George threatens his coaching staff

[JasonX 0]

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1610307

 

"Boss: Coaching jobs are on the line....."

 

Never mind that the New York Yankees have the best record in the American League, and the third best mark in the majors.

 

Never mind that the Yankees have a 2½-game lead on the Red Sox in the AL East heading into the second game of their series Saturday afternoon.

 

Owner George Steinbrenner is fuming -- again. The Yankees have not played well of late and were routed by Pedro Martinez and archrival Boston Friday night. As far as the Boss is concerned, the skies are never clear in Yankeeland.

 

During last night's loss, a clearly frustrated Steinbrenner told The New York Post that all the coaches' jobs will be in jeopardy if the Yankees do not win the World Series this year. He indicated that manager Joe Torre and general manager Brian Cashman are on the hot seat as well.

 

Steinbrenner told the newspaper he is angrier at Torre's coaching staff now than in the offseason, when he said: "I think they better be a little uneasy." Steinbrenner stated yesterday that the coaches are safe through the end of this season, and made it clear how Torre can protect them: "If he [Torre] turns it around and wins everything, what can I say?"

 

Steinbrenner did not name names, but "they know who they are." He has been critical of hitting coach Rick Down, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and bench coach Don Zimmer behind closed doors, according to the Post.

 

Many Yankees have struggled at times this season, including Alfonso Soriano, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Bernie Williams, David Wells, Jeff Weaver and Andy Pettitte, who failed to get out of the third inning on Friday. Though most players struggle at times during the 6-month-long season, these players' troubles have been magnified simply because they are Yankees.

 

Steinbrenner has not been totally pleased with Cashman either. The Boss implored the GM to sign free agent David Ortiz in the offseason, but Cashman already had first basemen Jason Giambi and Nick Johnson in the fold. Ortiz signed with the Red Sox, and has had a breakout season (.294, 25 HR, 85 RBI), doing much damage to the Yankees.

 

Steinbrenner also said that Torre should take a tougher stand with the players when they are struggling. "We can't be hugging players when they are doing dumb things," he told the newspaper. "Maybe the hugging time is over. We need to get tough."

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Steinbrenner did not name names, but "they know who they are." He has been critical of hitting coach Rick Down, pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre and bench coach Don Zimmer behind closed doors, according to the Post.

Yeah, what do they know about baseball?

 

Gotta love George...

[Guest Ghettoman]

He's got some points but when there covered in whats basically the rantings of a lunatic he hurts his own case.

 

Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky and he'll be force fed some extacy soon....

[CanadianChris 0]

Steinbrenner has not been totally pleased with Cashman either. The Boss implored the GM to sign free agent David Ortiz in the offseason, but Cashman already had first basemen Jason Giambi and Nick Johnson in the fold. Ortiz signed with the Red Sox, and has had a breakout season (.294, 25 HR, 85 RBI), doing much damage to the Yankees.

He wanted to sign a player they had no use for just so another team couldn't have him?

 

I wish I could be that careless with MY money.

[NoCalMike 0]

As long as this guy still owns a sports franchise, I never want to hear another critcism of Daniel Snyder.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Steinbrenner has not been totally pleased with Cashman either. The Boss implored the GM to sign free agent David Ortiz in the offseason, but Cashman already had first basemen Jason Giambi and Nick Johnson in the fold. Ortiz signed with the Red Sox, and has had a breakout season (.294, 25 HR, 85 RBI), doing much damage to the Yankees.

He wanted to sign a player they had no use for just so another team couldn't have him?

 

I wish I could be that careless with MY money.

This is why MLB fans are screaming for an NFL-style salary cap.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I just think it's funny that if the slightest thing goes wrong, people are shitting all over each other and Big Stein goes into Mr. McMahon mode by threatening to fire people if they don't please him.

[Guest BobbyWhioux]

I would be interested to find out how many professional baseball games George Steinbrenner has played in during his life.

 

Part of me would love to see Steinbrenner panic and dismantle the coaching staff of a pretty damn good team, and then to see the Yankees sputter for a few years. Not just to see the Yankees fall from the perch (which would be rather gratifying in and of itself) but to have the blame for it fall squarely on the shoulders of the meddlesome owner who constantly tries to motivate the team via threats and intimidation.

 

If we're really lucky, he'd be suspended or banned again, like he was in the 80's.

[Guest Harry Hood]

As a Red Sox fan, lemme just say that I would love for him to fire his coaching staff.

[Vern Gagne 0]

Steinbrenner does this to draw attention of the Yankees poor play, and onto himself. He's an egomaniac, but he's trying to motivate his team.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

As long as this guy still owns a sports franchise, I never want to hear another critcism of Daniel Snyder.

Until the Redskins franchise wins a couple of Super Bowls (Well, I'll settle for one..)under Snyder, Im not going to stop bashing him. The only reason Snyder isn't as bad as Steinbrenner is because theres a Salary Cap in the NFL.

[A Happy Medium 0]

I don't like Snyder because he layed off my mom like five years ago..petty, but he still looks and acts like a douche bag.

 

Oh yeah, Steinbrenner...he can buy and sell me many times over...I respect that.

[NoCalMike 0]

As long as this guy still owns a sports franchise, I never want to hear another critcism of Daniel Snyder.

Until the Redskins franchise wins a couple of Super Bowls (Well, I'll settle for one..)under Snyder, Im not going to stop bashing him. The only reason Snyder isn't as bad as Steinbrenner is because theres a Salary Cap in the NFL.

he's owned the franchise for 3 years. Give it some time. The franchise is on the way up right now.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

As long as this guy still owns a sports franchise, I never want to hear another critcism of Daniel Snyder.

