Am I The Only Yankee Fan Who Finds This Alarming?
NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Yankees lowered spending on players by $12 million this year, cutting payroll by $5 million and slashing their major league-leading luxury tax by more than $7 million.
Slashing luxury tax? Cutting payroll? Does this make us the Pirates?
Who are these newfangled Yankees anyway? I want my bloated, free-spending, free-agent-signing, they-give-me-great-players-for-Christmas team back.
Speaking of bloated, I had the best dinner tonight – and it’s all because of my Twitter Yankee fan friend Peter/aka @agostinelli. (He has a great food blog, btw. Check it out.) Anyhow, I was tweeting today about wishing for a recipe for what I knew would be a cold, rainy night here in not-sunny-California, and he sent me straight to a Beef Bourgignon. The pic below doesn’t do it justice, but it was delicious. I really love Twitter.
Confessions of a She-Fan 
I was so glad to see you posted something because I assume this means you still have power! Hope you are okay out there.
Melissa
It LOOKS delicious! I’ll have some please… as for the cut in spending… Cashman might be the only GM on the planet who finds operating with less payroll more of a challenge.
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/
http://mtrredstatebluestate.com
Still have power, Melissa. But today is supposed to be the worst of the storms so far – hail, thunder, more flooding, you name it. I’ve never seen anything like this and I lived in FL with hurricanes and tropical storms. They call these storms “the Pineapple Express” because they just keep coming from Hawaii like a regularly scheduled train. Not fun. If we can get through today, we’re supposed to get a break tomorrow and Friday.
The pic I took doesn’t do it justice, Jeff. After I posted it, I figured out how to lighten/enhance stuff via iPhoto (I’m a slow learner).
Glad I’m not the only one who finds it alarming, Paul!
Hi Jane & Fellow Baseball Fans…
WOW ..it’s been awhile since I commented. I’ve been soooooo busy with the holidays and family things. I wanted to make sure I stopped by to wish every one a very happy, healthy Holiday and the most wonderful New Year.
As far as the Yankees …NO GM can do anything if a player wants to play somewhere else. Apparently it looks like Lee
had Philly in the back of his mind the whole time. I prefer players who want to be a Yankee and not just for the money from the Yankees. I commend Lee and Kerry Wood for following their hearts instead of their wallets (although Lee isn’t crying poverty with his Philly contract..lol). I would have loved to see Kerry back…he took a big pay cut to play for the Cubs but that’s where he wanted to be …good for him. We lost out on Lee but as the saying goes “when one door closes, another opens”. Who knows what is in the Yankees future?? Hopefully a big surprise (like Tex was). I have to laugh when I read the trades proposed by the bloggers on different blogs. It’s really too funny. As for me ..I’ll leave the wheeling and dealing to the people who really know what’s going on …..the Yankees. Boston made some big improvements but they were basically making replacements for those they lost …albeit very GOOD improvements. If Andy comes back, we pick up another bp guy and a solid bench player I still like our team. I’m sure Cash and the Yankees will do what they have to …they usually do… :o).
Anyway ….ho, ho, ho to all my friends on the blog (especially Diane, Dave, Becky and my other blog Core 4 members.. Melissa, Jane and Eddie and most especially our fearless leader …JANE). Enjoy the holidays …peace, happiness but most of all love to all of you and yours for New Year. As for the Yankee fans….
GOOOOOOO YANKEES 2011 !!!!!!
Ho, ho, ho-kay, She-Fan…
First and foremost, hope that you and all the SoCal’ers are okay and hanging in there. It sounds biblical…probably already too many references to an Ark, so I won’t go there…
And second-most, to Miz Peggy…thanks for the personal greetings — backatcha, young lady — here’s hoping that your (and my) and everyone’s 2011 is a lot better than ’10. Yes…even yours, Paul…!
Do I know what they’re doing with the payroll? Do I even have a CLUE? Addition by subtraction? Nope…dunno. But Son #1 is getting me “The Last Boy” for Xmas, which I just can’t wait to read…maybe dig my ol’ #7 jersey out of the Jock Closet, and shoehorn my porcine frame into it as I turn the pages…and with the 1960 WS DVD on its way from the Amazon…it’ll be a nice warm Yankee-centric Christmas this year!!
It’s alarming and I’m not a Yankee fan.
http://paullebowitz.com/blog/
The Beef Bourgignon looks delicious, absolutely perfect for this weather! It makes me think of Julie & Julia – Bon appé***.
The cut in payroll spending does seem a little disturbing, but from my perspective it’s more of a Hmmmm, what have they got planned? kind of disturbing, LOL. I’m sure that if the plan A for that money is on his way to Philly then there is a pretty good Plan B percolating for it too. The Yankees front office is pretty brilliant with these kind of decisions.
– Kristen
http://blithescribe.mlblogs.com/
Okay, the fact that MLBlogs censored the last three letters in my use of Julia Child’s signature sign off is too funny for words. Apparently, the Hays code is experiencing a strange Renaissance on MLBlogs.
– Kristen
http://blithescribe.mlblogs.com/
Happy Holidays to you too, Peggy. Thanks for taking the time to stop by with a greeting for everybody. I, too, hope Cashman comes up with a Plan B, C or something. My feeling is he waited too long for Lee to decide. But there’s still time for him to take action and I hope he will – soon!
It’s totally biblical here, Dave! I’m looking out my window as I type this and it’s raining so hard and so fast and the ground is already so saturated that I don’t know where it’s all supposed to go. One thing I do know: the ants have invaded my house. They’re everywhere! Very cool that you’ll be getting those Yankees-centric Christmas presents. I’m looking forward to reading the Mantle book so give me your review when you’re finished.
