Yankees conscience in question with Hurricane Michael donation

Worth an estimated $4 billion, the Yankees are the fifth most valuable sports franchise in the world. But with that much money often comes an attitude of greed without the best intentions in mind.

The Yankees were recently named the most valuable MLB team on Forbes’ list of “The World’s 50 Most Valuable Sports Teams Of 2018.”

So it’s only natural that the Yanks made a $100,000 donation to Hurricane Michael relief efforts; $50,000 going to the American Red Cross and $50,000 going to the Salvation Army. A nice gesture, much more than I could ever afford to donate, but only .02 % of the team’s total revenue from 2017.

Now imagine what the Yanks’ revenue will be for 2018 — if the Yanks’ revenue increased from $526 million (2016) to $619 million (2017) in just one year. So donating .02 % of your “revenue” is not that grand of an effort.

Now compare that to the Hurricane Harvey relief effort donation made by Houston Texan J.J. Watt: $100,000.

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Watt, a single player, donated as much as an entire baseball organization. And on top of that, Watt used his public figure to create a Hurricane Harvey fundraiser, which raised a total of $37.1 million.

This fundraiser included donations from New England Patriots Quarterback, Tom Brady ($100,000) and New England Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick ($50,000).

And there are multiple examples of other people, teams, leagues, etc. out donating the Yankees. To make matters worse, this recent hurricane donation comes almost two weeks after the Yanks were seen crossing a union picket line.

The Bombers received negative remarks and publicity after crossing a Boston hotel union’s picket line during the ALDS. Yankee players, part of a union themselves, should see the wrong in their actions. Without players’ unions, these men wouldn’t be making the millions of dollars that they currently are.

I would hope the Yanks feel some remorse of their actions, but who knows? It does give weight to Boston Local 26 president, Brian Lang calling the Yankees a bunch of “scabs,” even if we don’t like it.