News Flash: New CBA Shafts Yankees

by Roberto on Nov 30, 2011 11:44 AM EST

You heard it here. The new agreement hurts the Yankees. A post on Yankees Fans Unite tells us that the new deal,

despite what many others have said, is not good for big market teams and especially the Yankees.

These are the Bronx Bombers, who paid out bonuses equal to 188% of Slot in 2010 and 175% of Slot in 2011 on high risk-high reward players with signability issues. Sound familiar? (The Bucs spent more than twice as much, paying bonuses equal to 180% of Slot in 2010 and 268% of Slot in 2011.)

Dave Cameron may have asked “Did a Steinbrenner Write the New CBA?" but it doesn't look like that from the Bronx. The poor Yankees. They always pick at the bottom of the draft and often lose high picks due to signing free agents

The only way they can get access to good talent is to draft high risk/high reward, signability guys in later rounds. However, with the new Slotting System and the severe penalties for going over, the Yanks can never do this anymore.

Makes you weep, doesn't it? Since 2007, the Yankees have only signed two First Round Picks (Brackman #30 and Heathcott #29) yet they are 11th in total Draft spending during that time. They did this by giving Mason Williams $1.45 million in Round 4, Greg Bird $1.1 million in round 5, Carmen Angelini $1.0 million in round 10, and big overslot bonuses to guys like Betances, Austin Jackson. Now those days are over.

But they'll still have Latin America, won't they? In 2010 the Mariners spent $6.47 million, the Yankees spent $5.27 million, and the Pirates were fourth at $5.00 million. Next year the cap is $2.9 million. In subsequent years the cap will be smaller for teams that win a lot and larger for teams that don't. So the answer is "No, the Yankees won't."

Personally, I think we should all send some nice gifts to Yankee fans and maybe a card. You know, to show our sympathy.

Actually, I think the blogger at Yankees Fans Unite understands the situation better than most people on this site.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of the managing editor (Charlie) or SB Nation. FanPosts are written by Bucs Dugout readers.

Tweet Comment 23 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

It makes sense the problem isq

the Yankees dont have to be very successful at the draft to put a quality product on the field. Thats where the problem still lies.

Thats what she said! - Michael Gary Scott

by C Shint on Nov 30, 2011 12:08 PM EST reply actions

Exactly

The draft is just a secondary source of talent for them, if even that. It’s how they get guys to be trade bait. For the Pirates, Royals and Rays, it’s a lifeline.

Occupy MLB! Down with Seligula!

by WTM on Nov 30, 2011 12:38 PM EST up reply actions

True

For the Yankees

1. Free Agents
2. International
3. Draft

But without the draft, they wouldn’t have been able to get Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.

Viva Clemente!

by Roberto on Nov 30, 2011 1:49 PM EST up reply actions

Everyone says the Yankees buy their championships, but that’s not entirely true. The late 90s dynasty was built on homegrown talent such as Jeter, Pettite, Rivera, Posada and Bernie Williams, and Paul O’Neil wasn’t a star when they traded for him. Since that dynasty ended, they’ve relied more on free agency and have won only one championship in the past 11 years. With that aging, expensive roster and a lack of pitching, I think they could have some sub.-500 seasons.

by bolton on Nov 30, 2011 7:58 PM EST up reply actions

Baseball is so unpredictable

that it’s very difficult to actually “buy” a championship. What the Yankees really do is “buy” competitiveness. They buy their way into the final table and, at that point, it’s really anybody’s game. They can also buy back in if one of their big players get hurt or under-performs.

Also, while the Yankees did have their core group of homegrown talent, they also had enough money that they didn’t have to pick and choose one or two of their homegrown guys to keep, they just keep all of them and supplement the core with Free Agents. For example, when the Yankees won their 4th title in 2000, Bernie Williams was the highest paid CF in all of baseball. Jeter was the highest paid SS. Mo was the highest paid closer. Pettitte was the 6th highest paid starter in the AL (teammate David Cone was resigned as a FA and was the highest paid starter in the AL). Buying a team isn’t limited to signing FA’s it also includes paying to keep all of your own talent.

by KentuckyPirate on Nov 30, 2011 10:44 PM EST up reply actions

Always trade for cash

And the Yankees can trade for more spending in the International market if they need it according to the new CBA. I bet a lot of teams will be more than willing to do it.
Plus, I think Japan is exempt from the International rules isn’t it? If so, the Yanks can always go get another Matsui.

by SojourningPirate on Nov 30, 2011 11:42 PM EST up reply actions

isnt the luxury tax threshold being raised by over $10MM ???

in that case, screw da’ yanks

by white angus on Nov 30, 2011 1:04 PM EST reply actions

I can't tell if this is sarcasm or not.

