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Give This Man a Baseball Team

Posted by Sean P. at 5:00 pm 13 Responses »
Feb 032011

Courtesy thenextweb.com

Seemingly every time a baseball team is on the brink of being sold we start hearing a lot about Mark Cuban. The 52-year-old billionaire is the owner of the perennially successful Dallas Mavericks, a team which he transformed from a league doormat to a top Western Conference talent. While he’s widely known for his antics at Mavericks games (he attends them all home and away) his personality has overshadowed his accomplishments as an owner.

Cuban was a breath of fresh air for Dallas, changing the way the entire front office thought about basketball operations. He hired statistical analysts, one of the first basketball owners to do so. He changed the way the players were accommodated, hired nutritionists to develop individualized meals for the athletes, upgraded their travel accommodations and even was the first owner to personally ask for and answer e-mail in the early 2000s. He’s a complete paragon as an owner. He doesn’t attend games in a luxury box dressed in a suit with his pals. He sits behind the bench in a Mav’s Jersey screaming at officials. He’s as much a fan as he is an owner. He’s even responsible for the 3 sided shot clock- after readers e-mailed him complaining that the shot clock on top of the basket wasn’t visible from all angles, he went ahead and installed a 3 sided clock which can now be found in every arena in the NBA.

So is it really surprising that Bud Selig keeps a guy like this out of ownership in favor of this idiot who literally bought the team with borrowed money and a big parking lot? Well if you know Bud, it’s not. Here’s a money quote from Rob Neyer:

“Major League Baseball prefers – and maybe requires, unofficially – prospective owners with plenty of money but very little public credibility. That way, they’re more likely to be grateful for being allowed into the club, and willing to (mostly) take their marching orders from the Commissioner’s Office. Go along to get along.

Mark Cuban never really had a chance, for the simple reason that his money is largely irrelevant. Baseball teams are worth what they’re worth. You might figure they simply go to the highest bidder, but that’s not really how it works. Essentially, MLB decides how much the team is worth, three or four ownership groups put together financial packages for that amount, and MLB chooses one of them. In that scenario, Mark Cuban’s going to finish last every time, because MLB doesn’t need his money and MLB doesn’t want an owner who’s already famous and won’t keep his mouth shut. “

And that’s really the problem with baseball isn’t it? From instant replay to the way it fails to market its smaller franchises and younger stars, Major League baseball has languished in a way. Of course the league is making money and people still go to games but how much better could it be doing? Will baseball continue to get completely eclipsed by the NFL forever? There hasn’t been any outcry about the two small market teams in the super bowl on Sunday, has there? I can’t imagine what the whining would be like for a Pirates Twins World Series. Have you SEEN these commercials? Have you had to endure watching the MLB Network?

I digress. This isn’t about Bud Selig being the worst commissioner in sports (although he is). This is about how good it would be for the game to have an owner like Mark Cuban leading the Pirates or Astros. The way the New York fans lionize George Steinbrenner is there any reason to think Mets fans wouldn’t do the same for Mark Cuban? How much fun would it be to have another giant monolith of an owner to root against? How great would it be to have Mark Cuban pushing the innovation of a league that still likes to think of itself as planted in the 1970s?

Sadly we’ll probably never find out. After running into all the roadblocks it looks like Cuban is done chasing the elusive grasp of MLB ownership. I think that’s really too bad for all of us.

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Sunday afternoon link dump

Posted by Steve S. at 10:00 am 2 Responses »
Jul 182010

Photo courtesy of the NY Daily News

Very eventful week in Yankeeland, let’s just knock this one out bullet-point style

-Just in case you missed the video tributes for George Stienbenner and Bob Sheppard, here they are. Both were very well done without getting too sappy or going over the top in either case.

