In other New York baseball news, the Yankees have officially announced the biggest signing in franchise history and simultaneously named Aaron Judge the 16th captain in team history.
The Yankees made history…officially twice.
But by then, the Mets had us gasping.
It’s hard to outshine a judge, the Yankees, a record deal, or the captaincy of the sport’s most important franchise. But we’ve known for more than two weeks that Judge was backtracking on a nine-year, $360 million pact. And for about as long as it was understood that the captaincy was an advantage likely to be attached.
But we had believed for a week that Carlos Correa was a giant. Then Mets fans went to bed Tuesday thinking how nice it was to have Adam Ottavino back and woke up (let me clear my eyes again) … that Carlos Correa had been signed. The Giants had canceled their Tuesday press conference to announce Correa due to physical issues. suddenly, One of the game’s best shortstops was the Mets’ third baseman. So, yes, the judge’s press conference was now disappointing.
In about five hours of the night, Cohen had made the most shocking move by a New York baseball team since … perhaps the 2003-04 offseason. The Red Sox had Alex Rodriguez pretty much locked in a trade with the Rangers. The MLB Players Association vetoed the deal because it involved A-Rod taking a pay cut. The Yankees had just lost third baseman Aaron Boone to a knee injury in the offseason.
So they saw an avenue and followed the kind of over-the-top strategy that also becomes Cohen’s model. They struck a deal to put A-Rod in third place next to star shortstop Derek Jeter, as sure as Cohen did negotiating a 12-year, $315 million deal with Scott Boras (also A-Rod’s agent at the time) for Correa station at third next to Francisco Lindor.
“I don’t mind,” Hal Steinbrenner said of his organization’s big day crashing across the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge. Steve has put together a great team. We also have a great team. So it doesn’t matter. The moment is what it is. I’m focused on today. All I know is that our fans are very excited.
It’s not about which team owns New York. The city is big enough for both. I suspect six million fans combined will visit Citi Field and Yankee Stadium this season. I expect my email inbox to be filled with 2023 rah-rah rating statements from SNY and YES. The Judge’s Chamber sound will not cover Edwin Diaz’s trumpets or vice versa.
But it’s clear the Yankees are no longer running unopposed, as they have been for much of the past three decades. Brian Cashman tried to argue that Hal was like his father In multiple one-on-one charm offensives, he put on Judge to make sure his biggest star wouldn’t leave. Normally Hal is as exciting as oatmeal. But having Judge go on trial while on vacation in Italy provided a mysterious international handsome man for that retention.
Yet in the theater and the unbridled fervor of star-chasing, Cohen is much more George Steinbrenner than Hal Steinbrenner. Landing a player like Carlos Correa while vacationing in Hawaii in the hours leading up to a huge press conference by the Crosstown rival would have pleased George even more than a blue blazer.
We’re really proud of what we do and how we do it, and the people we’re able to retain or import, and we certainly hope that when the dust settles like the [Mets] are … for which we have a chance to compete [a championship]Cashman said. “I know they feel they obviously have a chance to compete for that.”
This means that both teams operate under the doctrine of George Steinrbenner. The Yankees have it every year – win or lose. The Yankees haven’t won everything since 2009, which is treated by Yankees fans as if it happened under the Lincoln administration. Cashman insisted his offset offseason budget also had enough to secure Carlos Rodon and that Hal wasn’t suing the King of Queens by raising the payroll. Still, pressure from the Yankees is only growing with projections for the biggest payroll in franchise history.
Except you can argue that no team in major league history has had the pressure to win that the 2023 Mets will face. The Mets payroll is $100 million and more than the second-place Yankees. They face a tax bill of about $110 million. Their total player spend is now around $500 million. That’s half a billion for those doing the math at home.
But that’s life in downtown baseball now. Press conferences for Kodai Senga and Justin Verlander Monday and Tuesday in Queens. Press conferences for Judge and Rodon Wednesday and Thursday in the Bronx. In between came the shocking revelation that Correa is a Met — and, heck, his press conference just might be Friday.
Oh yes, Judge was also named captain of the Yankees.
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