Until the Redskins franchise wins a couple of Super Bowls (Well, I'll settle for one..)under Snyder, Im not going to stop bashing him. The only reason Snyder isn't as bad as Steinbrenner is because theres a Salary Cap in the NFL.

he's owned the franchise for 3 years. Give it some time. The franchise is on the way up right now.

This is actually year #5 under Snyder (It feels like about 7 years). And the Redskins were a playoff team in 1999 (year #1), one missed FG from a trip to the NFC Championship game vs the Rams (im not stupid enough to think they could have beat the Rams that year though..).

 

And I'd be happy to give the franchise time, but I dont think Snyder will. I guarantee you at the rate Ramsey is going (servicable enough to win games, but not more than 8 or 9) that Snyder will have a veteran/more experienced QB signed in the offseason (I don't know who right now..Im sure there are a couple soon to be free agent QBs).

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Steinbrenner has not been totally pleased with Cashman either. The Boss implored the GM to sign free agent David Ortiz in the offseason, but Cashman already had first basemen Jason Giambi and Nick Johnson in the fold. Ortiz signed with the Red Sox, and has had a breakout season (.294, 25 HR, 85 RBI), doing much damage to the Yankees.

He wanted to sign a player they had no use for just so another team couldn't have him?

 

I wish I could be that careless with MY money.

This is why MLB fans are screaming for an NFL-style salary cap.

Fuck the salary cap. The Yankees haven't won the last two years. There's no competitive balance problem in baseball. All the salary cap does is rob teams of any kind of identity.

[CanadianChris 0]

Steinbrenner has not been totally pleased with Cashman either. The Boss implored the GM to sign free agent David Ortiz in the offseason, but Cashman already had first basemen Jason Giambi and Nick Johnson in the fold. Ortiz signed with the Red Sox, and has had a breakout season (.294, 25 HR, 85 RBI), doing much damage to the Yankees.

He wanted to sign a player they had no use for just so another team couldn't have him?

 

I wish I could be that careless with MY money.

This is why MLB fans are screaming for an NFL-style salary cap.

Fuck the salary cap. The Yankees haven't won the last two years. There's no competitive balance problem in baseball. All the salary cap does is rob teams of any kind of identity.

What kind of identity do they have now? Salary caps don't guarantee player movement; free agency does.

 

And there IS a competitive balance problem when ZERO teams in the bottom half of MLB teams in payroll have even made it to the World Series since the strike, and I'm pretty sure you could count the number of playoff series they've won in that time on one hand, and still have fingers left over. Spending doesn't guarantee you'll win it all, but NOT spending guarantees you won't.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

And there IS a competitive balance problem when ZERO teams in the bottom half of MLB teams in payroll have even made it to the World Series since the strike, and I'm pretty sure you could count the number of playoff series they've won in that time on one hand, and still have fingers left over. Spending doesn't guarantee you'll win it all, but NOT spending guarantees you won't.

 

That's not a competitive balance problem, that's a poor business problem. Baseball is a pure free-market system. Your team can make as much money as it wants, and spend as much money as it wants. Or as little as it wants. Too many owners run poor teams and cry foul when they don't win. The system has its problems, but it is absolutley fair. Its then up to the owners to make something out of it.

[CanadianChris 0]

First of all, teams CAN'T make as much as they want. There are certain places where you just will not make the kind of money the Yankees make. Hence, you can't spend the kind of money the Yankees spend. Sure, the Yankees haven't won the last two years, but they've made the playoffs every year but one since the strike. The Yankees and Braves have combined for 18 division titles since 1991, and it's not because of luck.

 

Second, teams which have more money to spend do better in the playoffs do better for one reason...DEPTH. They have the money to throw around for good spare parts when the time comes. They can rest their players more frequently, which means they'll be fresher in the playoffs than lower-payroll clubs, who have less-talented bench players, and have to ride their starters for all they're worth just to get to the postseason.

 

Finally, why is a free-market system a good thing? This isn't the real world, where only the strong survive, and you need to compete to stay alive. The Yankees and Braves NEED teams like the Royals and Pirates in the league, and they need them to be competitive to maximize business. They're not trying to force them out of business, because pretty soon there'd be no one left to play! What's the best league in North American sports? The NFL. Why? Because they have complete revenue sharing and a salary cap. There's no squabbling over salaries, or one team having the means to spend more than another because of where they happen to be located. As a result, every franchise is worth hundreds of millions of dollars, and the league will be viable for decades to come. Teams succeed or fail based on the talent in the front office and on the sidelines, as it should be, rather than being able to sign away a team's best players because they can no longer afford them.

 

MLB cannot sustain itself in the long term with revenue sharing and some kind of meaningful drag on salaries.

[Guest Anglesault]

of the meddlesome owner who constantly tries to motivate the team via threats and intimidation.

Actually, he motivates them by paying them large sums of money. The Theats and intimidation kicks in when they the money fails.

 

Sure, the Yankees haven't won the last two years, but they've made the playoffs every year but one since the strike

 

And that year would be...?

[CanadianChris 0]

Sure, the Yankees haven't won the last two years, but they've made the playoffs every year but one since the strike

 

And that year would be...?

Hm. I was right the first time I wrote it. That's what I get for checking my facts...the page I checked was wrong.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

MLB can not be like the NFL, and it would suck if they were. The NFL needs a different system in place, because they don't have the farm systems like MLB does. The farm system is why MLB doesn't need a salary cap. A team with low resources can build their farm system and remain competitive.

 

In any case, the system the NFL has is grossly unfair to the players. The MLB's union won't allow anything close to the NFL's system, and with good reason.