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At this point, the truly insane part about the Rivera offer is that after 3 days he has yet to accept it :)

The biggest worry for me is that Hank S. is doing a LOT of talking and a lot of it is not necessary. A few no comments would make me feel better. For example, "Everybody is just probing, including Brian," Steinbrenner said. "The only probing we've done thus far is on Cabrera. Obviously, there will be an interest in Santana. Everything with Santana and Cabrera is very preliminary right now." Firstly, shut it, there is no benefit in talking about it. Secondly, Brian Cashman should be the only one doing the probbing, its his job.

I don't like this....at all.

Peter, I am stunned by the Yankees offer. I am also stunned that Mariano hasn't said yes yet.

What relief pitcher has ever gotten that kind of money and/or what pitched his age has ever gotten that kind of money and length of deal? I still think he has another good year in him, but 3? Not so sure.

I would think Mo would grab the offer, not sure why he hasn't.

And Tim, I wish Hank would shut up too, but I think the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree.

Peter,

It is insanity. And yet, he hasn't taken it. Now, I love Mo as much as the next Yankees' fan, and I fully appreciate how vitally important he has been all these years (and I was damn angry when those so-called "fans" booed him at the Stadium during the season-opening Yanks-BoSox series in 2005), but he really seems to be carrying a very large chip on his shoulder about not having had his contract sewn up this past spring. And frankly, it's beginning to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. The more I read him saying "the Yankees didn't negotiate with me in the Spring, but I'm not mad, it's just business", the more I feel like he is behaving like a spoiled child. It's clear that he is mad -- very mad. And I'm not sure it's entirely justified. It's not as if the Yankees short-changed him all these years. He's been the gold standard amongst closers for most of the years he's been closing, and he's been compensated for it, especially under the contract that just expired. If he really believes that this is just business, then surely he can understand that, given his age, it was only prudent for the organization to want to see what he had left in the tank. He's not exactly a spring chicken, here. And the fact is, the Yankees are offering to overpay here, by a lot. That doesn't mean another there aren't other teams that won't offer the same, if not more. I'm sure there are. The stupidity of some of these owners must never be underestimated. One need only think of the A-Rod, Mike Hampton, and Denny Neagle contracts for that (not to mention the Giambi contract). And another fact is, he's arguably not the best closer in baseball anymore, yet he's going to be paid as if he is, by far. Oh sure, he's still in the first tier. But statisticians will surely argue that the unmistakable signs of decline are there for those who wish to see them.

As far as rebuilding, the Yankees are in rebuilding mode, even if they don't want or like to admit it. The sooner they accept that, the sooner they'll start making rational business decisions.

BTW, have you seen the article Rivera Turns the Tables, Making the Yanks Wait? You can see it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/sports/baseball/14yankees.html The title says it all.

Tim,

I couldn't agree with you more. More gems from the mouth of Hank Steinbrenner (see article above):

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it’s a tremendous offer for a 38-year-old relief pitcher."
“He’ll be, by $4 million, the highest-paid relief pitcher in baseball, by far. I don’t know what the holdup is. The ball’s in their court.”

Does he really think these kinds of comments are helpful? Doesn't he understand that he (and the Yankees) will look much better if they avoid comments like this? Is he trying to piss Mo off? What is it with Steinbrenner males? Are they afflicted with some sort of uncontrollable genetic deficiency that compels them to say all kinds of things in the press, no matter how foolish, just to get themselves quoted in the papers? I wish he would just shut up, already. There will be plenty of time for posturing when and if Mo signs elsewhere.

My two cents:

This may be Mo's way of punishing the Steins for dissing him with no extension this past season and for dissing his "main man", Joe Torre. Sometimes, it just feels good to "get even" a little bit.

Stein Jr. seems to love to talk. You're right, this means problems for Cash.

I think the real indicator of being in rebuilding mode is how well they hold on to their young talent.

And yes, these numbers are truly silly numbers for players of their ages - but the team is stuck right now, desperate even, and will remain so until their farm system replenishes completely.

Mariano is showing his true colors here. Fielding offers from other teams as if any of them would even match the Yankees' 3/40 million offer. He needs to get over his ego. He's not being disrespected with the deals the Yankees have sent him.

Tim, et al, I couldn't agree more. I am giving him until the end of the day to accept it and then I will move to the "upset with Mo" category. It is fine for him to try and tweak the Yankees as Mitchell suggested, but he is dangerously close to tweaking the fans, and 99% of us will never earn $15 million in our lives, let alone one year.

And Gregg, remember all the things George did in his youth? Fights in elevators with fans, fights with managers and players. Ten years ago we would have expected all of this because we were used to it. This is Steinbrenner 101- keep motivating, keep the team on the back page. I hope we never get another apology to the city of New York, but I can't say any of this surprises me and I am afraid I wouldn't expect it to change anytime soon. Poor Howard Rubenstein must not have a job anymore.