Should the Pirates keep Neal Huntington?

http://www.bucsdugout.com/2011/5/16/2174135/poll-should-huntington-be-retained

by Kosstic518 on Nov 30, 2011 1:25 PM EST reply actions

There was some

But the facts were all true and I meant the comment

Actually, I think the blogger at Yankees Fans Unite understands the situation better than most people on this site.

Viva Clemente!

by Roberto on Nov 30, 2011 1:58 PM EST up reply actions

No, he doesn't

If you restrict a talent source that’s, at most, secondary for one team but primary for many others, you’ve helped the first team.

Here’s a list of players who signed significant above-slot contracts and who played significant roles for the Yankees this year:
.
.
.
.
Only three draftees of any sort played big roles for them. Phil Hughes was a first round pick, but he signed for slot. Brett Gardner was a 3rd round pick who also signed for slot. David Robertson was a 17th round pick who got $200K, which the Yankees could easily do under the new scheme. And that’s it. No other draft pick contributed that much, with Chamberlain hurt much of the year, and he also signed more or less for slot.

The big international players that they originally signed were Cano, Rivera, and Nova. I don’t remember any of them getting a really huge bonus. The Yankees’ big int’l signing was Montero, who got $1.65M, which they could easily do under the new scheme.

Any impact of these changes will be a minor blip for the Yankees. It could cripple the small market teams.

Occupy MLB! Down with Seligula!

by WTM on Nov 30, 2011 8:27 PM EST up reply actions

also, he doesn't mention

that under the new CBA the Yankees won’t be losing their first and second round picks for signing free agents. They’ll just be moving to the end of the round, where they already are.

(BTW, Roberto, your formatting makes it hard to tell when you’re quoting.)

Not actually affiliated with whygavs.

by WHYG Zane Smith on Nov 30, 2011 9:19 PM EST up reply actions

The tone of this

doesn’t really make much sense, true the Yankees can outspend anyone in FA but they are still a MLB team and do still build in the draft, it’s unnecessary to mock the bloggers for pointing out the fact that the new CBA does in fact hurt them. Will the long term effect be the same as it is for small market teams? No. But it still presents a problem, and that’s what they’re pointing out, so the calls for sympathy and gifts take away from the fact that this effects all teams, not just the small market ones

by smoked on Nov 30, 2011 1:57 PM EST reply actions

Does the CBA hurt the Yankees?

For sure it sharply restricts what they can do in the international market.

But does it make sense to sign the 118th selection as the Yankees did for $750,000. He’s a big right hander out of New Hampshire with an 88-90 mph fastball. Baseball America thought he’d be taken after the seventh round and noted

Inability to repeat his delivery restricts him from throwing a consistent breaking ball. Cote has better feel for his curveball than his slider, though he shows the ability to spin the ball. He hasn’t needed to throw his changeup and it’s a work in progress.

Why do you want to pay a premium for this? You might ask yourself, “How’s that Zach von Rosenberg thing working out for us?” Are you sure that was $1,200,000 well spent? Are you sure he wouldn’t have signed for $300,000 (as long as no one else will pay more either)? When last I checked that’s a little more than most college scholarships.

Viva Clemente!

by Roberto on Nov 30, 2011 2:14 PM EST up reply actions

Ok

But your sarcastic tone takes away from your point.

by smoked on Nov 30, 2011 4:03 PM EST up reply actions

This is kinda funny

BA’s list of the largest bonuses in Yankee history:

Hideki Irabu, 1997 $8,500,000
Jose Contreras, 2002 $6,000,000
Andrew Brackman, 2007 $3,350,000
Gary Sanchez, 2009 $3,000,000
Wily Mo Pena, 1999 $2,440,000

Looks to me like the new rules may save the Yankees from themselves.

Occupy MLB! Down with Seligula!

by WTM on Nov 30, 2011 9:19 PM EST reply actions

not on Irabu (RIP) or Contreras

They’d be exempt from the international spending rules, wouldn’t they? Since they signed over age 23.

Not actually affiliated with whygavs.

by WHYG Zane Smith on Nov 30, 2011 9:46 PM EST up reply actions

The point is, the Yankees don’t have to spend big bucks to get what they need from their farm system. Their path to success is the opposite of a small market team’s. The small markets need to develop their core and fill in holes with FAs. The Yankees buy their core and fill in with the farm system. When they’ve tried throwing money around for non-veteran-major-leaguers, it generally hasn’t worked.

Occupy MLB! Down with Seligula!

by WTM on Dec 3, 2011 12:10 PM EST up reply actions

agreed

My point was more that the CBA doesn’t even restrict the Yankees as much as you might think. They can continue to throw money at Japanese and Cuban players, which might be an opportunity if they can figure out how to do it effectively. (Which might be harder than it seems in the case of Japan. After Ichiro, I think Hideo Nomo is the only Japanese player to accumulate 20 bbWAR in America, and there’s not that many Japanese players who have 10.)

Not actually affiliated with whygavs.

by WHYG Zane Smith on Dec 3, 2011 12:30 PM EST up reply actions