Yankees Home Grown Talent

[JMaest]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big...urn=mlb,192672

To dismiss the 2009 New York Yankees' success as being just a result of financial excess and the wild, free-spending ways of the Steinbrenner family is to ignore the accomplishments of a select group of hard-working individuals. This team is not simply a loose-knit group of mercenaries showing up for business each day and collecting a paycheck. Rather, this is a collection of human beings whose success has been bred by inhouse teamwork.

In fact, very few teams can match the Yankees' high percentage of home-grown talent. From Andy Pettitte to Joba Chamberlain, from Derek Jeter to Robinson Cano, from Jorge Posada to Mariano Rivera, from Brett Gardner to Melky Cabrera, and six other strong pitchers in the bullpen, over 60 percent of the postseason roster will be products of a healthy farm system.

And A.J. Burnett aside, the Yankees brought in some genuinely likable free agents during the offseason. You can't find a better crop of affable players than CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher. Even Alex Rodriguez has become a sympathetic figure after recovering from hip surgery and the slings and arrows of yellow journalists; his power numbers have decreased for the second straight year but with Teixeira and Hideki Matsui protecting him in the lineup, the burden on A-Rod has been lifted.

[BryanV21]

I keep hearing Yankee haters talk about their payroll. "They spend the most money"...blah, blah, blah. So I looked at this year's numbers at Forbe's, which show team value among other things. And the thing I found most interesting...the Marlins Revenue is the lowest, while their Operating Income is the highest. How messed up is that?

Oh, and the Yankees have the highest revenue yet the 2nd lowest Operating Income (The Tigers have the lowest by far). I freely admit that the Yankees still make plenty of money thanks to their sponsors and outside ventures such as the YES Network. But look at Boston. The fucking Red Sox have an Operating Income of $25.7 million. They can certainly spend more on players and still make plenty of money, as that $25.7 million doesn't include money made off of things like Henry's New England Sports Ventures group.

So like I've said before...don't ask why the Yankees spend a lot, ask why your team doesn't spend more.

To see the Forbe's stuff for yourself, click here

[Sabres39]

That Forbes link was pretty interesting. Thanks for posting it.

[BahstonSawksCack]

Red Sox fans always say we buy our championships so with that said lets see who they have/had that helped them the most to win the WS twice....Ortiz (brought in) Manny (brought in) Damon (bought in) Beckett (brought in) Foulke (brought in) Pedro (brought in) Schilling (brought in) Wakefield (brought in) Mientkiewicz (brought in) Millar (brought in) so how does this differ from our team and our championships when 75% of their team was bought to win 2 championships?????

[Sabres39]

Not only that, but the Red Sox are the team with the highest payroll to ever win the World Series.

[BryanV21]

Not only that, but the Red Sox are the team with the highest payroll to ever win the World Series.

I'd chill on that stuff, because the Yankees may take over that "title" after this year's WS.

[DGWhite85]

very nice find man, great article

[FoRuM7200]

I wonder which team has won the WS with the most homegrown talent on its post season roster.

[DBurchHero]

I remember reading something that we had the 2nd highest percentage of home grown talent on our either 25 or 40 man roster... second to the LAD

I think we were in the 54 % tile.

[EAGLES3658]

I remember reading something that we had the 2nd highest percentage of home grown talent on our either 25 or 40 man roster... second to the LAD

I think we were in the 54 % tile.

I thought it was 2nd to the Rockies?

[DBurchHero]

Yeah maybe it was the Rockies.. my fault

[Joba Rules!!]

And A.J. Burnett aside, the Yankees brought in some genuinely likable free agents during the offseason. You can't find a better crop of affable players than CC Sabathia, Mark Teixeira and Nick Swisher.

Doh

[misterd]

In the past the Yankee payroll hadn't helped as much as it should because the money was too often speny unwisely (Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, Jason Giambi, etc). That does not seem to be the case now.

When the Yankees' season ended in '08, they had a nominal starting rotaton of Wang (and we see how that went), Joba, Hughes, Kennedy and... Aceves, maybe? But even with tens of millions coming off their payroll, they still had the highest bills in baseball. No other team in that position would have been able to turn around and drop $40-45m on Pettite, CC and AJ.

And then we added ANOTHER $25m with Teixiera and Swisher.

No team in baseball, not one, could have afforded to take on all 5 of those contracts on top of a $160m payroll. The homegrown talent's been great to see, but without the money - the money to add new players and the money to keep the old - the Yankees would have been lucky to break .500 this season.

As for the Forbes report, it was looking solely at the team expenses. Go beyond that - toss in merchandising and tv revenues, and the Yankees easily tower above every other team, including the mighty Marlins. This has allowed the Yankees to carry a higher payroll than the competition, and even more commit to a higher payroll in the future (the Yanks already have $95m commited to 2013, more than triple the next closest team). The catch is that the yankees HAVE to carry this sort of payroll - they are a team built around an image, a legacy, and have marketed it brilliantly. But if they fail to maintain that image, they will lose the fanbase, and the ability to afford that payroll.

[JMaest]

The catch is that the yankees HAVE to carry this sort of payroll - they are a team built around an image, a legacy, and have marketed it brilliantly.

DING DING DING!!! Give that man a cigar...

But if they fail to maintain that image, they will lose the fanbase, and the ability to afford that payroll.

The thing about the Yankee image is that it is always recapturable--as is the fanbase. They've set up a system for themselves that works quite well: Infuse young talent with high priced Free Agents to stay competitive and draw fans to the Stadium.

[misterd]

I'd chill on that stuff, because the Yankees may take over that "title" after this year's WS.

It's also pointless. Every few years will bring a new "highest payroll to win the WS" because, generally speaking, payrolls escalate over time.

If I remember correctly, the 92 or 93 Jays were the first $50m team in baseball.