Organizational Meetings Under Way

Hank Steinbrenner

Hank and Hal, Randy Levine, Lonn Trost, Cash-Money, and other assorted Yankee Brass have gathered at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa today to begin the meetings that will plan the different strategies that will hopefully lead the Yankees back to the promised land in 2009.

According to Hank, the goal of the meeting is to fix whatever was broken in 2008 and restore order to the universe for 2009.

"It's to set our offseason priorities, certainly, and what we need to try and do," Hank Steinbrenner said Wednesday. "This year, we definitely are all pretty much on the same page. We know what we have to do, and it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of effort. Hopefully we can get as much done as we hope."

"Our goal is to win the World Series," Steinbrenner said. "This year was a little strange because the American League East was so powerful. We finished third because of the division we're in. But, is it acceptable for us to be with what we ended up with? No, it's not. So we're going to do what we can to correct that."

This will officially kick off a lot of interesting moves that we will be following this offseason. I hope you join me in the fun!!!!

Hank Thinks Divisional Races Are Unfair...Do You!?

Hank Steinbrenner

Hank Steinbrenner, as told to Chris Bahr of The Sporting News:

There has been plenty of discussion about so many large-market teams being in playoff contention this season. But some small-market teams have been in the running all season. The Rays are the best example of that.

We all know baseball went to a multidivision setup to create more races, rivalries and excitement. But it isn't fair. You see it this season, with plenty of people in the media pointing out that Joe Torre and the Dodgers are going to the playoffs while we're not. This is by no means a knock on Torre -- let me make that clear -- but look at the division they're in. If L.A. were in the A.L. East, it wouldn't be in the playoff discussion.

The A.L. East is never weak. Ask the teams that finished behind us all of those seasons. I'll say it right now: Boston should have made the playoffs in 1978. We beat the Red Sox in that one-game playoff, but they still had a better record than the Royals, who won the A.L. West. And that's one of many examples.

The divisional setup is not right by any definition of logic. But the sports media rarely deals with logic -- so you never read about this.

So, what should be done? Have an A.L. and an N.L. and put the top four finishers from each in the playoffs. You'd still have eight teams and the same number of playoff rounds. The Yankees still wouldn't be in the postseason this year in my setup, so it's not sour grapes. It's just the smart way to do things. Unfortunately, we don't do that. But we should because -- here comes that word again -- it's logical.

The one saving grace in the current six-division setup is the wild card. Without it, we'd have a complete disaster because a deserving team from each league would be kept out each season. You can't keep a strong second-place team out of the playoffs just because it finished behind a dominant first-place team. And if a wild-card team wins the World Series, great. It got there because it had a great record, not because it won a weak division.

I know a lot of Yankee fans (and media gurus) are quick to dismiss Hank, but does the man have a point!?!  

I think he does...what do you think!?!   

VOTE IN THE POLL BY CLICKING HERE!!!!

Hank: "Joe Will Be Back, That's The Bottom Line"

Hank Steinbrenner

Bryan Hoch/MLB.Com:

The Yankees appear likely to miss the postseason for the first time in more than a decade, but the club plans to retain Joe Girardi as manager for the 2009 season.

Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner confirmed on Monday that Girardi -- who is piloting the club in the first year of a three-year contract -- will return next year.

"Joe will be back," Steinbrenner told the Associated Press Monday at the club's Spring Training complex. "He's done everything he could. That's the bottom line."

Hank Speaks, Yanks Win

Hank Steinbrenner

It's as simple as that.

Why Would You Hate On Hank?!?

Hank Steinbrenner

Just read this piece over at River Ave. Blues. Don't get me wrong they do a great job, and I read their Blog daily but this is something I just really don't understand.

Hank’s not too happy with the Yankee play lately. Well, join the club, Hank. The only difference between Hank and the rest of Yankee fans the world over is that we’re not in a position to get our stupid rants in the paper. Unfortunately for Hank, he’s not the sole decision-maker atop the Yankees management hierarchy. “This is going to get turned around. If it’s not turned around this year, then it will be turned around next year, by force if we have to,” he said. What does that even mean?

