Yankees Are Shocked They Can’t Have Any Player They Want
Cliff Lee, New York Yankees July 11th. 2010, 10:46am
The rest of the 29 teams in baseball have long been viewed as a farm system for the Yankees by that segment of The Evil Empire that believes they should have a future Hall-of-Famer at every position. And really, it is hard to argue, considering the Yankees rarely fail to land a player they target.
But when the Yankees were unable to complete the deal for Cliff Lee on Friday, it led to the following reaction from the Yankees front office…
Yankees livid with Mariners. Believed they had deal, then M’s took it to Rangers saying put Smoak in and Lee is yours . . . Rangers jumped. Adams’ ankle injury was excuse for M’s to back out. “You just don’t do business that way,” one Yankee official said.
We know the Yankees have always been spoiled. But they have now officially blown right past “spoiled” and are now the trust-fund teenager who wasn’t allowed to buy another Mercedes.
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Not sure if this is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek or not. The (very legitimate) outrage stems from the fact that a deal was in place and agreed to, and the Mariners used an obviously pretextual reason to back out of it. Shady tactics no matter which teams are involved.
Deals are not done until they are done. The Yankees should know that. It sounds to me like the Mariners had a legit reason to have second-thoughts. Back at the ’08 deadline, the Rays thought they had a deal in place for Jason Bay. The Red Sox at the last minute upped their offer and the Rays got trumped. It happens. Usually teams dont cry about it.
that being said, the title is of course tongue-in-cheek. But the Yankees really shouldnt be upset about not getting one player. I think they will be just fine.
Holy moly Cork, you are using the same logic as me:) Maybe you can explain how a trade is made and agreed upon, and perhaps something of a 4-6 hour moratorium can be made so teams can’t “backstab” (not a great term)…I am hoping there is a better way teams can negotiate trades and not feel jilted…Credit to Brian Cashman for taking the high road
From what I read, David Adams was a secondary piece of the trade and not the centerpiece. Montero was the object in that deal and there was agreement. Now Adams has an ankle injury, and is in AA. I have a bit of a problem with Jack Zdrunicek if he used a secondary player’s medical issue to get someone else to flinch. It’s a he said, she said deal, but this is why teams have bad reputations to make deals.
It always seems like in season deals before the deadline create this kind of hostility rather than those negotiated prior to or at the Winter Meetings. I wish there was a “mechanism” just like when a player signs a contract, it is a “preliminary agreement”, then a physical then a final deal. But in a “preliminary agreement”, the team has options in that situation
Hate to bring up ironies and twists, but Bill Chastain was the one who said the same thing two years ago when he reported the Rays had a deal for Jason Bay for Niemann and Brignac.
Short term pleasure for long term problems?! It’s rhetorical in a sense, you don’t know what the future holds. In that sense now in retrospect they were probably right, but could have possible won the 08 Series? Perhaps, perhaps not
Now go forward two years and the Rays (allegedly), didn’t even blink or flinch for Cliff Lee. They are on record as saying this year is special and they will go for it. Yes, it didn’t work with Burrell, but there were issues there beyond the Rays control, wasn’t the Rays fault. I don’t want to see the Rays have a case of “buyer’s remorse” before they even make a deal, because you can’t make trades in a vacuum and see the end result. No one trade will guarantee you a world championship, but you can hedge your bets?! I think Willingham is the best play out there if you can get him or Adam Dunn, someone who can play corner OF/1B/DH type. Not in a vacuum now!!
Agree with Matt…Maybe MLB needs to consider regulation and what constitutes a trade. I never asked but what is considered a valid trade? Are contracts faxed over? Is there a formal exchange that has signatures on it? I am happy the Yankees don’t have Lee, but if they had a deal (like the Rays “allegedly” had with Pittsburgh)
I never have known what constitutes an agreement of a trade. Maybe MLB should be make it clearer where if you have an agreement, then there is a moratorium/wait period where no one else can jump in so provisional trades can’t be “shopped”? Just speculating…
From what I understand, nothing is official until the papers are faxed into the league office and approved by MLB. But there are also the situations where teams agree-in-principal, but the teams will then request medical records from the other team before submitting to the league. It sounds like that is what happened here. The M’s said “yes,” but when they saw the medical records, there was a red flag. At that point, maybe the M’s could have asked for further clarification or a different player. But they might have also thought highly enough of the Rangers offer that they decided it was just easier to go with plan B.
Good discussion Cork, but then that’s when the Rangers added Smoak. Perhaps there should be amateur draft pick compensation be awarded to a team in a greivance if a team “backs out” and it is proven? Just conjecture on my part. The thing with Adams, which is so funny, as he was not anywhere near of a deal breaker, must have player. The Yankees were so reluctant about Jesus Montero and the Mariners were so happy when he was in. Then Zdrunicek got greedy and that is where the hard bitter feelings came in.
In the Manny Ramirez trade to Los Angeles, the Sox gave Pittsburgh two player as well as Los Angeles gave Pittsburgh two players plus money..No wonder why Friedman got trumped on that deal!!
I guess then it depends on the Mariners’ intent. If it was never their intention to do the Yankees deal, then there is a problem. But that would be surprising. They could have just as easily told the Rangers they were *going to* accept Yankees deal if Smoak wasn’t added.
I think this happens every year. This is a Rays site right? I hate the Yankees and I’ll never have sympathy for them about anything. Boohoo they didn’t get the best pitcher out there. Grow up Yankees. This league is not your personal toy store.
I think the younger Rays will prevail in the second half without any additions, when those old Yankee bones get a little tired down the stretch. Of course it would be helpful if Upton remembered whatever the heck he was doing in the 08 ALCS and Pena would stop swinging at balls way outside the strikezone.
Hal Steinbrenner is your trust fund teenager…
George gave Hal and Hank the team after frankly doing nothing for the first 20 years after school. They ran the family hotel business. So yes they relied on George for basically everything.
Bay for Nieman and Briggy. I’m so glad that deal fell through.
And now a moment to feel sorry for the Yankees. Or not.
Cry me a river, Yankees.
No kidding. I make wine from their tears.
This happens all the time and sure, it’s a “bad way to do business”. Cashman won’t trust the Seattle GM. Maybe a few other GM’s will be leary of the Seattle GM. Maybe. But this isn’t something that can or should be regulated by MLB.
Also, the Yanks are still winners in this as I don’t think Texas scares them all that much, so Lee is off the table for Tampa or any other real threat. Sorry for insulting the Rangers chances to win it all. If they really want him, the yanks will sign him in the offseaon.
BY the way I am watching the game and I am really really going to hate Crawford.. hahahaha… he is single handedly carrying us again… He has a higher slugging percentage than Longo.. hahahaha
Ah please dont leave
I agree with Rob…the Yanks still have a good team, and they will now just go after him this winter. We know that the Rangers most likely will not be able to keep him….so they really do not loose anything….not so great for us Rays fans. I was actually surprised they did not get him last off season. Quit crying Yanks…you will get your chance to buy another WS.