-Really touching piece about Suzyn Waldman recounting stories about the first time she met George, and their relationship throughout the years. I must admit I got teary eyed reading this on more than one occasion. Parts are laugh-out-loud funny, too. Check out this opening line by George the day she first met him-

“I like my women to spend my money and look real pretty,” Steinbrenner bellowed during their first face-to-face meeting in 1988. “I don’t like them to be pilots, policemen or sports reporters.”

-There’s been a zillion stories like this lately, all of them very touching. What I didn’t realize was that George insisted that they tell no one about what he did for them. George always felt that if more than two people knew about it, then it was done for the wrong reason.

-Tim McCarver makes an ass of himself. In other news, water is wet. The timing is also just great, Timmy. Get those shots in before the family gets to bury the man. Classy.

-One thing you could always say about George. Love him or hate him, he had a sense of humor.

-Andrew Marchand says that time is running out for Joba.

-Jeter’s slumping again this month (.178/.275/.200 in 45 ABs) and looks bad at the plate. He missed a fastball right over the middle of the plate in the 9th inning on Friday and a slider that had no bite right in his eyes. Anyone can miss a pitch, but two meatballs in a row makes you raise an eyebrow. Is he hurt? No idea, but as his age and after the bad stretch he had from May 3-19 (12 for 71/.169) you really start to wonder about him.

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Steinbrenner Hospitalized

Posted by Stephen R. at 9:26 am 3 Responses »
Jul 132010

According to multiple sources, George Steinbrenner has been transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa.  The report is that he has suffered a massive heart attack and is believed to be in serious condition.  More info as it comes in…

UPDATE, 9:30 AM

Bay News 9 had reported that Steinbrenner had passed away, but deleted that tweet and is just reporting that he’s hospitalized now.

UPDATE, 9:50 AM

According to a NY Daily News report, George Steinbrenner passed away around 6:30 AM this morning in Tampa, Florida.

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Discussion: Once Boss Is Gone, Will Kids Cash Out?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 3:00 pm 8 Responses »
Feb 212010


Steve Lombardi, writing over at Was Watching this morning, surmised that the Steinbrenner clan may cash out of the Yankees once the Boss passes on. The suggestion was that most of the Junior Bosses do not really care that much about the team, and are simply running the club to continue their father’s legacy and attempt to impress him before he dies. Once he goes, most of them could simply search for a mega-payout and live off that for the rest of their lives.

I have two questions about this:

1) Do you agree with Steve? Prior to the 2009 season, I likely would have concurred with his evaluation of the season. However, it seemed to me that Hal warmed to the role as the year progressed, and was really gaining a feel for running the club by the time the offseason was reached. The fact that he set assessed the finances, set a budget, and stuck firm to that line despite the clamoring by Yankees fans for the return of Johnny Damon suggested that he is in this for the long haul. Someone with an eye towards cashing out might have been a bit more frivolous in terms of long term deals and big money, but Hal was the picture of restraint and prudence in this offseason. How would you interpret those actions?

2) Will it make a difference? Anyone willing to pay upwards of a billion dollars for the entire Yankees conglomerate is likely to continue pouring money into the club. In fact, my one worry about a new owner is not that he might spend to little. Rather, I am afraid that we might see a return to the bad old days of the George Steinbrenner 1980′s, where a Dan Snyder or Jerry Jones type comes in and begins directing particularly short-sighted personnel decisions. While the Yankees of the last 40 years have been a perfect cautionary tale on this issue, having billions of dollars often leads people to believe that they can do anything, and that rules that apply to others are not an issue for them.

What do you think? Do you fear the day when the Yankees are not owned by Steinbrenners?

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Discussion: Is Yankee GM Now A Great Job?

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 1:30 pm 3 Responses »
Jan 172010


From Steve Lombardi:

Now, I would agree, in the 1980’s, it was no fun being the Yankees G.M. – for sure. But, today? I would suggest that things have changed – especially since, say, 2006 or 2007, with “The Boss” being out of the picture. In fact, I would bet that most of the G.M.’s in baseball would love a chance to be in charge of the Yankees and be able to operate with a payroll that’s in the ballpark of $200 million each season.

