New York Yankees no longer the richest club in American League – MLB News
New York Yankees are no longer the riches club in Major League Baseball. With Yankees stepping away from players they wanted in the past over so few dollars, it seems the balance of power has shifted in the game. Perhaps, the Yankees losing out the Chicago
Cubs for a player that could have proved to be an asset for them in the long run is an indication of growing completion in the open market.
New York Yankees did not have enough money to meet the expense of Jeff Keppinger and Russell Martin who ended up signing a contract with Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates correspondingly. Manager Joe Girardi would have loved to retain Eric Chavez
and Raul Ibanez but New York was mostly outbid by other teams.
Ibanez was eventually signed on by the Seattle Mariners and Chavez ended up with the Cleveland Indians, leaving a big question mark in front of Yankees’ buying power. It will not be surprising at all if they were outspent by New York Mets for Scott Hairston.
But there are quite of a few reasons why the Yankees are having a quiet 2012 offseason. General Manager Brian Cashman has not remained proactive because the Yankees wanted to avoid the 2014 tax threshold.
Also, they did not want to waste their hard earned bucks on players that were going to make little difference over the next few seasons. It should be noted that the Yankees did everything they needed to do to maintain a strong pitching attack. Next year,
they will be paying huge salaries to the likes of Hiroki Kuroda and Andy Pettitte and closer Mariano Rivera.
However, it’s the batting lineup, in particular slugger Alex Rodriguez and Captain Derek Jeter, is looking shaky for the Yankees right now. In baseball, essentially there are two ways of winning a game, score more runs or concede less.
It seems the Yankees are relying more on the former rather than batting. At least, that is what the skipper Girardi will be hoping for ahead of 2013 Spring Training. Additionally, there will be a lot of pressure on ace CC. Sabathia Kuroda and Andy Pettitte
as they will be the ones responsible for taking Yankees out of trouble.
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