I was watching last night’s Yankees-Red Sox game, and I felt sorry for Michael Pineda during the loss. The look on his face for each of the three home runs he gave up was really sad. Did you know that his 5.56 earned run average is now the highest ERA in the American League among qualifying starters? Yikes But the Yankees keep on sending him out there, because they don’t have anybody else. As Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York put it:
The futility of it all was summed up in a single answer from manager Joe Girardi, who when asked if the Yankees could afford to continue to send Pineda out there with wins becoming crucial, simply shrugged and said, “It’s who we have. So he’s got to get it done.”
It was said with the resignation of the captain of the Titanic acknowledging he doesn’t have nearly enough lifeboats.
Oy.
Anyhow, it’s been clear to most fans that the Yankees aren’t going anywhere this year. Yet apparently, the front office is arguing on whether they should be buyers or sellers this year. My opinion: they should be sellers, but that Hal Steinbrenner should also clean house and get rid of Brian Cashman, Randy Levine, and Lonn Trost. Unfortunately, that’s not likely to happen!
The Daily News’ Bob Raissman points out that there is a lot at stake when it comes to whether the Yankees should be buyers or sellers. Namely, financial ones:
While talk of dealing blue chip relievers in return for prospects who might enhance the Yankees future is tangible and satisfying to Gasbags and fans alike, and obviously under consideration by what Levine calls “our baseball operations people,” it will not stop the flow of red ink and tanking ratings for Yankees games on WFAN should the Yankees sell at the deadline.
Already, in the third year of a 10-year contract where CBS pays the Yankees an astronomical $16-17 million per year, radio sources are predicting CBS/FAN will lose $30-50 million over the lifetime of the contract. CBS/FAN lost $4-6 million last season. Will losses for 2016 grow if the Bombers are “sellers?”
Raissman goes on to talk about how for the first time ever, the Mets’ SNY network has overtaken the YES Network in the ratings, 2.91 to 2.28. Granted, that has something to do with Comcast not airing the Yankees, but that goes back to this not being a good team, either. If the Yankees were worth watching this year, fans would be agitating for a deal between the two entities.
As the Daily News writer notes, if the Yankees are sellers this year, their radio and TV ratings will go down further. And so will their ticket sales, including season ticket holders not wanting to renew. And corporate sponsors taking their money elsewhere. All very good points. Except for the fact that all of these things are very likely to happen anyway, regardless of whether the Yankees are vying for a second Wild Card spot.
The irony is that, contrary to the media’s usual opinion about what the fans want, I think most of us fans want the Yankees to sell. This is a very uninspiring, boring team. I was falling asleep watching the game last night, it was so dull! Time for a change.
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