This isn’t fun?

Baltimore is for real. Mark my words. Or mock them. Whatever works.

Baltimore last appeared in the playoffs in what 1997? Yanks in playoffs every year since 95 save 08. With core players costing more to retain and resign and other owners passing rules that penalize high payrolls- sooner or later something had to give. This may be the year that the tide turns over. Lower feeders sooner or later have to get it right and older teams sooner or later have to play old.
That said, its remarkable how many decisions made this winter have gone wrong. Garcia, Kuroda and Pineda deals all made sense to the press and were hailed, but all have been more or less a disaster. I think Cashman’s reign is going the way of Epstein’s if not this winter perhaps next. I won’t miss him too much but I am grateful that under his watch the core four won it all one last time in 09.

Showalter’s manager style has been panned by many, but he turned the Yanks from a sub-.500 team to a pennant contender in 93 and they haven’t had a losing record since.  I think he was a good hire and is doing a great job.

I’m pretty much at the point where I can’t wait for Cashman to move on.  For all his obsession with pitching, what do the Yankees really have to show for it?

Only two in the LC behind the second wild card.

the problem is not only 2012, but 2013 and 2014. With all the long term money locked into fading players and an agreeement to drop under the cap, things are going to get very ugly over the next few seasons. The truth is I still hold out hope that they pull a ‘1964’ and get one more run in. 

I am also wondering what kind of message they sent to their entire minor league system by trading Montero, sending Cervelli down for no real reason, signing Garcia, etc.  This team may not have as much talent but would be a lot more fun with Austin Jackson, IPK, Montero, etc instead of the old men they have limping out there every day.

I wonder how much attendance is going to have to drop to make them re-think getting under the $189M target?  They get something like $50M back in revenue sharing rebates if they get there.  According to Forbes the average ticket price is $63, so if they lose 794,000 ticket sales they’re effectively no better off.

[8] - Unless then drop below for a year and go back to spending.

I wonder how much attendance is going to have to drop to make them re-think getting under the $189M target?

Are we so sure under-$189M isn’t something positive for the team in the longer term? There are enough large scale, unmovable contracts up and down this lineup. Yes, it may suck for the team to not be very good for the next 3-4 years, but the dynastic run was built on the back of the futility of the Dallas Green/Bucky Dent/Stump Merrill led Yankees. Invest on your player development, stay under the $189M cap and when your player development bears fruit, A-Rod and Teix comes off the payroll and you go get the complementary players available on the market via free agency or salary dump trades.

yup - a few years of 90+ losses will set us right again by 2017 or 2018. By then Hughes and Joba will have finally figured it out.  (oh yeah I am in a bad mood.)