Update: At the urgings of a commenter, here is Hank’s entire quote: “There’s no question we need to turn it around and we have the talent to turn it around. We’ve got the team in place, and now they just have to go out and do it. This is going to get turned around. If it’s not turned around this year, then it will be turned around next year, by force if we have to.” Even when we consider the whole thing, he still sounds rather blustery and ridiculous. His point — that the Yanks are playing poorly — can be seen for miles, and I doubt the players are going to feel motivated just because Hank sort of threatened them. Their contracts are, after all, guaranteed.

Well, the last sentence is completely wrong. Contracts are guaranteed money--not guaranteed starting positions. Just because a player has a contract with a team does not mean he can't ride the bench if he isn't performing.

Also, Hank has every right in the world to say whatever he feels like he needs to say. So far, I haven't seen anything he has ever said turn into a detriment to this team. In fact, it seems like when he speaks out, the Yankees turn up their intensity and play like he and everyone else knows they are capable of playing. Like Greg at Sliding Into Home points out "I think this is the third Hank outburst right before a Mike Mussina start, and each time Mussina pitched well, so let's hope he can make it 3-for-3 tonight".

Hank is not the one you should be hating on. These players are lethargic millionaires, and he has every right to try and do something to fire them up. If it works, it works. If it doesn't it doesn't. But don't crucify the man for trying to get all he can from his players.

I mean come on, as an employer when you pay nine employees a combined total of $210 million dollars and they are lazy and sloppy and not performing up to their abilities, I would hope that your right to open your mouth and say whatever it is you want to say is guaranteed. If it isn't-- forget baseball-- this country is in trouble.

Hank Is Pissed...Want's Joba In Rotation

Hank Steinbrenner

Micheal S. Schmidt/New York Times (hat tip to RAB):

“I want Joba Chamberlain as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now,” Steinbrenner said Sunday by telephone.

“There is no question about it, you don’t have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don’t do that. You have to be an idiot to do that.”

Steinbrenner said the Yankees were working on easing Chamberlain into the rotation, but he would not be specific on a timetable. The Yankees’ brain trust had wanted to limit Chamberlain’s innings by having him spend at least part of the season in the bullpen. “The mistake was already made last year switching him to the bullpen out of panic or whatever,” Steinbrenner said. “I had no say in it last year and I wouldn’t have allowed it. That was done last year, so now we have to catch up. It has to be done on a schedule so we don’t rush him.”

“I think once Hughes and Kennedy get plenty of starts and get Joba back, and with Wang and Pettitte, we will be fine,” Steinbrenner said, referring to the Yankee starters Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte.

He also said he thought Mike Mussina, who is 39, “just needs to learn how to pitch like Jamie Moyer,” the Phillies’ 45-year-old starter, suggesting that Mussina shouldn’t try to rely on his diminished fastball to get hitters out.

“The starting rotation is not what I would have chosen at the beginning of the year, but that is not a big news flash to anyone,” Steinbrenner said.

The Chairpersons

Hank Steinbrenner

Hal and Hank Steinbrenner named co-chairpersons of the New York Yankees on Thursday by their father, owner George Steinbrenner.

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Hank: Canseco Must Be On Drug's Or Something

Hank Steinbrenner

Article By Pete Caldera for NorthJersey.com:

Agitated by the steroid accusations volleyed at Alex Rodriguez in Jose Canseco's latest book, Yankees general partner Hank Steinbrenner defended his $275 million slugger as "just a natural" and stated that Canseco is merely out to make a buck.

"Consider the source, that's No. 1," Steinbrenner said of Canseco. "He wouldn't have been able to hit the ball out of the infield without steroids.

"And No. 2, if Mickey Mantle or Babe Ruth were playing today, with the 550-foot home runs they hit, everybody'd be saying they were on something. They didn't even lift weights in those days. They played on alcohol and hot dogs.

"There are certain naturals. There are guys who can just do it, and Alex is one of those guys," Steinbrenner said. "He's just friggin' great."

"It's a shame, because Canseco is preying on a player that everyone's attention is on," said Hank, who emphasized A-Rod's comparison to a modern-day Mantle regarding his natural ability.

"Without injuries," Steinbrenner said, "[Mantle] would've broken every record in the book.

"[Rodriguez] is not only one of the greatest hitters ever, he's one of the best shortstops ever, and one of the best third basemen," Steinbrenner said. "He is just a natural. People have to come to grips with that."