Yankees trade for Giancarlo Stanton brings odd response from Bill Madden

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The Yankees have added the reigning National League MVP to their roster. While this might seem like purely positive news even to the neutral observer, it made writers such as Tyler Kepner, Bill Madden, Keith Law and Bob Nightengale just feel tired all over.

The 2017 New York Yankees shocked the baseball world in October, getting all the way to game seven of the ALCS. As much as the loss was tough on fans, neutral observers saw the season as a mostly positive one, filled with promise. Articles imbued with optimism followed.

The 2017 New York Yankees shocked the baseball world in December. They showed that last season’s promise will be rewarded with reinforcements.

In this case, it means trying to add Giancarlo Stanton. Not only is Stanton a four-time All-Star, but also the reigning National League MVP. And he’s just 28. Sadly, the Yanks will have to surrender Starlin Castro, but a team has to give to get.

As much as the loss will be tough on fans, neutral observers see this move as a mostly positive one, filled with promise. Articles imbued with optimism have followed.

Well, sorta.

Yes, Virginia, adding the NL MVP is a Positive Move

The trade seems like a slam dunk win for the Yankees. First, their offense gets markedly better. Next, they are trading from a position of their greatest organizational depth. Third, they have to trade someone from the infield to make room for Gleyber Torres, anyway.

Also, any research on the numbers shows the Yankees can take on Stanton’s salary and still get under the luxury tax, with room to make more moves. Finally, Stanton’s contract is not only less than those that will be handed out next season to players such as Manny Machado and Bryce Harper, but also the remaining portion is less than what A-Rod was getting.

Of course, there are potential problems, but, isn’t that always true; Tanaka’s elbow, I’m looking at you. And I am a real, big time, Yankees fan, and am open to completely fair accusations of bias on this topic. However, it seems that from an objective standpoint, the potential signing should be seen as overwhelmingly positive.

Not so for some, though. Some neutral observers and reporters have taken this news as without question bad for the Yankees and it those reactions that seem so interesting.

Before I move on, I have to make something clear. These writers I am about to poke fun at are far better at their craft than I. And while I could list myriad ways each one of them is superior to me, I will keep it simple: They’re good enough to get paid to write about the Yankees, while I’m just barely good enough to write.

However, as we must always speak truth to power, here is a response to some of the odd and often dour responses to the Yankees big deal.

Bill Madden: Yankees will pay in the long run for Giancarlo Stanton deal.

One thing I love about Bill Madden is that he does not mince words. Or hide his feelings, for that matter. But his initial outlook here just seems to be a bit negative for no reason.

For instance, in his first paragraph, Mr. Madden warns that,

Deck your halls with boughs of holly over your new twin giants of power because not too far down the road this deal is destined to give the Yankees more regret than the second Alex Rodriguez contract.

And he ends by saying,

For everyone in Yankeeland’s sake, especially Aaron Boone, they better win next year. Because the euphoria over this trade is almost guaranteed to have a short shelf life.

Really? Wow, that is going to suck. Except, the Yankees did win the World Series in 2009 directly because of A-Rod. The Yanks never arrive in Philly without Alex hitting clutch home runs against Minnesota and the Anaheim Angels of Wherever.

Seven is a Non-Magic Number

This brings us into perspective. If you are a spoiled Yankees fan, then one World Series might not seem like much. But regular Yankees fans, i.e. most of them, recognize that only seven teams have won a WS since ’09. And they also know that seven teams have never won a World Series.

Mr. Madden, let me ask you something. Let’s say we went back in time, to 2007. We go to the Mariners and we tell them that if they sign Alex, they will win a WS because of him but go on to have all the rest of the experiences the Yankees did, in fact, have.

Do you think they would think it worth it?

I think they would. I think they and most teams hunger for even one World Series. In fact, one World Series every decade would be far above average.

So, if your point is that the Yankees will have to suffer through winning a WS, but just that one, well, that’s a price I would guess most fans are gladly willing to pay.

Trapped

It seems as if Mr. Madden has fallen into a beat writer’s trap: Letting the Yankees eternal mission statement confuse him as to what success means in Major League Baseball. He’s spent so much time complaining about spoiled Yankees fans and their skewed perspective, he’s become one of them.

Sadly, that did not prove to be his only failing in neutrality. He falls back on generalizations in a spacious, sad to say fear-mongering, argument.

For instance, he initially warns that,

It’s a fact of baseball life that players after the age of 32, start breaking down…

Now that is pretty damning stuff. This trade already sucks. And I’m sure a writer, the caliber of Mr. Madden must have checked his facts before hitting print. Let’s do that, too.

