Sound Off: Yankees for Sale? Is it a Good thing for Baseball?

[RaychelSnr]

The New York Daily News reported yesterday that the Steinbrenner's might be looking to get out of the baseball business by selling the Yankees. Of course, it all comes after the Dodgers fetched a record sale price of $2.175 billion in April. So what do you think? Would the Steinbrenner's selling the Yankees to someone with more money than they know what to do with be a good or bad thing for baseball?

Sound off!

[Yankees_CT]

Still not sure how I feel about this. However I believe Hal just came out and said that the rumors are false and the team is not for sale. Who knows though, could be a smoke screen. Honestly I would hate to see the Steinbrenner name no longer associated with the Yanks but it hasn't been the same atmosphere since George passed anyway.

[24]

I can See mark Cuban buying the team if he is allowed in baseball.

[DieHardYankee26]

Quote: Originally Posted by poopydude

I can See mark Cuban buying the team if he is allowed in baseball.

He said he couldn't afford what the Dodgers were sold for. If that's the case, there's no way he could afford the Yankees.

[55]

I don't think it will make a difference one way or the other.

Clearly, anyone that could afford to purchase the Yanks will have pockets just as deep as Big Stein and family and will spend, spend, spend just the way that they have for the last 40 years.

For Yankee fans worried about it, I wouldn't. The franchise already had unarguably the richest history in pro sports before the Steinbrenner name had anything to do with it.

Pre-Big Stein: 20 championships and 29 pennants

Post-Big Stein: 7 championships and 11 pennants

The team is going to be just fine no matter what.

[SPTO]

Quote: Originally Posted by 55

For Yankee fans worried about it, I wouldn't. The franchise already had unarguably the richest history in pro sports before the Steinbrenner name had anything to do with it. Pre-Big Stein: 20 championships and 29 pennants Post-Big Stein: 7 championships and 11 pennants The team is going to be just fine no matter what.

That's true to an extent but remember that Steinbrenner was originally going to buy the Cleveland Indians of all things. The Yankees however were in dire straits when he bought the team from CBS. The Yankees were starting to bleed money, fans were apathetic and the magic of the previous era had virtually disappeared. Steinbrenner brought excitement back to baseball in NY with his bluster and immediate free agency signings.

The Yankees+Yankee Stadium and YES Network would net over 4 billion bucks so that immediately rules out a single benefactor so you're looking at a corporate entity and really, i'd be a little concerned about that as corporate owned franchises don't usually have that much success in the grand scheme of things. One thing that would change drastically is the atmosphere around the ballclub and how it's operated. I daresay a corporate owned Yankees would probably spend LESS than what the Steinbrenners have put into the team in the last 30 years.

[sydrogerdavid]

They'll be worth about a trillion dollars.

[NYJets]

Doubt it happens.

If it does, I don't think it really matters.

The Steinbrenner sons have already put in at least a soft budget, and they've talked about cutting payroll gradually over the next few years. They are already being run much more like a business anyway. The days of just chasing after the biggest names they can regardless of cost are long over. They are going to keep the payroll at a level that makes sense business wise based on their market, regardless of who the owner is.