Peter,

I remember all that nonsense, believe me. One reason Hank Steinbrenner's behavior irritates me so much is that for years now I've been looking forward to the day when George Steinbrenner faded from the scene, so the Yankees could start behaving in a more "normal" fashion - with perhaps a tad more cash to burn than the other teams :-) Now it seems like the son is a chip off the old blockhead, and I fear its going to be the same nonsense for oh, I don't know, another 25 years or so. I understand that partly this is about keeping the Yankees on the back pages of the tabloids, thereby generating interest in the team which (theoretically) leads to increased revenues. And I'm certainly glad the team is willing to spend money to make money, unlike some owners who won't, while they cry about the unfairness of a system that essentially gives them an incentive to pocket luxury tax revenue without investing in their product (e.g., Florida Marlins). But I strongly believe that this is also about Steinbrenner men with large fortunes and even larger egos who crave seeing their names in the paper. I'd like to see Yankees management conduct themselves with a little more dignity. I think the Steinbrenners' behavior is sometimes tacky, classless and possibly worst of all, counterproductive. I'd like to see them run their operations in a more rational, coherent manner. Here's a novel idea: how about we let the GM do his job as GM? Which means letting him handle the day-to-day business, and letting him be the face of the Yankees' management to the public. I agree with Tim: I'm not getting a good feeling from Hank Steinbrenner's behavior this winter. And I don't like it all.

Well put Greg, I am afraid those days won't come as long as Hank is in charge. Hal seems to be a different animal.

The one positive I can point out is that while Hank clearly wants to be the face of the franchise, I think he is letting Cashman make the decisions. By all accounts I have seen, Girardi was a Cashman choice and I think that is a good indication of his power within the organization.

Peter,

1. Hank may appear to be letting Cashman make the decisions, but I'm not yet persuaded that Cash is fully empowered to make all of them, with the same degree of authority as other GMs in more, ahem, conventionally run organizations.

2. Some of Hank's comments make Cashman's job harder than it needs to be, because they run the risk of unnecessarily irritating people (e.g., Mo).

3. We'll know much more next year at this time, after Cashman's current contract expires. Does Cashman get canned because the Yanks fail to win the World Series? We'll see.

So you think it's a puppet government? Certainly history is on your side.

I think Cashman will be judged by not just the performance on the field, but the bottom line. If he can show the Steinbrenner boys that he has developed a farm system which can provide cheaper players and keep the Yankees competitive, I think he stays.

I also think that Cashman knows that he will never work in one of those conventional organizations since he has been around the Yankees since 1986. Personally, I have often viewed the Yankees' success as something that happened in spite of Steinbrenner. The guy spends the money, I will give him that, but not much else.

Notice the sentence "EVERYBODY is doing some probing, including Brian." This is very bad. It should be said,"Brian is doing some probing and there are others offering advice". It's nice that Brian Cashman is included in the post-season discussions.

Peter,

Yes, but will he be granted the time to develop a sustainably productive farm system? That requires a multi-year investment, and more importantly, a fundamental shift in the organization's mindset. Do the notoriously impatient Yankees have the patience to wait for him to do this? The more resources they have at their disposal, the more disciplined they need to be in order to spend those resources wisely. The temptation is always going to be to succumb to the (seemingly) quick fix and throw money at problems. The change in the organization's approach is going to need to permeate every level, from the top on down. I'm not persuaded this has happened. If Cash gets fired next year because "Jeez, we spent all this money and we didn't win the World Series", well then we'll know that they haven't really changed (or learned) a thing.

I'm not sure how to interpret your assertion that the Yankees' successes under the Steinbrenner regime have occurred in spite of Steinbrenner. That makes it sound too much like a matter of luck. The core of the '76-'81 Yankees were built by shrewd trades (mostly By Gabe Paul) and a few products of the farm system: Munson, Chambliss, Randolph, Dent ('77), Nettles, Rivers, White, Piniella, Lyle, Guidry, Tidrow. There were a few free agents as well, to add the "finishing touches": Hunter, Jackson, Gossage, John. The core of the 96-01 teams were built mostly by the farm system and signficant trades: Williams, Jeter, Pettite, Rivera, O'Neill, Martinez, Cone, Key, Fielder, Nelson, Girardi, Brosius, Posada . There were, of course, some free agents: Boggs, Wells, Stanton. I forget how we acquired Strawberry and Gooden. The bulk of the credit for building that team goes to Watson, Michael and Showalter. So while it's great Steinbrenner is willing to spend the money, the truth is that he doesn't deserve the bulk of the credit for past successes. I firmly believe that if he hadn't been suspended, that '96-'01 team would never have had the chance to form as it did. Can you really see them having had the patience to wait for Williams to blossom? I certainly don't. I see too much of George in Hank Steinbrenner, and it concerns me. I hope I'm wrong.