Yankees President Randy Levine Scorches Dellin Betances

Yankees President, Randy Levine, just couldn’t let it go. It wasn’t enough that the Yankees had beaten the guy in an arbitration case. Levine had to pile on in a conference call he initiated this morning.

Yankees President, Randy Levine, in a developing story, delivered a low blow to Dellin Betances this morning Not bothering to choose his words carefully, Levine is reported to have said about Betances:

"“$5 million goes to elite closers,” the aforementioned Levine said. “Pitchers who pitch the ninth inning and have a lot of saves. Dellin didn’t have that record. He never did.”"

According to Fanragsports.com, Levine still wasn’t done, adding:

"Levine said that Betances’ agent made a ”half-baked attempt” to “use a player to change a well-established market.” In addition, he stated that a $3 million salary should be a “great victory for Dellin Betances” and his request for more money ”had no bearings in reality.”"

Wait a minute. Is this the New York Yankees or a half-baked front office guy going off the deep end because rain caused his golf outing to be postponed? It sure as hell better not be the Yankees, because this is not the way you want to begin your Spring Training. Can you imagine what the likes of Greg Bird, Aaron Judge, and all the rest of the Baby Bombers must be thinking about their future with the team?

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And this is what they have to look forward wearing the Pinstripes when they reach the arbitration stage. Levine’s tirade can’t be the image the franchise wants to project, and someone has to come forward making that clear, not only to the players but Yankees fans as well. More than likely, the task will fall to Brian Cashman, but the better choice would be the big guy, Hal Steinbrenner.

I never thought Betances was worth $5 million, and neither did the panel of arbiters. For their part, the Yankees did what they had to do when it comes to this archaic system of arbitration. You go in there, and you trash the player with everything you’ve got, throwing in the kitchen sink if you have to. Which, by the way, the team did by calling attention to Betances inability to prevent runners from stealing on him.

But following the hearing, you are supposed to walk out and move on. Which, to his credit, Betances was apparently willing to do as indicated by his arrival at camp early this morning. Also to his credit, Betances didn’t take Levine’s comments lying down, Brian Hoch of MLB.com:

"“You look at it a little differently now. I think (free agency) will be a little easier when the time comes.” –"

That’s if the Yankees don’t trade Betances before he reaches that level. And while that scenario was a remote possibility before today, there’s now a very real chance that the Yankees will be forced to trade the guy, even if they don’t want to go that route at the moment.

Next: Yankees Defeat Betances (Published Earlier Today)

All in all, this has turned into a sour day for the Yankees franchise. And the sad thing is that this is one of those stories, as it develops, that will have what they call “legs,” the effect of which will remove the focus of everyone from the playing field. Brian, fix this, and fix it now!