is going to be steep whether they start to look for some now or closer to the deadline.  How much the Yanks are willing to part with prospect-wise will determine how much help they can go out and get.

Hal Is Drinking The Small Sample Size Kool-Aid

(Courtesy of Getty Images)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Yesterday's rainout gave everybody an extra day to process the first 13 games and form some more opinions on what this team needs right now.  Obviously the infield is the biggest area of concern, but not according to Hal Steinbrenner.  Speaking to reporters for what I believe is the first time since the regular season started, Hal shared his thoughts on the Yankees' current infield situation.  They were unanimously positive:

"I'm pretty content with our infield right now.  I think guys like Anna and Solarte have been pleasant surprises. Kelly Johnson has been good. Derek is healthy. So so far, so good. But it's early."

Nothing to really argue with there.  If I wanted to pick nits, I could say that calling Derek Jeter "healthy" when he just had to miss a few games due to a sore quad is a bit of a stretch, but I won't go there.  Hal's basically right about everybody he mentioned in that statement.  Anna and Solarte have been unexpected surprises, Johnson has been very good at the plate and better than anticipated at the corner infield spots, and Jeter has been relatively healthy and productive through 2 weeks.  But Teix is out, Cervelli is out, Brendan Ryan is out, and Brian Roberts will be out for a yet to be determined amount of time.  That should be enough injuries to put the Yankees in the market for some more infield help, right?  Wrong.

Hal Names D-Rob The Closer, Scores Another Point With Me

(From fireman to chief of the house.)

On any other day, this would have been bigger news.  When Masahiro Tanaka signs a 7-year deal worth over $22 mil a year, it gets swallowed up in the wake.  While commenting on the Tanaka signing and the team's plans for the remainder of the offseason, Hal made the first public declaration that David Robertson will indeed be the Yankee closer this season.  Via Joel Sherman:

“I have a lot of confidence in Robertson and so does Joe. Robertson is going to be our closer, and I believe he will do a good job."

Now whether Hal has the final say to make that call or if he discussed it beforehand with Cash and/or Joe, I don't know.  What I do know is that it's the right decision and I support it 100%.  I've been saying for a long time now that D-Rob is the man for the job and the team should commit to him and props to Hal for finally manning up and doing it.  I swear it's like the guy reads this site and is trying to change my opinion of him.  Now somebody hit the music!

The Real Reason Hal Gave Jeter More Money

Via a Jon Heyman report from Wednesday:

"The intrerest in Drew is interesting in that Derek Jeter, the Yankes' iconic shortstop, has already signed back for $12 million. Steinbrenner, who did that deal, has already talked to Jeter to warn him that they might seek a starting shortstop due to Jeter's status as a player returning from a severe ankle injury and missed most of last year. Jeter hasn't spoken publicly since signing, but he's said to understand the Yankees' shortstop interest after speaking with Steinbrenner."

So it looks like it wasn't just paying Jeter because he's Jeter, but rather paying him as a way to appease him while the team looks for better shortstop options.  Either way it was still overbidding against themselves when they didn't have to, but if that was Hal's plan then that makes the decision look a little better than it did 2 weeks ago.  The battle in the media would be even uglier if it revolved around Jeter's money and his playing time.  It looks like Hal wanted to get ahead of that by basically paying Jeter to keep his and his agent's mouth shut so the team could look for a better present and future option without issue.  Between this information and the news on a possible Brendan Ryan return, it looks like Jeter could be spending a lot of time at DH in 2014.

The One Where I Say Something Positive About Hal Steinbrenner

(Courtesy of the AP)

Anybody who reads my stuff with any kind of regularity know I'm not a Hal Steinbrenner fan.  I don't think he's a smart baseball guy, I don't think he's as smart of a businessman as he fancies himself, and I don't appreciate his lame attempts to try to convince the Yankee fanbase that his #1 goal is still to field a championship-caliber team when none of the decisions being made are in line with that declaration.  I find most of what he says to be incredibly insulting towards me as a relatively intelligent Yankee fan, and to me he's more like that meddling boss at your office who thinks he's an authority on everything just because he's in the position he's in.

All that said, I have to put my hatred aside and give credit where credit is due.  I have to give some props to Hal for what he and the front office team have already done this offseason.  It hasn't been much, but it's been enough to show that maybe, just maybe, there's more than the bottom line and luxury tax avoidance being considered here.

Surprise, Surprise. Yankees Still The Most Valuable MLB Franchise By A Wide Margin

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Quick, how much money do you think this down year cost the Yankees in terms of franchise value?  If you answered any amount of money, you're wrong.  According to Bloomberg's latest calculations, the Yankees are valued at approximately $3.3 billion.  That's $1.2 billion more than the next most valuable MLB franchise (the Dodgers), and almost $1 billion more than what Forbes valued them at back in March.  Despite the scaled back payroll and subsequent failure to reach the postseason, stadium attendance that was down from 2012, and TV ratings that were the same, the Yankees are still the gold standard when it comes to professional baseball value and are still practically printing their own money.

