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-Michael Kay, August 18, 2009

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Todd Jones rants about Yankees

Todd Jones, a former closer, now writes for the Sporting News. Apparently he isn't too happy with the Yankees' recent wave of spending.

Now that the Yankees have spent so much and have future Hall of Famers up and down their roster, they're supposed to win. Anything short of reaching the World Series will be a disappointment. That is no way to go through a season. Baseball turns into a job really fast when you strap such an 800-pound gorilla on your back the first day of spring training and carry it around during a six-month-long regular season (and perhaps into the postseason).

At this point, the magic of being a baseball fan who doesn't root for the Yankees turns into cantankerous feeling toward those guys who make all this money. You look differently at them. They had better win every game.

I wonder if Yankees fans ever blush. What's so special about pulling for the bully at the end of the street who beats up on the smallest kid in town? What's cool is when you're rooting for a team that comes from nowhere. Most of us like the underdogs, and they still have their day in baseball, as we saw with the Rays this past season.

The Yankees should know by now that money can't buy a championship. You know, I have a feeling this won't turn how the Yankees are planning.
I don't disagree with him. Spending $423.5 million on free agents automatically puts a giant target on the backs of the Yankees players. And in the mind of the Yankees, anything short of winning No. 27 is a failure.

I also agree with what he says about the fans. It's only December, but as I think about this team, I realize that it will be somewhat hard to root for them. Would it really be fun winning the World Series after outbidding every team? I say this now, and my thoughts will probably change once the games start being played (we can't have it both ways - the team needed improvement, and this is certainly better than trading prospects away), but it's something to think about.

(H/T to Was Watching)

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Todd who..??

Anonymous said...

I understand his point, and agree with him for the most part, but with these two issues:

1) "Baseball turns into a job really fast when you strap such an 800-pound gorilla on your back..."

I understand what he's trying to say, but he says it very, very wrong. It IS your job, Todd. And you get paid very well for it. I understand that baseball is a game, and is meant to be fun, but I'm not going to feel too bad because a guy making millions of dollars to play said game feels a little pressure.

and

2) I understand what he's trying to say about the whole pulling for the bully thing, but are we ALWAYS supposed to root for the underdog? Is a fan of any team (not just the Yankees) supposed to feel a little guilty because they're the favorites? That doesn't seem too fair.

Andrew Fletcher said...

Agreed on both of your points.

Greg Cohen said...

The Yankees are doing what they've done for years. Why everyone is making a big deal about it now like this is something new is ridiculous.

And as far as rooting for the 2009 Yankees goes, that should be a hell of a lot of fun.

Andrew Fletcher said...

I can see the argument - this kind of spending in one offseason is unprecedented. But the Yankees are abiding by baseball's rules.

John102355 said...

Wha Wha Wha... the Yankees are spending money Boo Hoo! People have been saying this since 1919 when they bought Babe Ruth.

Wake up world, baseball is a business! These are business decisions made by business people in a very big and expensive business.

Get over it! BTW... Todd who??? LOL

Anonymous said...

Is there more pressure to win in NY? Absolutely. Are the Yankees ever the underdog? No. But what's new about any of that? Plus, the players don't sit around thinking about their big contracts. They're paid to play and that's what they do - all season long. Go Yanks.

Andrew Fletcher said...

You're right, this is nothing new. Maybe Todd Jones is just jealous he never got a big contract from the Yankees.

Drew Sarver said...

Jones can shove it up his gumshoot.

Anonymous said...

"I can see the argument - this kind of spending in one offseason is unprecedented."

Joe says....
Very important point to be made is that the contracts were assigned this off season, but they get paid over YEARS...in Tex's case, we're talking almost a decade. Plus, when one subtracts contracts of players on their way out it mitigates the false perception being put out by jealous people like Jones and their ilk. This spending was NOT paid out this offseason. Happy New Yankee Stadium Year everyone.

Lorenzo Harper said...

I completely agree with his points, but i have some issues with few things he described. Apart from that having little fun in midst of any play will make everyone enthusiastic.

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