With Gerrit Cole out, many Yankee fans are clamoring for Hal Steinbrenner to open the wallet back up and sign either Blake Snell or Jordan Montgomery, and channel his father in getting a little reckless.
While C-Mac agrees that the Yankees need to spend to make up for Cole’s absence over the next 1-2 months, he also pushed back hard on the idea that George’s eager spending habits resulted in optimal results.
“Stop giving me the George stuff,” C-Mac said. “He’s got to go out and make a move, I agree. But let’s stop with the ‘George is spinning in his grave, Hal can afford it, you gotta guarantee yourself a championship.’ Nothing guarantees you a championship.
“When was that, exactly? The championship years were built on homegrown talent and a couple of free agents. How did it work? They went out and got Hall of Famer Randy Johnson. That was I guess the all-in, do-everything-you-can move. How did that move. Tino Martinez is getting old, you go out and get the 50 home run, .330 player Jason Giambi. How did that go?”
George was obsessed with winning, but as C-Mac pointed out, the Yankees built their dynasty from the ground up while their owner was serving a suspension, and a spending spree didn’t lead to a title until 2009, when George was near the end of his tenure, and even then, the Yankees “Core Four” remained the heartbeat of the team.
So, C-Mac says those things need to be remembered when callers long for the days of George.
“We have this memory of George going out there and spending every last dollar,” C-Mac said. “Other than going out and getting Reggie Jackson, in the George Steinbrenner era, what big-time free agent change their destiny? Where’s the moment George Steinbrenner threw caution to the wind, threw money at every single problem…show me where that led to winning. Winning was built when George Steinbrenner was sent away. Winning was built when Stick Michael was allowed to keep Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, and Derek Jeter.”