MLB

By George, old Yankees’ brass wouldn’t pass on Hamilton

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The dominoes began to fall at the Winter Meetings in Orlando two years ago as the Red Sox traded for Adrian Gonzalez, then signed Carl Crawford. A few days later Cliff Lee spurned the Yankees to rejoin the Phillies.

That was the last time the Yankees projected the kind of organizational tension and schism they are now as another Winter Meetings concluded.

In the 2010-11 offseason, the Yankees were so publicly thrashed for losing the winter they overreacted by signing Rafael Soriano to a three-year, $37 million contract over the objections of general manager Brian Cashman.

So forgive me if I will only believe the Yankees are truly out on Josh Hamilton when I see him at a press conference for another team. They keep insisting they are the new Yankees, more prudent, less reactionary, more careful about long-term expenditures on anybody, much less fragile cargo such as Hamilton — in part because of the lessons learned in the aftermath of Orlando.

For history will show the Red Sox did not soar past the Yankees with Gonzalez and Crawford, but rather missed the playoffs each of the last two seasons, melted into humiliation last year, and traded Gonzalez and Crawford to get rid of onerous long-term pacts.

The Phillies, even with their Lee-fueled super rotation, failed to win it all in 2011 and missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2006.

The Yankees? They have the most wins (192) in the majors over the last two seasons and the second-place team, Texas (189), was the other club rejected by Lee. It is yet another illustration that winning — or losing — the winter does not often correlate to regular-season results. This is the third straight offseason we have heard this relentless angst about the demise of the Yankees due to their new-found conservatism and so no one should be surprised if they respond with yet another 90-plus win season.

“We have to constantly remind ourselves that we have a lot of talent and we have to be patient because being patient has benefitted us,” Cashman said.

Yet despite the recent history that strongly shows the Yankees should shut out the noise, I sense an organization incredibly touchy to the current tidal wave of criticism. Will they have the discipline to stay on the path to a $189 million luxury tax payroll in 2014, as promised? Or will they ultimately be slaves to their big-game hunter DNA?

Clearly, reputations die hard. Despite the Yankees’ public vows of austerity and actions to honor the pledge, many executives believe they are merely being coy before a December or January surprise. Over the past five days, numerous officials from other teams offered me some version of: “When do the Yankees go after Hamilton?”

“I would never rule them out,” said an executive from a team interested in Hamilton. “They have been eerily quiet.”

That silence is probably about disinterest. The Yankees know in their baseball brains that putting a physically and mentally fragile player with a long addiction history into their New York fishbowl could make their relationship with Alex Rodriguez appealing by comparison.

However, understand that Yankees executives did notice the empty seats and dispassion in their October crowds. There is clearly worry about how they re-energize the base. The George Steinbrenner formula was to invigorate championship dreams and fan passion by importing mega-stars. And anyone who saw Hamilton’s 28-bomb orgy during the 2008 Home Run Derby at the old Yankee Stadium knows what a star he is.

Trust me, if the Yankees signed Hamilton none of their fans would care about Pittsburgh winning out for Russell Martin or where Jeff Keppinger and Nate Schierholtz landed. The Yankees would return to their back-page comfort zone, making Eli, Tebow and Carmelo secondary stories to the 60-homer possibilities that would come from a marriage of Hamilton to the right-field porch.

As the Winter Meetings finished, Texas appeared to be leaning toward trying to sign Zack Greinke, trading for Justin Upton and letting Hamilton leave. Then what? Perhaps Seattle or Milwaukee or another team steps into the void. But what if Hamilton has fallen to the four-year, $100 million to five-year $125 million range? Could the Yankees resist at about half the price Robinson Cano and Scott Boras will be asking for a year from now.

Hamilton would give the Yankees some insurance and leverage in those negotiations and, immediately, restore the sense of the 2013 Yankees as an offensive juggernaut even with Martin and Nick Swisher gone, and Rodriguez absent.

Yet, everything in the Yankees’ recent history screams they are going to avoid Hamilton; be faithful to their newfound religion against dangerous long-term commitments; maintain their obsession with getting under the 2014 luxury tax. Nevertheless, he is just sitting there, a temptation to throw away the caution — a starry slugger to rekindle the passion of their sluggish fan base.

Hamilton’s continuing availability accentuates the ongoing struggle within the Yankees between who they were and who they want to be now. Which wins?