Utility Players Needed
Alexander Goetzfried on Jul 31st 2012
Mark Teixeira is the latest injury to the Yankees who dropped two of three to Boston, and lost the first of three to Baltimore. With Tex down Eric Chavez moved to first, and Jayson Nix played third. This is reminiscent of my childhood days watching the Yankees infield in the mid to late 90’s where my favorite utility player of all time would cover any position. I speak of course of the great Louis Sojo. I can remember playing wiffle ball at my cousins house, everyone arguing over who would get to play short stop and be Jeter. Whoever was to be picked on that afternoon would end up at second and have to be Louis Sojo.
With the trade deadline taking place as I write this it will be interesting to see if the Yankees have made any big moves for an infield acquisition at third. Or if they are going to let Chavez and Nix cover for their injured superstar teammates.
Although they are in the midst of a three game losing streak the Yankees are still six and a half ahead of Baltimore, in first place of the AL East. They have dealt with a lot of big injuries this season, but have not been slowed down much by them.
Tex goes for an MRI on Wednesday, where the severity of his wrist injury will be determined.
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Yankees Have Always Spent Money But Not Like Today
Alexander Goetzfried on Jul 27th 2012
The Yankees are known for their profuse spending habits. In the modern era they buy whatever and whoever they want. Historically this has also been true but to a much lesser degree, infamously starting with their purchase of Babe Ruth from the Red Sox. Stadium and players alike lets take a look at what some historical expenditures of the Yankees would cost today.
The historical numbers and figures are courtesy of mlb.com and ballparksofbaseball.com.
In 1913 the New York Yankees signed a 10 year lease to play at the Polo Grounds, the stadium of the New York Giants. The two teams co-existed for the next seven years. However in 1920 the Yankees bought Babe Ruth from the Red Sox for $100,000 in what was to become known as the worst trade in baseball history (for the Red Sox), and also sparking arguably the greatest rivalry in sports. $100,000 in 1920 was an exorbitant amount of money for an athlete, but when you put the numbers into today’s terms, its really not that bad.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator, $100,000 in 1920 is approximately equivalent to $1,147,390 today. This is still a lot of money, put it pales in comparison to the $275 million the Yankees agreed to pay A-Rod.
After buying Ruth Yankee attendance skyrocketed, and they became the first team to attract over 1 million fans. In 1921 the Giants asked the Yankees to vacate the Polo Grounds as soon as possible, as they were now outdrawing their landlords. Yankees co-owners Colonel Jacobs Ruppert and Colonel T.L. Huston bought 10 acres of land in the Bronx from the estate of William Waldorf Astor for $675,000. According to the CPI inflation calculator the land for Yankees Stadium cost the owners about $8,653,500 in today’s money. Although this is adjusted for inflation, someone needs to figure out a formula to adjust for the current popularity of pro sports because the numbers still seem ridiculously low!
On May 5, 1922 the construction contract for the new stadium was awarded to New York White’s Construction Company. In the deal it stated that construction must be completed for $2.5 million, and by opening day April 18, 1923. The job was done in time and for budget. Yankee Stadium at the time was the “largest and most magnificent stadium in baseball” according to ballparksofbaseball.com. The construction took 284 days to complete and again according to the CPI inflation calculator the $2.5 million price tag would cost approximately $32,050,000 today. This adjustment does not appear to be reasonable especially not after you look at the cost of the current Yankee Stadium.
New Yankee Stadium was financed by the organization for $1.6 Billion dollars. Not only that, but New York City also invested $220 million of its own money in infrastructure improvements in the area. Now New Yankee Stadium is obviously technologically superior to the one built in 1923, but if all things are relative how does it cost $968 million dollars more? Were our turn of the century ancestors better businessmen, faster builders, and just all around more efficient? Or is there a factor left out of the CPI inflation calculator? I don’t know but the number discrepancies are pretty astounding.
More recent examples are available and still just as out of whack. In the 1970’s old Yankee Stadium needed a makeover. Then New York City Mayor John Lindsay announced that the city would buy Yankee Stadium for $24 million in 1972 and fix it up. According to the inflation calculator the city got a deal in today’s terms, owning possibly the most valuable piece of baseball history for what would cost in today’s dollars $131,757,703.
That same year Steinbrenner bought the team, and we all know where the spending went from there!
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Injury Bug
Alexander Goetzfried on Jul 25th 2012
The injury bug has bitten the Yankees again putting A-Rod on the disabled list with a non-displaced left hand fracture. There has been no formal timetable for the superstar third baseman’s return, but similar injuries have taken six to eight weeks to recover from for other players. The Yankees have had injury issues now with Brett Gardner, Andy Pettite, and CC Sabathia, Sabathia being the only Yankee to return thus far.
Although A-Rod is no longer the MVP he once was he is still considered in the top 50th percentile of third basemen in the league by ESPN’s Buster Olney. Brian Cashman eluded a few weeks ago to a quiet trade deadline for the Yankees, which has been anything but with the signing of Ichiro Suzuki to replace Gardner, and now it would be smart for the Yankees to shop for a third baseman to fill the void left by Rodriguez.
Putting Eric Chavez on third and shopping for a DH might actually be a more reasonable reaction to the A-Rod injury, especially if he will be back by November. Money however is obviously not an issue for the Yankees so if they do try and bring someone in it will be interesting to see who they go after. This injury could bring a new opportunity, or an expensive bust, but I will be interested in seeing how Cashman handles this quiet time before the trade deadline.
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Ichiro’s Clubhouse Switch
Alexander Goetzfried on Jul 23rd 2012
In a move that seems to have surprised everyone, the Yankees today have acquired 10 time all star Ichiro Suzuki. The deal was pulled off hours before the Yanks play the Mariners, in Seattle, where Ichiro was switched to the Yankees lineup and will be batting 8th against his former team.
Ichiro will be a welcome addition to the Yankees outfield replacing Brett Gardner in left field who will likely be out for the season as he undergoes arthroscopic elbow surgery. Left field is the largest part of the outfield at Yankee stadium, and since Gardner went down better defense in left field has been a necessity.
Although Ichiro is 38 he still brings speed and defense to the Yankees who have been missing that combination in left field since losing Gardner. Ichiro is another super star in an already stacked clubhouse, which could really rejuvenate Ichiro mentally and physically as he is going from the team with one of the worst records in baseball to the best. He is no stranger to the spotlight and should fit into New York just fine.
According to Yankees.com he is second in steals, third in batting average and sixth in hits among active players. Although he is nearing the end of his career, his numbers have not dropped off much and I would look to Ichiro for a second wind so-to-speak career wise in order to finish on a very strong note.
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