So much for that tough, fierce New York sports media. I haven’t seen a single one of them criticize Brian Cashman for the disaster that was the Kevin Youkilis signing, so that means I have to squawk again on this subject and say something!
You would think somebody would notice that throwing a heap of money at an injury-ridden 34-year-old who had missed more time in recent years than Alex Rodriguez did, the man he was replacing, was not exactly a good idea. Now, in the least surprising move since Amanda Bynes tweeted something insane, Youk needs back surgery after playing all of 28 games for the Yankees this season. Since he will need to miss at least 10-12 weeks due to the surgery, the Kevin Youkilis Experience in pinstripes is most likely over.
Believe it or not, $12 million for one season is actually real money, even in Yankeeland. Here’s how the money breaks down for what Cashman is paying Youkilis for his fabulous 2013 season, in which Kevin hit .219/.305/.343, with 2 homers and 8 RBI:
- $6,000,000 per homer
- $1,500,000 per RBI
- $1,500,000 per walk
- $521,739.13 per hit
- $101,694.92 per at bat
- $42,857.14 per game
These are Carl Pavano-esque numbers of futility. I would do the math on Vernon Wells, too, another “great” Cashman move, but I am afraid my head would explode!
Oh, and before somebody points out how much A-Rod is making, we 1) all can agree that he is vastly overpaid, but that 2) he got his own ridiculous contract the year after he had the best season for a Yankee hitter in 50 years, not after he hit .235 and spent 40 games on the disabled list.
But Gomer Cashman seems to be all “Golly!” about the fact that a player with a history of back issues would have back issues again:
“It’s not how you draw it up, there’s no doubt about that,” GM Brian Cashman said. “Kevin is a hell of a player when healthy. He just hasn’t been in position to show what he’s capable of in-season because of the back. He looked great in the spring and we had high hopes. He obviously did so much for Boston over the years. He’s the type of player that, if you could draw it up, that’s the type of player you’d want.”
As I always say, Lindsay Lohan is a great actress when sober. But that doesn’t happen very often.
Clapping your hands and believing in fairies and thinking that a chronically injured player would miraculously be healthy just because he now wears pinstripes is more of Cashman’s magical thinking. He did literally the same thing with Nick Johnson, to similar results.
As for the idea that Youk is “the type of player that, if you could draw it up, that’s the type of player you’d want,” I would want somebody who didn’t spend most of his season on the disabled list, and who didn’t throw temper tantrums all the time. But that’s me. As for Youkilis doing “so much for Boston over the years,” did Cash understand that Boston traded him because he wasn’t really any good anymore? Manny Ramirez did a lot for Boston over the years, too, but I don’t want him as a Yankee in 2013 either.
One of my brothers, who has a bad back, pointed out the silliness in Cashman’s comment about Youkilis passing the Yankee physical with flying colors. He said that with back issues, unless you have something like a herniated disc which would show up in an x-ray or MRI, chronic back problems may not necessarily show up in a physical. That is something Cashman should have known, given that he is the supergenius GM and all.
Anyhow, don’t expect that tough, fierce New York media to say boo to Cashman about any of this. Shocker.
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