Managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner covered many Yankees topics beyond the team’s payroll calculus and the uncertain future of manager Joe Girardi during Tuesday’s hour-long sitdown in Tampa.
Here are some more choice excerpts:
ON ROBINSON CANO
“He is going to go out and test the free-agent market. We have already gone out and made it clear to him that we want him back and want him to be a Yankee his entire career. I think he likes it here. It is still business. We are going to have to work through a lot of factors and details to try to keep him here. We are going to make the effort, absolutely.”
ON WHAT HE THINKS CANO WILL GET
“The last five years, you don’t know what any one person is willing to do to get a player. There is some unpredictability there. Nobody is [sign at any cost]. How can you ever approach anything with that kind of attitude? That is not reasonable. Nothing against Robbie. No one is.”
ON ALEX RODRIGUEZ
“Obviously, I can’t talk about it. He is in the middle of an arbitration. This is between Alex and Major League Baseball.”
BUT HE DID SUE TEAM DOCTOR, AND IT COULD GET EVEN MORE INVOLVED…
“Certainly I don’t think in my five years — and really being around for the last 20 years — I have seen anything like this before nor has anyone else from this organization. So it is kind of unchartered waters. We will deal with things as they happen.”
ON WHAT IT WOULD MEAN TO HAVE A-ROD’S SALARY COME OFF THE BOOKS
“It is going to be a development. It is going to make some kind of difference or not. But we are going into the meetings [next week to plan for next year’s team] same as always, looking at who the free agents are, what we think they are going to cost, what areas we need to improve at. That is what I have to deal with right now. Now, I am assuming he is going to be on the payroll and that he will be playing. We will cross other bridges when we come to it. My intention now is on fielding the best team we can.”
ON PROSPECTS NOT CONTRIBUTING IN 2013
“It was no doubt disappointing. Obviously, some of the pitchers did not pan out the way we wanted. [GM Brian Cashman] has been working the last two months with all of his people trying to identify where things have gone wrong. It might not be personnel. It might be process. The final recommendations we will probably talk about in the next 2-3 weeks. We are leaving no stone unturned. We are going to fix the problem.”
SHOULDN’T THE PROBLEM HAVE BEEN FIXED ALREADY?
A year and a half ago, we had high hopes with [Dellin] Betances and [Manny] Banuelos, and the story still isn’t fully written yet. It is tough when you are the Yankees because we do the best we can to field a championship-caliber team with marquee players and veterans. It takes a year like this year with all the DL [stints] to really see what you’ve got. Other clubs may do this every year. We are a little different here. For me anyway, it really took what we went through this year to know that it is not as good as it should be. Period.”
ON WHETHER FRONT OFFICE EXECS WILL LOSE THEIR JOBS
“I think it is fair to say we are leaving no stone unturned. Whether it is a personnel problem or a process problem, the way we do things, I am going to fix things. I am going to fix things. We are going to go through it with a fine-tooth comb. Once I am sure, changes may happen. I have no problem doing that. I am less of a spur-of-the-moment person. I am going to make sure we did all the homework and make sure of all facts before we do anything. That is just me.”
ON HIS FEELINGS ABOUT NOT MAKING THE PLAYOFFS
“It is disappointing. It is what we strive for every year. But when I take a step back calmly and look at the adversity that was waiting for us around every corner all year, I am proud of these guys that they kept fighting with what they had. They never gave up and we were still in it in mid-September. A lot of people, I remember in spring training, before [Mark] Teixeira and [Kevin] Youkilis even got hurt, when [Derek] Jeter was supposed to come back, were saying we were going to be one of the worst Yankee teams ever, that we would have a losing record.
“I would put it to you that if we had a normal injury season that we would have made the playoffs. That is my belief and no one is going to talk me out of it. It is a bad policy to lean on excuses, but you can’t ignore facts. [The injuries] made the minor league problems glaringly obvious. It affected us more than other clubs, but it would affect any club.”
ON THE POSSIBILITY OF MISSING THE PLAYOFFS FOR MORE THAN JUST ONE YEAR
“I naturally take the optimistic route. That is what I need to do. We are going to do what we have to to build a team that makes the playoffs.”
ON JETER’S FUTURE
“If anybody is going to overcome the ankle and the injury that he had at his age or even not his age, it is him. No one is more motivated to get back and contribute than him.”
ON NEEDING A JETER CONTINGENCY PLAN
“That is tough for me to say because I love Derek. We want him healthy, we want him contributing and we want him playing. But his age is his age, and we would be remiss not to take into account he had a very serious injury that he didn’t recover from the first time. It is a concern. I would have to say he is concerned too. But we will be optimistic and believe he will be back.”
ON LOVING THE JOB
“How much is dictated that I am not visually passionate like George was? And I don’t do some of the things he did and act some of the ways he acted. How much of that is a factor [in the impression he doesn’t love the job]. But I do enjoy this job. It is a tough job. It is a challenging job. Have I been known to throw a shoe at a TV? Oh, yeah. But my personality is I don’t like to show emotion publicly. The passion is there, but it wells inside. We are different that way, my dad and I, we are definitely different. I think I would be saying something bad about myself if I said I didn’t have a sense of family loyalty and history [as a reason for doing the job].
“Yes, I enjoy doing this or else I wouldn’t be here. I left the hotel industry that I loved. And I am perfectly fine with that. I look forward to making the team a contender every year. I look forward to the process and enjoy process. Yes, I do enjoy this job. Yes, I am passionate about this job. You just aren’t going to see it. I don’t want you to see it.”
ON PLANS TO SELL THE TEAM
“There are no plans to do that. There are no talks about doing that. We want to win another championship; that is what we want to do.”
ON CASHMAN
“I think Brian and Joe did a good job with damage control this year, juggling players on a daily basis and trying to make it work. I think Brian did a great job. We don’t always see eye to eye on this move or that move, but that is completely normal. He is staying our GM.”
ON HIS LEVEL OF RESPONSIBILITY
“The bottom line is every decision is my decision. I try to listen to as many educated opinions as possible. Then I try to objectively make the right decision for the partners, family, team and fans. I am comfortable with the process because as managing general partner the ultimate decision and ultimate responsibility is mine. I am comfortable making decisions. I know I don’t rush into significant decisions.”