Seven million dollars. It rang through my head like a siren.
I imagine that most people who tuned into the MLB Futures Game this past Sunday found it to be an enjoyable experience. After all, the game featured a who’s who of elite prospects displaying their promise in front of the world, many for the first time. I wanted to enjoy it. I thought I would. No matter how hard I tried though, I couldn’t keep from thinking about that seven million dollars.
Seven million dollars is how short the Yankees came up in the Yoan Moncada sweepstakes roughly 17 months ago. Moncada, of course, stole the show on Sunday, blasting a go-ahead two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that simultaneously helped the World team to a win and himself to MVP honors. That’s just the latest feat for the 21-year-old in a season in which he’s hitting .312/.415/.532 and inching his way toward the very top of the Baseball Prospectus Top 101.
How the hell did the Yankees let this guy get away over seven million dollars?
The question is particularly poignant now, as the enigmatic Yankees are set to embark on the season’s second half with what increasingly feels like a complete lack of direction. The team isn’t bad per se; they are an even 44-44 and within a handful of games of the American League wild card. Baseball Prospectus gives them just a seven percent chance at playing October baseball though, and pragmatists have been convinced for weeks that the prudent course of action is to begin selling movable assets as soon as possible.
Not everyone agrees with that assessment of course, and, according to reports that surfaced Thursday, Yankee ownership is chief among them. While general manager Brian Cashman is in favor of a complete tear-down, owner Hal Steinbrenner and team president Randy Levine reportedly believe that the team is still in contention and won’t sign off on a fire sale. The unwillingness to concede a half-season in effort to boost the team’s chances for 2017 and beyond is particularly disappointing for an ownership group that has balked at so many other opportunities to strengthen the club over the past few seasons, leaving major questions as to what the goals for this organization actually are.
In the years that preceded Hal’s ascension to power, there were no such ambiguities. For better or worse, the goal in the George Steinbrenner era was simple, if damn-near impossible: win at all costs. When the inefficiency of that plan began to rear its’ head and the bad contracts began piling up, George was content to charge his way through it the only way he knew how: keep spending. When the younger Steinbrenner regime made it clear that they weren’t going to spend as haphazardly as their father though, the chickens coming home to roost on the team’s bloated salaries was inevitable. Some of us welcomed that change. As much success as the Yankees had in the mid-aughts, there were enough Carl Pavanos and Jaret Wrights to make you pull your hair out, especially in the Moneyball-age where efficiency became the law of the land. When Hal and company stated their goal to get under the luxury tax threshold, when they let the face of their franchise leave for the Pacific northwest, when they literally sat the Yankees out of an entire free agency market…they were acts that were accepted in the name of efficiency.
Missing on Moncada was a harder pill to swallow. Topping the $31.5 million signing bonus that ultimately lured Moncada to Boston wouldn’t have been money that counted against the luxury tax. It wouldn’t have been money thrown at an aging star, or a slapdash attempt to grab headlines in the international market, something George made a habit of. Moncada fit the Yankees’ needs to a tee, a then-19-year-old middle infield prospect with superstar potential. Cashman admitted the Yankees were as high on Moncada as anyone from a scouting perspective, and you can still feel the exasperation in his comments after the team ultimately came up short. “I would doubt there’s any disagreement on the scouting assessment of the player,” he said. “It just comes down to how much money you’re willing to commit. It was a significant offer. But it fell short of where he’s rumored to have signed.”
Now, even after having watched Moncada blossom over the past year and a half (and for the Red Sox no less), the Steinbrenners are once again standing in the way of progress. In their attempt to recreate the Yankee culture into one of efficiency and intelligence, they’ve failed to let go of their father’s hamfisted notion that the Yankees aren’t allowed to lose. George got away with the policy because he threw the weight of his checkbook behind it, an act the current faction has proven they are unwilling to match. So as we sit here, little more than two weeks from the trade deadline in another Yankee season that’s been mired in mediocrity, it’s hard to feel confident about the future of this team.
The Yankees need to pick a lane. Are these the George Steinbrenner Yankees, the ones to whom rebuild is a dirty word and anything less than a World Series championship is considered failure? If so, a drastic overhaul in front office behavior is needed, as Hal and company have displayed none of the characteristics that would make that plan a viable one. If these aren’t those Yankees though, and they truly want to dedicate themselves to building this team efficiently and from within, then it’s time to step aside and let Brian Cashman do his job. Let go of this silly all-or-nothing notion, and take the steps necessary to get this team back among the league’s elite. Until a decision is made one way or the other, the team’s tires will continue to spin.
Photo: Noah K. Murray/USA Today Sports