• Follow us on Twitter @buckeyeplanet and @bp_recruiting, like us on Facebook! Enjoy a post or article, recommend it to others! BP is only as strong as its community, and we only promote by word of mouth, so share away!
  • Consider registering! Fewer and higher quality ads, no emails you don't want, access to all the forums, download game torrents, private messages, polls, Sportsbook, etc. Even if you just want to lurk, there are a lot of good reasons to register!

Yankees to Break $200 Million Barrier

LoKyBuckeye

I give up. This board is too hard to understand.
Updated: 07:36 PM EST
Yankees to Break $200 Million Barrier
Addition of Johnson Will Send Payroll Even Higher
By RONALD BLUM, AP

NEW YORK (Dec. 31) -- There appear to be few, if any, limits to what the Yankees can afford, the reason they can add Randy Johnson and perhaps Carlos Beltran to their firmament of stars. Then again, money is no object when you play in a city where apartments sell for $44 million, nursery schools can command $24,000, and dinner for two at a top restaurant can cost $1,000.

New York's acquisition of Randy Johnson from Arizona, which is likely to be completed next week, will boost the Yankees' payroll to about $205 million, easily topping the major league record of $187.9 million they set in 2004.

The Yankees, with a bottomless pit of cash and, some would say, arrogance, must pay a $25 million luxury tax for last season -- about $600,000 more than Tampa Bay's entire payroll.

Owner George Steinbrenner certainly doesn't mind spending as long as the World Series flag flies above his ballpark. Problem is, it hasn't since 2000. But that hasn't stopped him.

"When you accept big money from Mr. Steinbrenner," first baseman Tino Martinez said, "you have to win."

Martinez, who helped the Yankees win four World Series titles and five American League pennants from 1996-01, rejoined the team Friday as a backup to Jason Giambi. He knows how Yankees fans view last season's team, which was an inning away from sweeping Boston in the AL championship series only to become the first major league team to squander a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series.

"They came up short, they failed," Martinez said bluntly. "They have to win a world championship. That's what they're there for."

New York and Arizona finalized paperwork Friday for the Johnson trade and plan to submit it Monday to commissioner Bud Selig for approval. The Yankees are sending the Diamondbacks pitcher Javier Vazquez, prospects Brad Halsey and Dioner Navarro and $9 million. As part of the deal, they want a 72-hour window to discuss a contract extension for Johnson, a 41-year-old left-hander who has won five Cy Young Awards.

The Yankees' economics are far different from those of every other major league team. Their box seats near the infield will go for $90 a game next year.

Of course, that's peanuts and Cracker Jacks for the city's well-heeled baseball fans. For many New Yorkers, money really is no obstacle.

For example, this week at Zabar's, a famous West Side food emporium, there was an express line just for caviar. At Citarella, another mecca for gourmands, white truffles were going for $199 an ounce.

Fans of cabaret singer Bobby Short pay a $95 cover charge before he ever tickles the ivories or a single drink is poured at Cafe Carlyle.

Those numbers are infinitesimal when compared to Manhattan's booming real-estate prices. According to Halstead's third-quarter survey, the average sale price of a small two-bedroom apartment was $963,127 in the third quarter. The average for a large two-bedroom was $1,277,401.

Perhaps the most incredible example of all: News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch is in the process of buying a three-floor Fifth Avenue apartment from the late Laurance S. Rockefeller's estate and will pay $44 million in cash -- no mortgages allowed. That tops the record $42.25 million businessman David Martinez paid when he bought two condominium units to combine them into one at the Time Warner Center.

The Yankees had revenues of roughly $315 million in 2004, taking in about $130 million from ticket sales alone. Boston, which had the No. 2 payroll at $130 million, estimated its revenue at $220 million.

Yankees manager Joe Torre, as well as Yankees fans, know that after he plucks these stars from other teams, Steinbrenner readies himself for the new season by thinking about 162 wins, 0 losses, and postseason sweeps all the way through the World Series.

Anything less is a failure.

"When you work for George Steinbrenner," Torre said, "whether you're the favorite or you're not the favorite, you're expected to win."

No matter the price.


12/31/04 17:58 EST
 
daddyphat: "They should win a world series title next year with the talent they have on their team."

They'll win it for sure next year. The payroll is just too much. I'd like to say its gluttonous, but we're wayyyyy beyond that point.
 
Upvote 0
Nutty: "Major league baseball is a joke."

There's only one way to solve it: share the revenues. No Cap can fix it. What good is a salary cap gonna do when George makes 10x more than anybody else? The only thing that would accomplish is force Steinbrenner to keep hundreds of millions in his pocket each year.
 
Upvote 0
teams in smaller markets just don't try anymore... I watched the Brewers for 6 years in Wisconsin. I'm not saying that the players don't try to win.... but they can't afford to go out and get the big names so they don't even attempt it. It sucks for the fans of those teams.
 
Upvote 0
Sloopy45 said:
Nutty: "Major league baseball is a joke."

There's only one way to solve it: share the revenues. No Cap can fix it. What good is a salary cap gonna do when George makes 10x more than anybody else? The only thing that would accomplish is force Steinbrenner to keep hundreds of millions in his pocket each year.
If you set the cap at 60 million that would allow most teams to at least try to compete. This isn't about George making more money. It's about being fair to all the other teams. Sharing the revenues would be good as well, but they need a cap before they lose a year or 2 like hockey is doing right now. I would model the new system off of the NFL system because that is the most fair to everyone. If a player isn't getting the job done he gets cut. There is no play well for a year get a big contract and rake it in while you play like crap the rest of your career.
I say make every team put 50% of their revenue in to share. Give the money back in reverse % of how much they give. Set the cap at 60-70 million and recalculate the players salary based on the % of the teams payroll they were making. If they are unwilling to take the pay cut void the contract and let them sign as a FA. I don't know why anyone besides George would want to own an MLB team right now because pretty much all of them are losing money in the current system. Baseball will die like hockey if they go on strike for more than a year.
 
Upvote 0
Sloopy45 said:
What good is a salary cap gonna do when George makes 10x more than anybody else? The only thing that would accomplish is force Steinbrenner to keep hundreds of millions in his pocket each year.
that is a lot of handshakes mr steinbrenner could be giving out to prized band recruits or whatnot.
 
Upvote 0
Back
Top