First, though, he says that Stanton, like most players, will start to lose it at age 33. Okay, but as next year will be Stanton’s age 28 season, doesn’t that mean the Yankees will get at least five years of Stanton in his prime? In fact, aren’t they getting all five years of his prime?

By itself, that seems like a good deal. And if Giancarlo opts out after 2020, the Yankees will only have had him until he was 30. So far, that downside seems like it goes uphill.

Stanton Only Has Five Good Years Left in Him

Of course, the real downside is that, once he hits 33, his numbers will plummet. In order to prove Mr. Madden’s assertion, I chose a random sample of sluggers from throughout the centuries.

I did choose two players whose numbers I did not use: Hank Greenberg and Mickey Mantle. Hank served in WWII during his both age 32 and 33 seasons, while Mantle’s numbers were indeed significantly worse year to year. Otherwise, this is the complete list of randomly selected hitters and their slash lines from their age 32 and 33 seasons.

Age 32 Age 33

Babe Ruth: .356/.486/.772 .323/.463/.709

Yogi Berra .251/.329/.438 .266/.319/.471

Harmon Killebrew .210/.361/.420 .276/.427/.584

Reggie Jackson .274/.356/.477 .297/.382/.544

Ken Griffey, Jr. .264/.358/.426 .247/.370/.566

Jim Thome .266/.385/.573 .274/.396/.581

Both Killebrew and Griffey dealt with injuries during those years, but injuries are a natural part of the game. It just doesn’t seem as if Mr. Madden’s doom and gloom scenario are supported by those pernicious facts. It at least adds one more good year to Stanton’s outlook.

Miss. Inform-Ation

But that was too little misinformation for Mr. Madden to spread. No, in his summary analysis, he makes a much more broadly negative implication when he asks,

What’s going to be the case when he hits his 30s?

So, now Stanton will become a bust at the moment he hits his thirties. No baseball fan believes that because it’s just not true. I don’t have to do another chart to prove something even casual observers wouldn’t believe.

In fact, not only do most players have several of their best years in their early thirties, but also some have at least one career year after the age of 34.

I don’t expect Bill Madden or any other of these writers to be cheerleaders for the Yankees. And he is free to be a grumpy old man if he wants to be.

But resorting to distorted reporting is beneath this venerable reporter. Few fans are as consumed with stats as baseball fans, and distorting them for personal reasons is an odd choice for a baseball man such as he.

The New York Times Tyler Kepner didn’t distort the news, but he sure seems bummed out by it.

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

Tyler Kepner: The Yankees will Always be the Yankees, To the Delight of Only Some

Mr. Kepner does not predict failure as Mr. Madden does, but he hints at it. Nor does he say he is against the trade or dislikes the team, but his world-weary commentary sure suggests it. And reveals the man.

For instance, he uses two examples of imported, high priced hitters as examples of similar Yankees acquisitions: Dave Winfield and Alex Rodriguez. And if those were the only two non-home grown big time bombers, Mr. Kepner would have a serious point.

But what about Reggie Jackson? That seemed to work out okay. Why not compare the signing of Stanton to the signing of Reggie? After all, a comparison between the 2017-2018 Yankees and the 1976-1977 team seems most apt.

Or what about Tino Martinez? He was signed to be a big hitter on the club. I remember the nineties okay, and it seemed like a good decade for the bombers. And let’s not forget Babe Ruth. The Yankees added him when he was the biggest hitter in the game, and the team seemed to do fine with him.

Yes, Mr. Kepner was making a larger point about free agency, but Ruth is a valid inclusion since Mr. Kepner says,

…long-term commitments to imported stars tend to get complicated quickly…

Can you see the subtle psychological choices Mr. Kepner made in order to cast a negative pall on this trade? Invoke Jackson and Martinez and the analysis is cautiously optimistic. Include only Winfield and A-Rod, and a vague feeling of failure permeates the piece.

What is it, man, do you need a hug?

And Maybe Someone to Just Listen to You?

And he compares the Yankees to Mr. Potter, the villain of It’s A Wonderful Life. What? Why not compare Cashman to Chris Adams, and the team to the Magnificent Seven? That casts them as heroes saving Yankees fans from those Boston bandits. That’s just as valid.

Why didn’t Mr. Kepner compare Cash to Nick Fury assembling a team of superheroes? Or, to stay with the Christmas theme, Cash could be thought of as the Ghost of Christmas Future, ensuring a bright outlook for years to come.

