The New York Yankees, never ones to miss a chance to present themselves as devoid of human feeling in their baseball operations, have reached a new low in recent days by entering a potentially damaging arbitration process with Pitcher Wang Chien-Ming. The team wants to pay Wang four million next season while Wang is asking for 4.6 million.
Salary arbitration can be very damaging to team/player relations with good reason, as players have to hear detailed, explicit reasons why their team believes they aren’t worth the salary they are requesting. It’s easy to see why this could get ugly fairly quickly and damage the confidence of a young player.
While Wang is certainly far from perfect as a pitcher, he is certainly in the upper echelon of major league starters and his past two seasons have been undeniably successful from both a pitching and also a marketing standpoint. In fact, let’s look at just a few of the gushing examples from the Yankees’ own website trumpeting Wang’s impressive 2007 accomplishments:
..according to the Elias Sports Bureau, became only the second pitcher to lead the Yankees in wins in consecutive seasons during the Joe Torre era (also Andy Pettitte in 1996 and 1997). 4 Became the first Yankees pitcher to record at least 19 wins in consecutive seasons since LHP Tommy John in 1979 (21) and 1980 (22)…was just the fourth Yankee pitcher in the post-war era (since 1946) to accomplish the feat, joining John, RHPs Vic Raschi (1948-51) and Mel Stottlemyre (1968-69). 4 Became the first Yankees pitcher to record consecutive seasons with a .730 or higher winning percentage since Jimmy Key in 1993-94…
Wang has shown progressive improvement in his three major league seasons. In 2007 he did so despite starting the season on the disabled list, and as late as August was a legitimate Cy young candidate until an untimely loss to Josh Beckett seemed to slow his roll a bit. Wang’s value to the Yankees last season–when he served as the team’s staff anchor and often was the only reliable starter on the team, often taking pressure off the teams oft-mismanaged bullpen–was undeniable. He turned in quality start after quality start for the team, pitching late into games routinely.
Wang’s critics–myself one of the most vocal at times–argued that to be fair, at least part his success hinged upon the absurd amount of run support he received during the ‘07 campaign. The Yankees will bring this up, as well as his inability to demonstrate he can stay healthy for an entire season as part of their reasoning for not paying Wang the extra 600,000 in his arbitration case.
However, performance concerns aside, the Yankees should give Wang his hard-earned cash simply based upon the publicity, marketing, and TV revenue the 26 year-old has generated for the MLB and the Yankees. Anyone who has been to Taiwan will tell you about the inordinate amount of Yankee apparel sold here, the endless reruns of Yankee games on the tube at all hours, and the way Wang has brought MLB and the evil empire to the forefront of sports coverage in Taiwan and increasingly around Asia. In Taiwan (and increasingly Mainland China), baseball is synonymous with the Yankees and Wang is the reason why. As the always savvy Taiwan Baseball site points out, not only was Wang crucial to the Yankees making the playoffs in ‘07 (thus generating further revenue for the team), but is also the major if not only driving force behind a major cable TV deal struck with MLB.
While the Yankees may argue that Wang’s arbitration request would be record-setting, considering that the Mariners just paid 11 Million for Carlos Silva and the Twins 5-7 million for Livan Hernandez, it should seem like a cut and dry case that the Yankees, who when endowed with essentially limitless funds, can more than afford the extra 6k, and are still getting a tremendous bargain for a pitcher entering his prime and still growing. Mabye the Yankees are skeptical of Wang’s potential going forward? Even so, the Yankees should give Wang his props and pay him.
15 responses so far ↓
1 Simon Currie // Feb 16, 2008 at 2:39 am
$600k is peanuts to the Yanks, but I understand how they don’t want to set new standards in arbitration salary levels for the rest of the industry… but then again, they’re the Yanks, so do they really care? What they really should be doing is trying to ink Wang to a long term deal, buying out his arb eligible years and the first couple of years of free agency, with a team option thrown in, like a lot of shrewd GMs are doing now a days. But being the Jays fan that I am, I don’t want to see the original Evil Empire making smarter moves. It’s tough being in the same division with the two Evil Empires of baseball.
2 John M // Feb 16, 2008 at 2:51 am
I’ve been a Yankees fan since 1966 (not great timing on my part), and believe me, it’s hard to understand why the management are such royal pricks sometimes when it comes to giving younger players money. They shell out gazillions for crap, over the hill veterans with regularity, but a guy like Wang has to go begging for a few hundred thousand extra. In the press, the word is that Wang is fine with the process so far and looks forward to reaching a contract agreement very soon. Which he will….but how can he not think that his bosses are major a**holes? And how could he not be looking forward to signing somewhere else when he becomes a free agent and get the piles of the money the Yanks should be giving him now?
3 ken // Feb 16, 2008 at 5:41 am
Yanks have been down this road before with one of their good pitchers. Last time they went to arb was in 2000, when they beat Mariano.
4 IronChef // Feb 16, 2008 at 6:46 am
Wang just lost.
5 salva // Feb 16, 2008 at 7:02 am
I think that Wang deserves the money… but I guess that Yanks think that millions are only for flamethrowers
6 Shinsano // Feb 16, 2008 at 8:09 am
This story really jumped out at me too. My guess is that Wang will be a professional, and I know he wants to be a Yankee for life, but it does show a certain lack of class by the Yankees. If Wang had been looking for something unreasonable, or if the gap had been greater, I can see doing a little nickel and diming — but 600K? Is it even worth the airing of the dirty laundry (in the course of an arb. hearing)?
7 John M // Feb 16, 2008 at 9:30 am
Going to arb, OK. Even winning in arb, OK. But the press release the Yankees put out is pathetic and sounds like a victory announcement.
If I was Wang, as soon as the Exit light went on, I’d run for it. Go somewhere where the management has some small semblance of class.
8 Korea Beat // Feb 16, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Class is what the new Steinbrenner boys don’t have. See Torre, Joe.
9 jwb // Feb 16, 2008 at 3:40 pm
They inherited it. See David Winfield.
10 Mike // Feb 17, 2008 at 1:15 am
Obviously the Yankees feel paying their sluggers whatever they want is a much better idea than making their pitchers happy.
11 Shinsano // Feb 17, 2008 at 1:27 am
And the proof is in the pudding on that one…
12 itchy // Feb 17, 2008 at 6:29 am
Every time Wang makes an appearance here, he attracts a crowd.
Maybe his defense team should bring that up at arbitration.
13 Shinsano // Feb 17, 2008 at 8:07 am
That’s good point brought up by itchy…how much is Wang worth in terms of marketing and inroads in Asian communities the world over?
Funny, I didn’t think I could dislike the Yankees any more than I already do…but I managed to.
14 John Brooks // Feb 17, 2008 at 9:20 am
Maybe his defense team should bring that up at arbitration.
Well this doesn’t mean much now since the Yankees beat Wang at arbitration.
Next, did Wang really lose out that much? I mean he was making less than $500,000 at this time last year and is now making $4 million. Not to bad if you ask me.
I can understand other people’s opinion on the $600,000 difference, but I can’t say I really can interpret this as unreasonable as like I said he was making less than $500K at this time last year.
Also, another thing to take into consideraton is that players barely ever win at arbitration, as all 4 players who has went to arbitration this year has struck out and Mark Loretta is likely to lose too.
15 Jackson // Feb 17, 2008 at 4:40 pm
Why risk making your best pitcher unhappy over 600.000?
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