HAHAHA, Kristen. MLBlogs is unintentionally hilarious sometimes. They actually censored Bon Appeteeeet? LOL. Anyhow, a “beef stew” seemed just the thing for a cold, rainy night and it was. Now we get to eat the leftovers tonight, which looks to be even worse, weather wise. Hope you’re surviving down south. I sure hope the Yankees front office is “brilliant.” Are you sure you’re not a Yankee fan? Not even a little? 🙂
Well, I was hoping to hear some GOOD news about your weather, but that’ll obviously have to wait…an old LA-area friend named Carol Petschek, who lives in Pacific Palisades, says that it’s bad but not biblical down her way…but that’s a ways from you, I believe…
The real reason I’m posting again is to offer a suggestion about the ants. The key ingredient you need in anything you use to get rid of them is BORIC ACID. Apparently it’s super-toxic to them, but acts relatively slowy, so maybe they carry it back to the nest, or wherever…not like you can run out to the store and buy some boric acid, but maybe Michael has some ideas…?
And yes, meant to say that that Beef Bourgignon looks “formidable!” We had our annual Xmas Luncheon at a nice Italian place yesterday, but our boss is a meat vegetarian, so he imposed his will…all dishes had no meat, just fish or nothin’…which would probably be great for a gourmet like you (two salads, fried calimari, cheese ravioli, clam linguine, eggplant parm, and salmon steak as choices)…but to we troglodyte carnivores, fish is good, but variety is the spice…ah, well…two helpings of salmon, and the hungry bear in me was satisfied…
Who knew that Julia Child had a potty mouth? Too funny!
Happy holidays back attcha Peggy. It’s nice to hear from you. I’ll bet you are so relieved to be home. “There’s no place like home for the holidays.” Much better than a hotel – though I wouldn’t mind maid service for the next week or so!
Jane, I also follow a blog written by a man in Hawaii, so it’s funny to see that the rain he’d been talking about is now on your blog. It must be miserable.
Please note that the luxury tax was for this past season, and MLB had upped the threshold.
The Yankees didn’t exactly offer Cliff Lee peanuts, so I’m not too worried. I hope they use their money wisely and end up with a great rotation at some point. I’m not counting them out just yet. We did get to the second round of the playoffs with bad slumps from Jeter, ARod, and Tex and a disaster of a year from AJ, so we’ll just have to see what next season brings.
Melissa
It’s not as bad down in LA from what I hear, Dave, unless you’re way up in the hills or burn areas. Unfortunately, I AM up in the hills here in SB so it’s been tricky. My power went out briefly a while ago, then – miraculously – it stopped raining and the sun popped out. I was shocked! Maybe we’re out of the woods for a few days. I remember the Boric Acid trick for ants, but I think you can use it only on baseboards. My ants are in my bathroom sink, in the tub, in the drawers. EUWWW.
I hope the Yankees end up with a great rotation too, Melissa. But it’s the last part of your sentence that concerns me: “at some point.” Will it be this year? We shall see. In the meantime, I hope AJ and our new pitching coach have a grand old time together next week.
Jane – Thanks for making me laugh with your comment about wanting your bloated, free-spending etc. team back. I don’t blame you one bit!
Glad to hear you are surviving the Pineapple Express out there. And the beef bourginon looks superb! Bon Appeteet!
I had to say it…
Jen
http://faithful.mlblogs.com
You’re welcome for the laugh, Jen. I like my bloated, free-spending team and would be very happy if they spent some more! Yes, I’m surviving the Pineapple Express (sounds so benign, doesn’t it?) and am looking forward to a rain-free tomorrow, or so they predict.
Jane,
Fine dining, rain.
Next thing we know you will be climbing a lampost with an umbrella in SoCal singing Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” to the rafters.
Hey, sometimes taking a step back and spending less can get you more. Iy also keeps a little bit of spending change in the cupboard for a rainy day, while eating Beef Bourgignon and dreaming of a nice addition right before the season starts. I hear Pedro Martinez wants to pitch in mid-2011?
Rays Renegade
http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com
I put “at some point” because it isn’t now! And you just never know what the Yankees have up their sleeves and what can happen between now and the end of next season. So, yes, I did say “at some point” but I personally hope that point is SOON!
Melissa
George should never have let Hal pursue that accounting degree! Should have kept him young, dumb and stupid when it came to spending millions and millions of dollars at the slightest impulse! 😉 I am definitely disappointed this off-season as, so far, the Yankees have failed to produce a legitimate #2 or #3 starter to go with CC and Hughes. I know, teams are lying in wait for the Yankees and ready to ask for Montero, Banuelos, Betances and every other blue chip prospect in return. I do like the possibility of Johnny Damon’s return. His attitude and personality are a huge boost for the clubhouse. Plus, I am not sure that I want to count on a full year of health from Jorge Posada.
Scott
http://fotr.mlblogs.com
Pedro. Ouch, Renegade. Are you sure the Rays can’t use him? I hear he loves warm weather. 🙂
You never know what the Yankees have up their sleeves, Melissa. So true. And yes, we hope they reveal their secret plan(s) sooner rather than later. I’m ready for some good news so bring it on, Cashman!
I don’t have any problem with bringing back Damon, Scott, if he’s willing to be a bench player. But we have plenty of candidates to fill in at DH for Posada and I’d rather have a right-handed bat.