While it is good news in the grand scheme of things - I'd much rather the Yankees be the most valuable franchise instead of one of the least - it does present an easy opportunity to revisit the topic of Hal's plans for the team.  If you'll allow me a few minutes to beat a dead horse again, this valuation from Bloomberg and continued growth of the franchise's worth makes this payroll slashing, luxury tax avoiding plan seem all the more ridiculous than it did the first time I heard about it.

Hal Late To The Party Again With His Minor League Meeting Of The Minds

(Courtesy of Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News)

(Originally published at IIATMS/TYA)

Earlier in the week, Hal Steinbrenner made the news when it was reported that he called some of his baseball people together in Tampa to discuss the team's lack of upper-level Minor League talent.  The Yankees have been patching holes in their roster since before the regular season started, and they've used a fair amount of rookies as part of the patchwork plan, with little offensive success to speak of.

The Yankees not developing much homegrown talent is hardly a new talking point.  The last batch of real prospects was the Hughes-Kennedy-Joba trio that in a matter of months might all be on different teams, and the last batch of real prospects to stick and make a positive impact at the Major League level was the Core Four.  The Yankees being stuck between the marginally competitive rock and the 2014 payroll budget hard place has just as much to do with their failure to scout, draft, and develop Major League talent as it has to do with any of the other organizational missteps they've made in years past.

Remember This?

"... the commitment to field a championship team is paramount, and that won’t change. Our fans expect that.”

How about this?

“All I can assure the fans is, we’re always going to field a championship-caliber team every single year.”

How's that working out for you, Hal?  Where did "getting absolutely shut down by Jesse Chavez" fall on that championship-caliber team plan?

Really, Hal??

Oh, Hal.  Not you too.  This is the type of stuff the Mikes Lupica, Ians O'Conner, and Bobs Klapisch of the world are supposed to be force feeding down our throats about A-Rod.  Not you.  All you were supposed to do was talk about the Pinstripe Bowl and you just couldn't resist when someone asked about Alex.

“There have no doubt been times when we've been disappointed in him and we've conveyed that to him and he understands that. But look everybody’s human and everybody makes mistakes. If you've got a guy over the course of 10 years, there’s going to be times any of us make mistakes."

Once again, nobody was talking about A-Rod.  At all.  He's been quietly minding his business and rehabbing in Tampa, with the occasional quick update blurb here and there on his progress.  Now you've got to drag him to the front of the stage and shine the spotlight on him again?  While the team is spinning its tires trying to pull out of its first major slump of the season??

Shut Up, Hal

(Courtesy of the AP)

Hal Steinbrenner was in the house yesterday for team photos and he took the opportunity to make what I believe are his first significant public comments on the team's performance this season.  As expected, Hal's comments were all of the positive variety.  He said he was "pleasantly surprised" but "not shocked" at how well the team had done, citing the unexpectedly good performances of some of the veteran signings and the young MiL players called up to fill the injury gaps.

I know the day after a victory to put the team 11 games over .500 and third best overall in MLB isn't the time to get salty, but Hal's comments did nothing but make me roll my eyes when I read them yesterday.  I'm sure his feelings of excitement and surprise are genuine, as they are for a lot of other fans.  I just can't help but feel like this hot start makes Hal feel like his approach this offseason was the right one, and that in his mind his continued commitment to "building a championship-caliber team" is justified by the club's current record.

The real credit here goes to Cash and his scouting staff and Joe and his coaching staff for finding cheap players who still had something left in the tank and coaching them in a way that allows them to best use what they've still got.  All Hal did was handcuff Cash into only being able to target these players and force Joe to build the best lineup he could with them.  So enjoy the early success, Hal.  Your team's performance has given you the right to do that.  Just don't pat yourself on the back too much thinking you were a key part of this and that this was your plan all along.

P.S.- "I knew that the guys we got in the offseason were veterans. Whether people thought they were worth getting or not, I felt they were veterans and this is what you expect veterans to do.”  You knew that old players who had been in MLB for years and years were veterans?  Real astute observation.  I'm sure that was the determining factor in Hafner getting signed.

Hal Ditching The $189 Million Budget? Believe It When You See It

(Budget cutbacks in the style department too, huh?  Courtesy of Getty Images)

After a dark, dismal offseason, there may be some rays of spending sunshine peeking through the clouds.  At least that's the implication in Wally Matthews' latest post from yesterday afternoon.  In it, Matthews suggests that Hal Steinbrenner's sudden willingness to engage in contract extension talks with Robinson Cano could signal a shift in Hal's philosophy on spending and the eventual end of the $189 million payroll budget for next season.  Matthews cites "sources" in the story, unnamed ones of course, and the whole concept of the story seems like a big conclusion to jump to based on a few reports of the two sides talking.  It's great in theory, but being willing to negotiate a new deal with Cano before his current one is up doesn't exactly trump every other offseason decision the Yankees made.

Give It Up, Hal

Maybe you should consider not talking when reporters put a recorder in front of your face, guy:

“All I can assure the fans is, we’re always going to field a championship-caliber team every single year.”

Yeah, you keep assuring us, Hal.  We totally believe you when you say that because your actions this offseason have totally been in line with your words.

You know what?  It's not even worth re-hashing this type of stuff from Hal.  I've said my piece on it before.  I just wish he'd shut the fuck up.