Once upon a time the Yankees had more money to spend than everyone else. I mean LOTS more. On December 10, 1988, The Yankees reached agreement on a 12-year $500 million television deal with the Madison Square Garden cable television network. That was ten times more than most other teams.
Owner George Steinbrenner was capable of buying whichever players he coveted. If they wanted to be Yankees, George simply out bid all others. Well, times have changed. While the Yankees still have oodles of cash, they have company.
The Dodgers current tv deal is the best. Almost $200 million a season or about $50 million more than the Yankees. There are others as well with deep pockets quite capable of pulling players away from the Yanks.
Mets owner Steve Cohen doesn’t need your tv money, he’s brought some billions of his own to use anyway he likes. And he has of course. He just walked off with Juan Soto.
The loss of Soto was no doubt hurtful on many fronts for the Yanks. They gave up players for him last year. He gave them a significant one-two punch with Aaron Judge hitting behind him. They got a taste of the world series again and of course it was the rival Mets who got him.
Here's our @nyndsports back page. @Mets @mlb @mlbnetwork @apse_sportmedia #juansoto #Yankees https://t.co/Xhq3DRMkG2 pic.twitter.com/hS9o3ZGXUo
— Back Page Guy NYDN (@BackPageGuyNYDN) December 13, 2024
Even with a signing of Soto, there was much to do to put this Yankees team over the top. With Soto gone, a outfielder was added to the list but the $50 million plus a year they don’t have to pay him gives them the flexibility to fix the other glaring weaknesses.
Max makes many millions
General manager Brian Cashman has begun to do just that. First there was the free agent addition of lefthander Max Fried. He fits the ballpark, he gets a long term deal and he’ll take some pressure off Gerrit Cole at the front of the rotation.
The Yankees adressed the iffy nature at the back end of their bullpen by trading for one of the best in the business. Picking up Devin Williams from the Milwaukee Brewers. Next up certainly seems to be a deal with the Cubs for first baseman/outfielder Cody Bellinger.
With a healthy Jasson Domínguez finally expected to take over center field full time, Judge in right and presumably Jazz Chisholm back at third, it seems second base and left field would still need to be attended to. The Yankees should have enough money to do that and some other things if they want.