So, that’s leads to this question: Is the position of “Yankees G.M.” now one of the ten best in all of sports to have?

I have to agree with Steve here. Working under George Steinbrenner meant constant fear for your job, with every risky decision having the pallor of a firing hanging over it. You had little input as to the manager of the club, and the owner would constantly order specific players to be traded or free agents to be signed, such that the GM could not execute his own vision for the ball club. However, since about 2005, things have changed in the Yankees front office. As George faded into the background and his sons began to take the reins, they allowed Brian Cashman significantly more control, and he now seems to be fairly autonomous, as the Johan Santana situation illustrated. He has the largest budget in baseball, and is rarely told that there is not enough money to fit a player onto the roster. It seems like a fantastic job to have.

To play devil’s advocate, I might suggest that we have only seen one GM operate under the new ownership structure, so we do not really know if the general manager position has truly changed or if Brian Cashman has enough capital stored to have altered the office for his benefit. A change at GM might result in a return to the bad old days, where the GM was just a lackey for ownership. Furthermore, even if the position has changed permanently, the pressures and expectations that come with it still remain. The GM of the Yankees needs to put a potential champion on the field every year. Unlike Boston, where Theo Epstein has the ability to take a year or two to wait for the right prospects and free agents to become available, the Yankees need to retool every season, while at the same time building for the future. This is a precarious balancing act, one that Brian Cashman has deftly managed but likely makes his job significantly more difficult than it looks. That said, I bet most general managers in sports would switch places with Brian.

What do you think? Has the position of “Yankees GM” become a top 10 job in sports?

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What Might (not) Have Been

Posted by Steve S. at 6:36 am 7 Responses »
Dec 112009

New York Times  December 27th, 1995 by Murray Chass

Jim Bowden, the Reds’ general manager, declined to discuss the Yankees’ involvement, but an official familiar with the (David) Wells talks said Steinbrenner called Bowden Saturday night and offered pitcher Mariano Rivera and catcher Jorge Posada.

Bowden, looking to cut his payroll, obviously decided he preferred Goodwin, a 23-year-old left-handed hitter, who in 87 games with the Orioles last season batted .263 and had 22 stolen bases in 26 attempts.

Anyone who has followed Baseball for a while has heard stories like this. Joel Sherman had a tidbit in his book “Birth of a Dynasty” that had the Yanks dealing Mariano Rivera for a washed-up Felix Fermin at a time when Derek Jeter was almost ready to contribute on the big league level. But at least in that case, it was the Yanks who turned it down. This proposed deal was shot down by Reds GM Jim Bowden, which makes it a much closer call.

Another good ‘Thank God we didn’t make that trade’ was the Randy Johnson deal with the Diamondbacks. You may recall, those talks were on again-off again as The Big Unit wanted to go to the Yanks (for a big contract extension) and the D-Backs didn’t really like any of the Yankee farmhands. So Brian Cashman offered them a list of players to choose from, one that included Robinson Cano and Chien Ming Wang.

1050 ESPN Radio personality Jody MacDonald often recounts a story from when his Dad (Joe MacDonald)  who was the NY Mets GM from 1974-1978. In 1976, where the Yanks were looking for a veteran bat off the bench. They called the Mets inquiring about (then player) Joe Torre, and offered a young lefthander who was struggling a bit in the majors at the time named  Ron Guidry. MacDonald liked the idea, but the Yanks backed out at the last minute.

Any others?

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SI: Steinbrenners Are 4th Best Ownership Group

Posted by Moshe Mandel at 3:00 pm No Responses »
May 122009

SI.com has a feature on the best owners in the sport, and the Steinbrenner family comes in at number 4:

If you’re one of those fans who believe the Boss & Family are ruining baseball with their liberal spending, well, there’s a case to put them in the worst category. But if you’re a Yankees fan, you couldn’t ask for a better owner. The Steinbrenners run a billion-dollar organization that treasures professionalism and success above everything else. They’re as committed as any team in professional sports, both at putting a superstar product onto the field and building the brand into one of the most powerful in the sporting world. And even though it’s been nine years since they last won a World Series, the family’s devotion to improving the team in any way possible is beyond a doubt — no matter the cost. You may not like them, but admit it — you’re envious.

