"He loves the money."
Those were Cashman's words. As in, he loves the money more than the team. The team who taught him how to play baseball and rescued him from that cave where he was being raised by wolves to be an accountant. As in, doesn't Robinson Cano realize how ungrateful he'll appear if he doesn't resign with us? If he's greedy instead of loyal?
Frankly, Cano is lucky the Yankees have even made an offer considering what a capitalist son of a #*&@ he is. I mean, how much money does he really even need?! Why can't he be more loyal to the team that taught him to hit, whose wealthy-beyond-imagination owner is currently attempting to lower payroll in order to keep more money in his own pocket rather than in Cano's. But it's not because he loves money, it's because he's fiscally responsible. Greed isn't a really a white-male vice anyway. It's those materialist coloreds who don't know what to do with money once they have it, and quickly forget everything the Yankees have done for him at no profit to themselves.
Okay, enough sarcasm. We have to ask the question though, should Cano even want to sign with New York at this point. Let's not forget that Cashman alienated Jeter during their last negotiation, which may be why Jeter went to Steinbrenner directly when he was interested in negotiating a new deal this offseason. And let's not forget that Cashman has completely alienated A-Rod, a friend of Cano's and, for better or worse, one of the team's remaining stars. Is that the sort of boss you want to work for? A guy whose first move in the negotiation is to question your integrity as a human being, hoping that cows you into accepting whatever the Yanks offer in some effort to protect your legacy?
Here's the thing, it's not 1955. Nobody really cares whether you play with one franchise your whole career anymore. When was the last time you heard this conversation:
Person 1: Should this guy get into the Hall of Fame?
Person 2: No, he played for more than one franchise.
Person 1: Good point.
Sure, these guys get paid more than well enough to stay with one team, but there isn't actually a good reason for them to limit their earnings just to do so. We may have grown up as Yankee fans, but the players aren't fans, they're employees. How loyal are you to the first place that gave you a job? Still working there? Exactly.
Increasingly, I am not only skeptical of the Yankees's approach to building a roster, both from a free agency and player development standpoint, I dislike the personalities in the front office. True, we root for the players, but in this day and age the front office is much more the face of the franchise than the players because of free agency, and these guys are not easy to root for. We have a d*#kish GM whose personal woes increasingly seem to stem from an all-around d*#kishness, and an owner whose biggest concern seems to be not spending money he'd never miss anyway.
Go team.
5 comments:
I agree with all of this.
Free agency is a compromise between players and teams. Before they get to arbitration, players often earn a tiny fraction of their actual value. Arbitration levels the playing field more, but the owners still have a huge advantage. Only when a player hits free agency does he have real bargaining power, and an elite player like Cano can earn what the market really thinks he's worth. Players who reach free agency get to be free agents.
The players understand that, or learn that from their agents and union. The owners understand that. Most fans understand that. That's why Cashman's comment is bizarre. It's like he doesn't understand that.
It's odd on other levels too. The Yankees are mostly hired guns, many of whom are among the highest-paid players at their position. Why should Cano give up millions when the Yankees are dumping barrels of cash on ARod, Sabathia, and Teixeira, all signed to huge free agent contracts? When the Yankees gave Rafael Soriano a staggeringly big contract based on one good year? When the Yankees gave Jeter an extra $2.5 million for no reason? Speaking of Jeter, he never gave the Yankees a hometown discount - even now, he's squeezing every last dollar out of the team. Why should Cano be any different?
Cashman also seems to have forgotten the Yankees policy on extensions - don't offer them. The Yankees missed the boat on the trend that the Rays started with Longoria. You give a young, talented player a team-friendly deal which still makes the player set for life. The Yankees didn't work out an extension with Cano and now they are paying the price. If Cano loves the money so much, why didn't the team extend him years ago?
I don't remember Cashman acting this way until the last year or two. I hope he's going through some kind of phase, because it's really annoying.
You're right that he wasn't like this before, but I think he's gotten more comfortable as he's been given more authority and so he's just letting it all hang loose. He may not realize, as douche bags often do not, that we are not nearly as impressed with him as he is.
And great point about Jeter not giving a discount either!
Cashman's playing a weak game. With these new payroll constraints, he's trying to make other arguments for why Cano should sign there. That's why he's focusing on player loyalty, and becoming the first Dominican born player in monument park as his selling points. I bet you anything, this competitive offer the Yankees are talking about is nonsense. They're looking at McCann and Beltran plus Tanaka. There's no way they're planning on spending big bucks on Cano, with all these other players in sight. I wonder if they're rethinking their 7 year $161 million offer, and that's why they're playing these games.
They must realize that the drop off from Cano to Catch N' Throw at second base will kill their playoff chances. His loss will offset the gain from signing other FAs. But that's the problem with this team. There are too many holes to plug them all.
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