HThe New York Yankees made it to the ALDS last season, but so far this offseason, the team hasn’t made many key moves.
New York has yet to re-sign Cody Bellinger as his future remains in flux. The Yankees did trade for Ryan Weathers from the Miami Marlins to bolster the rotation.
Yet, many Yankees fans are frustrated with the lack of moves, which broadcaster Michael Kay doesn’t understand.
“Do you truly believe that they don’t know what they’re doing,” Kay said on Wednesday. “They’re absolutely clueless. I want to see if you really believe that. Because then, how did they get themselves to a World Series in 2024?
“How did they win more games than anybody and tied with the Blue Jays more than anybody in the American League? How did they win more games in the regular season than the Dodgers won last year? How’s that possible when they are so clueless and so inept at what they are doing?”
Kay believes the Yankees have been smart this offseason, and fans have to trust the front office and manager to put out a winning ball club again.
The Yankees went 94-68 and beat the Boston Red Sox in the wild card round before losing to the Blue Jays in the ALDS.
Yankees GM Makes Intriguing Comment About Offseason
New York having a quiet offseason, should have been expected, especially after what general manager Brian Cashman had to say.
At the Winter Meetings, Cashman said there wasn’t a lot of inventory he liked this offseason in free agency.
“There’s not a lot of inventory that I’m interested in coming off the board yet,” Cashman said at the Winter Meetings. “So that means it’s tough to get. It feels like there’s still a lot of information gathering and information sharing or preliminary negotiations that are taking place, which is the beginning or middle of things, rather than you’re in the red zone and you’re finishing stuff off. It feels like overall, that’s what this market’s feeling like. It’s moving a little slower.”
The big move for the Yankees to make is to bring back Bellinger, and New York has made it clear they want to bring him back.
New York May Lower Payroll
Along with Cashman saying there wasn’t much he liked, Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner hinted at lowering the payroll.
The Yankees have been one of the highest-spending teams in baseball, and Steinbrenner said he’d like to lower the payroll.
“Would it be ideal if I went down (with the payroll)? Of course,” Steinbrenner said on a video call with reporters. “But does that mean that’s going to happen? Of course not. We want to field a team we know could win a championship — or we believe could win a championship.”
Steinbrenner said the team isn’t making as much money as it’s been reported. Forbes reported the franchise generated over $700 million in revenue this year.
“I don’t want to get into it, but that’s not a fair statement or an accurate statement,” Steinbrenner said. “Everybody wants to talk about revenues. They need to talk about our expenses, including the $100 million expense to the city of New York that we have to pay every Feb. 1, including the COVID year. It all starts to add up in a hurry.
“Nobody spends more money, I don’t believe, on player development, scouting, performance science. These all start to add up. If you want to go look at the revenues, you got to somehow try to figure out the expense side as well. You might be surprised.”
The Yankees are valued at $8.2 billion according to Forbes.
Yankees Broadcaster Blasts Fans for Complaining About Lackluster Offseason