Giants
 

Assume that the Yankees' payroll is $50 million more than the next team (which I believe is the Red Sox -- two minutes on the interwebs would reveal all the details, but they're not important for this). Is there any reason to think that the Yankees recoup anything close to $50 million on that marginal investment? I would think not. I would think that they don't improve their chances of winning a whole lot by spending the additional money, and that what the franchise brings in is only partly related to whether they win.

If so, wouldn't you expect the next owner to stop spending so much? If shrewd, he/she/they will find a way to be "forced" by the rest of MLB into some luxury tax/salary cap/revenue sharing, to avoid becoming a NYC villain.

All of which seems particularly relevant in light of Steinbrenner's declining health and capacities.

Giants
 

On everything else, we could continue to bore everyone for weeks, as it's all speculation. However, he ain't 30--the man is turning 32 two weeks from today. I guess you're using the Soriano age calculator.

And I completely agree that it is likely that he will retire as the greatest modern player, purely on the numbers (standard Bonds exception). And that the Yankees will likely overpay him in a fantastical amount.

Dates
 

Ok, my date last night was really pretty good, but I just got back from lunch with a client (female) that went on for 3 1/2 hours and she was just so awesome that I totally want to date her.

I'm just going to have to create my own hermaphroditic robot companion and we'll be blissfully happy forever.

Dates
 

I want to know who reached in each case, and who ultimately picked up each check.

Giants
 

Don't know if you saw it, but they did a "what do you do with that $30 mil?" on Baseball Tonight last night, and Kurkjin [sp]
basically had it at

F A-rod, instead take:

Carlos Zambrano $12-15MM
Jermaine Dye - $8-10MM
Eric Gagne - $7-9MM

Giants
 

With steinbrenner ailing, why won't he spend $ like Pierce Marshall on strippers? He wants to win again and again--so what if his son in law or someone else is saddled with bad contracts. He's not going to sell the Yankees, his estate will. By that point, A-Rod will be in the HoF

Giants
 

They're worth whatever someone is willing to pay them.

Giants
 

From what I've heard, it sounds like someone else will be running the team before that. Anyhoo, assume that's the case.

Giants
 

Yeah, Hank III

and not the Williams version.

Giants
 

No. Because I think part of the value of the team is the fact that they always have a chance to win. Steinbrenner purchased the team for less than $10 mil in '73 and it's now worth well over a billion dollars. Do you think the team is worth that much if they make the playoffs every now and then?

I also think there is something to be said for building your brand. And Steinbrenner sees returns in other ways, because players all over the world view the Yankees as the benchmark for sports success and they want to play for us. And knowing we'll pay top dollar doesn't hurt recruiting either.

The next owner might not spend as much, it's true. But if they don't do what is necessary to win, I think the value of their investment may drop (although, that might not matter if they pull all that money out of the team annually).

But ask yourself that question. Why do the Red Sox spend so much? They don't need to to field a somewhat successful team.

TM

Giants
 

Whatever. Just supports my theory that he isn't close to slowing down yet.

Gotta fill that new stadium, I guess.

TM

Dates
 

Last night, I reached and he picked it up (as predicted).

Lunch, my firm picked it up (I paid, she didn't reach-- that would have been silly because I arranged the lunch).

Giants
 

Congratulations on taking dumbest post of the day! This is probably the best way to get noticed.

TM

Giants
 

That may be true, but Stein is not running the team in a way to maximize the value of the franchise to his estate.

I think your point is broader, though--is it rational in baseball to spend so much on individual players. Given that the best team wins about 60% of its games, and even a team that wins 54% of its games can make the playoffs, where it's clearly a crapshoot as to who wins, is there much advantage to having the "best" team? It's not clear there is. And by advantge, I mean either in terms of winning championships or attracting fans. Most of the teams seem to attract similar levels of fans each year regardless of the product's quality.

Giants
 

ESPN.com had a long article last week, just before Steinbrenner turned 77.

• But when it comes to the fireworks long associated with Steinbrenner, only occasional traces still flicker. After running the New York Yankees for 34 years, he's in the twilight of his ownership career.
  
  As with all else concerning the Boss' storied, stormy epoch, the transition to a new generation is filled with Sturm und Drang. The subtext to the family birthday party is family upheaval. Steve Swindal, once Steinbrenner's designated successor to run the Yankees and for now still his son-in-law, will be absent. Swindal and Jenny Steinbrenner are getting divorced, causing his dismissal from the Yankees, as well.
  
  New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, watching Roger Clemens pitch during a Florida State League game in May, is still very active in the organization's daily operations, say club insiders.
  
  That's caused Steinbrenner's sons, Hank and Hal, to take more active roles with the team, which they've previously spent their lives avoiding. Both have shrunk from the spotlight of baseball and skirted the stress of working for their father in that business. Now they have no choice. There's an $800 million stadium to be built. There's an underachieving team to be re-built. There's a patriarch in decline who needs them.

The team denies that he's declining, but that's not the picture you get reading between the lines, and it's not what I hear.