The Yankees and their budget

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The Yankees signing of Randy Winn essentially shut the door on Johnny Damon. Damon apparently turned down a one year $6 million deal to stay with the Yankees, so the Yanks went with Winn.

There has been a lot of talk about Damon not fitting within the Yankees budget for this season. This is usually countered with, "What budget? The Yankees don't have a budget."

It is true, that in the past, the Yankees have spent money almost indiscriminately, but that changed this off-season. Brian Cashman and the Yankees brass came up with a number that that they want to get the payroll under. Now whether they get under that number this year, or in the coming years remains to be seen, but the number is there.

Despite the fact that the team just opened up a new revenue-making machine in the new Stadium and are making tons of money from the YES Network, I think curbing the payroll is a good idea for one very important reason:

The Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The CBA expires in 2011, so negotiations will begin rather shortly. While I doubt that the players will have the audacity to say that they aren't receiving enough in salary in benefits and strike in the middle of an economic recession, the negotiations will be interesting.

With new head of the Player's Union Michael Weiner stepping in for his first negotiations, he will most likely want to make his mark. There are also issues about luxury taxes, revenue sharing, and how the shared revenue is spent.

So, to put it simply, you have no idea what is going to happen with those negotiations. For all we know, Major League Baseball could institute a salary cap (though Derek Jeter has a better chance of winning a Cy Young than that happening). I think Cashman and the Yankees are being prudent by trying to lower their payroll, while staying competitive, leading up to 2011.

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