Any of these are valid analogies that a neutral observer could arrive at. The fact that Mr. Kepner chose the Potter comparison says a lot more about him than it does the Yankees or this trade.

I think it safe to say, Mr. Kepner is not one of the delighted.

The Opinion of Record

But in case that was all too subtle for you, Mr. Kepner suggests this trade will ultimately be a failure without saying so directly.

Except we have seen it before in the Bronx, and strings of titles have not followed.

Really? I wonder if Mr. Kepner knows that not only do the Yankees have by far the most titles but also are one of only two teams with double-digit titles (Cardinals, 13). So, yes, sometimes strings of titles have followed.

But at least he wasn’t flat out lazy, as seems to be the standard for one of USA Today’s top writers.

Bob Nightengale: Yankees Evil Empire is in Full Force with Trade for Giancarlo Stanton

Mr. Nightengale is not a beat reporter, but instead is one of the national voices for USA Today. But again, he’s getting paid, which should make him above lazy reporting.

You would think we’d learn our lesson from now, but, oh, how the New York Yankees fooled us again. Tricked us, really. They had us actually believing they were finally concerned about the luxury tax, convincing us this was going to be the winter they were going to get under the $197 million tax threshold, and reminding us the crazy days of A-Rod contracts were over in the Bronx. Silly us.

Now, Mr. Nightengale, I understand a good old knee-jerk reaction. There’s a rascally rabbit around here I really want to get my hands on. But, unless you have some really demanding part-time job, you might want to check your facts before spouting, even in your very cute, very curmudgeonly way.

Readers of this column know I am more than open to hyperbole, but it must be grounded in reality.

Numerous outlets are reporting what is easy to check: The Yankees can absolutely make this trade and stay under the penalty threshold for 2018. They could actually still add payroll for next season. Check out this report, or this one.

It would be hard to trust another report by Mr. Nightengale, at least on this topic. And that’s too bad because he is a respected and highly knowledgeable reporter, but he let his bias run away with him here. It distorts his story and pushes it to tangential, at best.

That, however, is not the only false narrative being spun in the wake of this mega-deal.

Keith Law: How Yankees no-brainer deal became Marlins lost opportunity

Mr. Law’s transgression is far less egregious than the others on this list. His only sin is that he decided to create a new narrative to fit his point of view. That by itself would not be enough to warrant criticism, but it is enough to be included in this larger piece.

For several seasons now, we have been told that the Yankees have lost several of their historic advantages. One was that teams were going to lock up their young players and that teams could no longer add historic players via free agency. Both of those will be disproved during the next off-season.

Another long-running narrative is that the Yankees monetary advantage has been wiped out. Between revenue sharing, teams owning some if not all of their distribution networks and the game being flush with cash, small market teams can now afford to sign big stars the same as big market clubs.

Why then did Mr. Law write,

The Yankees didn’t need Giancarlo Stanton, but they will get him for very little, just taking on the bulk of his contract, which is something they and very few other clubs have the financial wherewithal to do.

Dark Side of the Moon

Money seems to have had little to do with Stanton going to the Yankees. His chief suitors before Cashman got involved were the Giants and the Cardinals; are they two of those, “few”? Are those two considered big market clubs?

We could have really debunked this claim if Stanton did not control his destiny. My guess is that almost every team would have proposed a package and taken on the same financial commitment the Yanks just did, had they the opportunity.

Doesn’t it seem likely that at least the Brewers, Mariners, and Twins would have been involved? And if they are the few, who are the many?

Mr. Law, it seems, is harkening back to an earlier era to make it seem as if the Yankees outbid everyone. Or, he’s suggesting that other teams were scared off by the price tag. And none of that is true.

Again, this is not as egregious as the others, but it is a bit lazy.

Back to Life

Before I wrap this up, a quick word about some of the comments sections from disparate articles, and disparate sources. I understand hating the Yankees, and I understand hating this move. I know how many Yankees fans felt last year when the Red Sox added Chris Sale.

Of course, I can understand taking a pessimistic point of view; you’re not meant to be neutral observers. But those of you who are suggesting this is automatically a bad move for the Yankees have really lost all sense of reality. And some of those saying these things are Yankees fans.

I’m not saying it has to work out, or that the Yanks will win anything with Stanton. However, to suggest that adding Stanton’s strikeouts to Aaron Judge’s will absolutely be a disaster seems a bit of an overreach. It’s a perspective with little connection to reality.