All that’s left is to figure out who will be playing the role of Tony Bernazard.
The Yankees’ latest PR disaster is perhaps most similar to the recent Mets reign when they were consistently making disastrous off-the-field headlines. There was GM Omar Minaya accusing a writer of drumming up a story for personal gain; the franchise publicly fighting with Carlos Beltran over knee surgery; or firing manager Willie Randolph in the middle of the night.
The Yankees and GM Brian Cashman have not reached that level yet, but they are getting closer.
Cashman now has the Rafael Soriano situation: first saying he disagreed with management over the signing, and the reliever already on the disabled list. Cashman also accused the Mets of abusing lefty reliever Pedro Feliciano, likely will spend his entire first season with the Yankees on the DL.
But the Jorge Posada fiasco has become the most publicized. The Yankees did not want furious Joe Girardi talking to FOX about Posada asking out of the lineup because they did not what the manager would say during the in-gmae interview. So, instead, they sent Cashman in to discuss the issue, calling out Posada, who had no idea the impromptu interview had taken place on national television. Then the Yankees let it slip (man, they must have been really steamed at Posada) that they weren’t happy Derek Jeter defended his longtime teammate.
Across town, the Mets have been unspectacular on the field, but the Sandy Alderson-Terry Collins era has been quiet except for the unstoppable flow of stories about the Wilpons’ finances. But that mess was created before Alderson took control, and the stories generated by the team’s cash-strapped owners are near-impossible to stifle because they are actively selling a portion of the team.
Alderson was brought in to be a calming influence after the hectic Minaya-Jerry Manuel years. He had little money to spend this offseason, and has brought back mixed results. Chris Young came as advertised: Good as long as he could stay healthy, which he hasn’t been able to do and is now out for the season. Chris Capuano has been a respectable fifth starter with a 3-4 record and 4.78 ERA.
The Mets pulled back Jason Isringhausen, which made for a good feature story, but he has provided them with a legitimate setup man. Rule 5 Pick Brad Emaus was a bust and sent back to the Blue Jays after being handed a chance to be the starting second baseman. There have been other busts, too, but that will happen when you are given approximately a $5 million budget to improve the roster.
The team’s other Rule 5 selection, Brooklyn’s Pedro Beato, has thrown 17 scoreless innings and is back from a DL stint for elbow stiffness.
The Mets have suffered injuries to Jason Bay, Angel Pagan, Johan Santana, Ike Davis and David Wright. They are tied with the Nationals for last place in the NL East, but remain a respectable 20-22 under Collins. They are unlikely to be able to contend with the Phillies, Marlins and Braves, and that’s just in their division.
But they are not a laughingstock or a punchline for Yankees fans anymore.
Besides, Yankees fans have enough to worry about.
