Cleveland Browns fans are in an uproar over yesterday's trade, which sent star running back Trent Richardson to the Indianapolis Colts, and in return Indy sent their 2014 1st Round pick to Cleveland. Unless the Colts crap the bed, which would give Cleveland a top pick, the chances of the Browns drafting somebody anywhere near the caliber of Richardson are minuscule. For reference, Trent was the third pick in the 2012 draft.
On top of dealing away their best player, the Browns team payroll is currently 25th out of the 32 NFL teams. Taking those two things into consideration, Browns fans certainly have reason to be up in arms.
The reason I talked about the situation for Browns fans is to put things in perspective for New York Yankees fans.
The best player on the 2013 Yankees, in terms of bWAR is Robinson Cano. The best player on the 2012 Yankees was Robinson Cano. In 2011 the top player for the Yankees was a tie between Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson. In 2010 Cano was yet again the top player for the Bombers. And in 2009 the top Yankee was
I don't have to throw numbers out there to remind you that the Yankees have had the top payroll in MLB for well over a decade. So you can't complain that they don't spend, either.
But here we are, on September 19th of 2013, and Yankees fans are indeed angry. Not just because of the team's current predicament, but because management is talking about lowering payroll to *gasp* $189 million. That's about $24 million more than the Phillies, who have the 3rd highest payroll this season.
I'm not saying it's totally cool for the Yankees to lower their payroll. Unlike the Cleveland Browns, the Yankees are one of the most profitable franchises in the World. So they absolutely don't have to lower their payroll to try and save money. But with Alex Rodrigez's gigantic salary off the books next year, and millions more going away as well, it's not impossible for them to put a contending team out there.
If anything, Yankees fans do have reason to be concerned that Cashman & Co aren't smart enough to get the job done. Personally, while I don't have 100% confidence in them, I'm not about to give up on them either.
It won't be easy, but I've taken a look at what the Yankees could do this offseason, and I like it. And as hard as it is to look beyond next season, once this austerity budget stuff has passed, and those large contracts keep falling away, we may all look back at the decisions made for 2014 and be really... really... happy.
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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)