The Steinbrenners come in just ahead of Stu Sternberg of the Rays, while landing behind the Red Sox group (#1), Arturo Moreno of the Angels (#2), and Bill DeWItt of the Cardinals. I am not sure how DeWitt comes in ahead of the Steinbrenners, nor do I see how Sternberg touches this list after one good season. I think you could quibble with the order of the other selections, but you would be splitting hairs and would likely need a more precise definition of what makes a good owner to really make an argument. I do think that it is interesting to note that none of the owners on the list outside of the Steinbrenners have owned their team for more than 15 years, and all except DeWitt purchased their clubs in the last seven years. Seems to me that we may have a bias here towards recent owners who have had success this decade.

What do you think about the list?

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Hideki Irabu Attempting Comeback

Posted by Steve S. at 7:31 pm 2 Responses »
Apr 212009

You remember good old Hideki Irabu, don’t you? The much ballyhooed $12.8 million dollar 1997 Japanese import with the “98 MPH fastball” and the magnets hanging off his body in the clubhouse? The guy whose intestinal fortitude was so tremendous that Boss Steinbrenner dubbed him the “Fat Pussy Toad”? Which I believe in George’s lexicon puts him two steps above “Warrior” status.

In between episodes of punching out bartenders and collecting residual checks for Seinfeld episodes, it appears that the 40 year old pitcher has found the time to attempt a comeback.

Godspeed, Hideki. The world of Baseball breathlessly awaits the second coming.

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Meet the new boss. . .

Posted by Steve S. at 8:08 am 3 Responses »
Mar 282009

. . . who’s the same as the old boss.

In recent years, as George Steinbrenner has faded from view as the principal owner, Levine has emerged as the strongest voice of the Yankees, baseball’s wealthiest team. He is their executive-as-prosecutor, a tough, short-tempered and smart protector of the Steinbrenner family and the Yankees brand.

“If you attack me unfairly, there are no free shots,” Levine said.

No other Yankees executive — not Steinbrenner’s sons, Hal and Hank; Brian Cashman, the general manager; or Lonn Trost, the chief operating officer — is as willfully aggressive.

“Part of Randy likes to fight,” said Hal Steinbrenner, the managing general partner. “He has a history of not backing down. He likes to be the bad cop. I’m the good cop.”

The family has never asked Levine to restrain his style. Hal Steinbrenner said he “absolutely” applauded Levine’s castigations of Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky, a persistent critic of the stadium’s financing. Levine has angrily accused Brodsky, a Westchester County Democrat, of attacking the Yankees name for political ends.

Levine’s occasionally choleric behavior is not an act, he said, but evidence that he can change speeds on his rhetorical pitches.

“I get angry, but I try not to let anger color my job,” he said.

The brusque Brodsky says he sees Levine as “someone who thinks the world responds to bullying and verbal violence.” After a public hearing at which Levine, 54, turned red while yelling at him, Brodsky said: “He couldn’t have been acting. His face was too purple.”

For fans lamenting the increasingly distant presence of George Steinbrenner, Randy Levine is your man. By his own admission, Hal takes a more distant administrative role. Nobody’s really sure what Hank does, we just all hope he doesn’t do too much of it.

By most accounts, Levine was the driving force behind the building of the new stadium,  the creation of the YES Network and Joe Torre’s dismissal/contract offer. He is the main reason why the Yankees enjoy the financial advantages they have today, which only appear to be growing despite the bad economy. Just as with George, whether you love him or hate him, Yankee fans should be thankful he’s working for us.

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