Yankees: Stop whining about Giancarlo Stanton contract crippling NYY

Please stop whining about the Yankees being crippled by Giancarlo Stanton.

Since it’s quite possible no one involved in the New York Post’s latest Giancarlo Stanton article has been in a room with other people in months, allow me to humbly request that they review their old notes on how to read a room, and then go ahead and do that.

It’s only Dec. 12, and yet all baseball fans have been inundated with a generation’s worth of whining from front offices all across the land. MLB owners have used the press to make it clear to their constituents that, despite massive television rights deals, a completed postseason (with limited attendance), and another vaccined-up year on the horizon, they had it worse than any small business forced to shutter in 2020.

NFL, NBA and NHL ownership has stayed largely silent, though. Guess it’s boom times for them.

Naturally, now that we’re talking about restricting payroll league-wide, it’s time for everyone’s favorite game: retroactively grading decisions the Yankees assessed and decided to opt in for just a few short years ago!

The Yankees have a large contract for Giancarlo Stanton on the books. This is true. He’s owed $218 million over the next seven years. Also true? They actively chose to make the payment, there’s no salary cap in baseball, and they could afford seven more Giancarlo Stantons if they really wanted to — and they should want that, considering he’s one of the greatest sluggers in the game.

Unfortunately, just one week into December, we’ve already circled back to the opinion columnist’s favorite tool. Even though the Yankees assessed the risk when they acquired Stanton, they’re now being “crippled” by the deal. The local media has adopted our rivals’ favorite troll.

As the Post writes, in the latest pandemic-flavored iteration of this warm-as-hell take:

"And as the Yankees wait to learn whether DJ LeMahieu returns as a free agent and how that will affect the rest of their offseason, general manager Brian Cashman acknowledged that “huge commitments” limit what they’re able to do on the market.“Certainly, there’s a lot more discussions and things to navigate,’’ Cashman said on the YES Network Thursday in regards to how the pandemic impacted the team’s ability to spend. “Since we’ve made a huge commitment to others already, it affects your flexibility and viability as you move forward. Every step taken needs to be carefully worked through.”"

What Cashman is saying is objectively true. X affects Y. Deals made in the past alter deals made in the present. But Stanton didn’t preclude the Yankees from signing Gerrit Cole to a record deal last offseason. And what about Cashman’s generic quote insinuates he’s referring to the slugger and not the ace?

Additionally, buried deep in this story is the real headline: Cashman admitted the team intends to have the game’s highest payroll yet again.

"“We will be the number one payroll, regardless of anything [that] happens,’’ Cashman said. “Ultimately, we have a team that we feel can compete for a World Championship. It does need some additional help with that. That would include DJ’s return, we hope, along with some other opportunities.”"

Wow. The Yankees are so “crippled” they only intend to carry the game’s largest ledger in 2021.

If the Stanton deal didn’t stop the Cole contract, then it’ll be an insincere excuse if any front office executive ever uses it to justify passing on a big-ticket item like DJ LeMahieu.

Don’t give these words credence by running columns defending the “Stanton as a hindrance” theory. And even if the front office intends to pretend it’s true, there’s not a person alive during the year 2020 that wants to hear about these first-world specialty problems.

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