In the epic battle to determine baseball’s next commissioner, the Yankees play similar to that of Lex Luthor in “Superman II.” They own a vested interest in what transpires, but they lurk menacingly on the periphery rather than occupy center stage.
The Mets? You would identify them closest with Jimmy Olsen. They choose a side due to loyalty and hopes of future protection. They won’t get much screen time in this saga.
As it turns out, the Yankees and Mets almost certainly will support the same candidate, Major League Baseball COO Rob Manfred, to succeed Bud Selig (whose contract calls for him to retire in January). On Thursday, at the quarterly owners’ meetings in Baltimore, the 30 teams will vote on a ballot featuring Manfred, MLB executive vice president of business Tim Brosnan and Red Sox chairman Tom Werner.
Seventy-five percent of the clubs — 23 of the 30, in other words — must support the same person in order for a victor to be declared, and skepticism looms that such a majority can be reached Thursday, because of White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf’s strong opposition to Manfred.
The sweepstakes has grown so heated that Selig took the rare step Friday of addressing the buzz with a statement, which read: “Reports of personal animosity between Jerry Reinsdorf and me — or any other alleged disputes between owners regarding the process or the candidates — are unfounded and unproductive.”
For sure, Selig excels in separating business from friendship. As Jon Heyman of CBS Sports’ website reported, Reinsdorf attended Selig’s 80th birthday party last week in Milwaukee without incident. And though Selig clearly prefers Manfred move into his office, even as he reiterated Friday that he hasn’t promoted individual candidates, he likes Werner enough that he orchestrated Werner’s Red Sox partnership with Boston principal owner John Henry and president Larry Lucchino even after Werner nearly ran the Padres into the ground in the 1990s.
The commissioner understands he can’t stump too hard for a candidate when he won’t be among the owners living with the new CEO.
The primary bone of contention between the Manfred and Werner factions — Brosnan appears a distant third, although Heyman reported on a possible Werner-Brosnan alliance — is treatment of the Players Association, and here’s where the Yankees’ interests reside.
Reinsdorf, a perpetual proponent of burying the players, thinks Manfred hasn’t been tough enough on the union as the sport has enjoyed nearly 20 years of labor peace. The Yankees, to the contrary, believe Manfred has found ways to thread the needle in collective bargaining to keep small-market teams, big-market teams and even the rare big-market/small-payroll teams (we shouldn’t name names, although they rhyme with “Bets” and “Mubs”) happy.
Back in 2002, the Yankees were the only team to oppose the just-negotiated Basic Agreement, which featured a prominent luxury tax. They don’t want a Reinsdorf-led group of hawks to increase the pain on the big spenders. Naturally, the notion of a Red Sox officer running the sport doesn’t thrill the Yankees, either.
The Mets’ faith in Manfred reflects the ultra-tight bond between their CEO Fred Wilpon and Selig, who repeatedly has helped and defended the Mets’ beleaguered ownership during the fallout — approaching the six-year mark — from Bernard Madoff’s arrest. Furthermore, in Sandy Alderson, the Mets have the game’s only general manager who has served in Selig’s cabinet, alongside Manfred (and Brosnan) to boot. Selig, of course, pushed strongly for Alderson to take over the Mets’ baseball operations in October 2010.
So though the Yankees and Mets occupy very different places in baseball’s universe, their geographic proximity notwithstanding, they likely will find themselves on the same side Thursday in Baltimore. And for however long this process takes.
Detroit GM displays daredevil deadline mentality
In 1989, the Montreal Expos, in go-for-it mode, traded a package of prospects to Seattle for hard-throwing lefty Mark Langston. Though Langston pitched extremely well, the Expos failed to qualify for the postseason, and one of those prospects was another hard-throwing southpaw named Randy Johnson.
Dave Dombrowski, who made the trade for the Expos, was not deterred. Now in his 13th year running the Tigers, he has become baseball’s king of go-for-it trades.
This July, he executed two more big deals, trading young pitchers Corey Knebel and Jake Thompson to Texas for reliever Joakim Soria on July 23, then pulling off a three-way trade in which he acquired ace David Price from Tampa Bay while shipping minor league shortstop Willy Adames and left-hander Drew Smyly to the Rays and center fielder Austin Jackson to Seattle.
“For some reason, this false thought process is out there that you can acquire good big league players without giving up any talent,” Dombrowski said this past week, during the Tigers’ visit to The Bronx. “I have not found that to really exist. I just think, if you’re trying to win, that’s the cost of doing business.”
In recent years, very few of these prospects have come back to bite Dombrowski. Not yet, at least.
Outfielder Avisail Garcia, dealt to the White Sox last year in a three-way swap that brought aboard currently injured shortstop Jose Iglesias, missed most of this season with a serious left shoulder injury.
Jacob Turner, the key piece that landed Anibal Sanchez from Miami in 2012, was just traded from the Marlins to the Cubs.
Going back to 2007, Dombrowski gave up a haul of kids, including outfielder Cameron Maybin and pitcher Andrew Miller, for reigning two-time AL MVP Miguel Cabrera. None of the players helped the Marlins significantly.
“You hear everybody say it and it’s absolutely accurate: You’re in a spot where you have to know your own players better than anyone else,” Dombrowski said.
Claims may stunt Aug. deals
As for August trades, as usual, we will see a cluster as we head toward the end of the month — a player must be part of an organization by Aug. 31 in order to be eligible for postseason play.
An executive from a NL team opined, on the condition of anonymity, that more players were being claimed on waivers during the earlier part of the month as compared to recent years. That would result in fewer high-impact players getting dealt.
Among the teams that made the playoffs last year, the best August acquisition might have been Pittsburgh’s import of Marlon Byrd (as well as John Buck) from the Mets, and the Mets did very well on the return with reliever Vic Black and minor league second baseman Dilson Herrera.
Maybe the Mets can repeat history by unloading Bartolo Colon, likely to clear waivers, for a nice return this August, though the Mets would have to kick in some major dollars to make that a reality.
The Phillies can’t repeat history by unloading Byrd himself, as FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reported that a team claimed Byrd, thereby effectively taking him off the market.