Yankees strategy

[Redskins Rick]

If you look at Forbes, you'll see that the Yankees basically run at break-even year after year, and frequently they have an operating loss. Yet, the valuation of their franchise keeps going up. If you buy into Forbes, the Yankees have had operating losses of about $127 mm since 2004, and yet the value of the franchise has increased by $1.5 bb in that time. http://www.forbes.com/teams/new-york-yankees/

What that tells me is that the "operating profits" listed by Forbes don't reflect economic reality.

I dont buy the operating loss, just accounting tricks to show losses to the IRS.

Hollywood has done this for years, as does most big businesses.

[hoosiers]

A lot of valid points. One note -- it's not really fair to ding an entire front office for how the Yankees are won. Moreso than any other team, the Yankees need all-star names and talent on the field to be able to keep milking the cash cow. There was a study done this winter that pointed to a win being worth more in revenue to the Yankees than any other team in the game. I don't know if that FO would do well under different circumstances, but we should be wary of grading them on stuff like "drafting and developing talent", when their minor league system has really evolved into a holding company for assets to be traded.

EDIT -- We also see them ready to shatter the international amateur signing records set by Chicago/Texas last year. So they will be pumping a lot of teenage international talent into their system this year. I think it's a certainty they are way overpaying based on past market prices, so we'll see how this goes...My guess is it pushes us closer to an international draft in the near future.

I do understand that the NYY minor league system is an asset holding company, but they have not developed much recently. Someone should be accountable for that in NYY - noting this is after a spectacular run from Jeter, Bernie, Jorge, Pettitte, Mariano.

I think the NYY did draft well in 2013 with their first rounders.

The international signing records the NYY may break will be interesting. IIRC, the NYY are both inflating and dominating the market - as well as paying a tax on the overspend. Additionally, IIRC, the NYY will forfeit their draft slots for next year and the one after. So, I can understand the plan to overspend, but that only works if the international talent they sign is significantly better this year than in previous or near future years. Otherwise, it seems somewhat ill-conceived to me.

Of course, predicting things internationally is extremely difficult. The Os, as an example, were rated near the bottom of th e pack regarding international efforts (as this board complained loudly) for most of the past five or so years despite now sitting on two Top 100 talents.

[Stotle]

I do understand that the NYY minor league system is an asset holding company, but they have not developed much recently. Someone should be accountable for that in NYY - noting this is after a spectacular run from Jeter, Bernie, Jorge, Pettitte, Mariano.

I think the NYY did draft well in 2013 with their first rounders.

The international signing records the NYY may break will be interesting. IIRC, the NYY are both inflating and dominating the market - as well as paying a tax on the overspend. Additionally, IIRC, the NYY will forfeit their draft slots for next year and the one after. So, I can understand the plan to overspend, but that only works if the international talent they sign is significantly better this year than in previous or near future years. Otherwise, it seems somewhat ill-conceived to me.

Of course, predicting things internationally is extremely difficult. The Os, as an example, were rated near the bottom of th e pack regarding international efforts (as this board complained loudly) for most of the past five or so years despite now sitting on two Top 100 talents.

1. From a strategic standpoint, I don't like the Yankees approach this year. It only makes sense if you believe an international draft is imminent.

2. So much of their draft strategy has been weird over the last several years. It's tough to draft down at the bottom (and to lose 1st Rounders) and produce impact, I get it. But decisions like Culver are just odd. That said, Brackman got injured, Hensley was injured, Heathcott was a known project with high upside, and Gerrit Cole was an excellent pick that backed out at the last second (not Yankees fault -- they would have given him his money on draft day if they could have).

3. Maybe not producing impact, but Hughes, Nova, Phelps, Chamberlain, Warren, Betances, Nunez, Romine, Cervelli, etc. Were all developed in-house. The recent track record is definitely spotty, but there is SOME talent trickling through.

4. I wouldn't say int'l efforts are defined by top 100 talents in a given year. Rodriguez/Schoop are nice finds, without question. I think people point to BAL being towards the back of the pack because, comparable to many other orgs, they just don't have much in the way of int'l talent in their system.

[weams]

geez...is it me or are some of these replies a little bit rude and sarcastic? excuse me for being disgusted at my cheapskate team, sitting pat, remaining mediocre, while the yankees and red sox continue to improve...disagreeing is one thing, chastising people is another...

I asked politely three times for you to post correctly here. Spelling, Capitalization, and Punctuation. Please PM me.

[Frobby]

4. I wouldn't say int'l efforts are defined by top 100 talents in a given year. Rodriguez/Schoop are nice finds, without question. I think people point to BAL being towards the back of the pack because, comparable to many other orgs, they just don't have much in the way of int'l talent in their system.

It was very interesting at Fanfest to hear Calvin Maduro and Kent Qualls insisting that the Orioles are more aggressive than most teams in the international market and, in their opinion, have a competitive advantage there. From my point of view, I'm aware of three young guys they have signed this offseason who received some publicity, plus Urrutia and Alvarez last year and Miguel Gonzalez if you want to count players of that ilk. They sign about 30 Latin American players a year, according to Maduro and Qualls. How they compare in quantity or quality to other teams, I have no idea. It certainly seems like Duquette has put more emphasis on this than MacPhail did, but both Rodriguez and Schoop were signed during MacPhail's tenure.

[Plutarch]

I asked politely three times for you to post correctly here. Spelling, Capitalization, and Punctuation. Please PM me.

Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill ......... sorry I got carried away, I've been watching way too much Spartacus

[TonySoprano]

And industry sources tell ESPNNewYork.com the Yankees are expected to open their formidable wallet to the international market in a big way this summer in an attempt to reload their farm system and cash in on what many believe is a particularly strong crop of foreign-born talent.

Despite baseball's best attempts to level the playing field by imposing financial penalties on big-market teams -- much as it did in imposing a graduated luxury tax and revenue-sharing on team payrolls over $189 million -- the Yankees are apparently preparing to spend wildly during this year's international signing period, which begins July 2.

Under baseball's new and complex international signing rules, instituted with the adoption of the new CBA in 2012, the Yankees are allotted a little more than $2 million without penalty to spend on international players. (Japan and some other countries are excluded in this arrangement.)

However, according to a baseball insider, the Yankees could spend as much as $18 million this summer on players from Latin America, who already make up more than 27 percent of baseball's 30 active rosters, including some of its biggest stars, such as former Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano.

Such an expenditure would put the Yankees some $16 million over their allotment -- and cost them approximately $12 million in penalties, as well as limiting the amount they can spend next year to just $250,000 per player.

source - ESPN