New York Yankees: Maybe It Is Time for the Steinbrenners to Sell
May 26, 2012 · Peter Alfano · Jump to comments
Article Source: Bleacher Report - New York Yankees
Yankee fans probably know by now that the son of George shot down reports in the New York Daily News earlier this week that the Yankees were for sale.
Managing partner Hal Steinbrenner, who now runs the most famous franchise in American sports with brother Hank, called the report “complete fiction.”
He said he expected his family to own the Yankees for years to come.
Perhaps the Daily News doesn’t have a reliable source but I don’t think that’s the case. For all we know someone in the Yankees organization leaked it to see what the reaction would be.
Or perhaps the topic was broached at a meeting of the Yankee higher-ups who were speculating what the franchise would get given the $2.15 billion that a group led by Magic Johnson paid to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Now, as an old Brooklyn Dodger fan I know the Boys of Summer are also one of the iconic sports teams. They are not, however, the Yankees. A story that ran in USA Today quoted experts saying the Yankees may be worth around $4 billion.
That is a staggering amount given that it was only in March that Forbes named the Yankees the most valuable Major League Baseball franchise, worth $1.85 billion.
Obviously the sale of the Dodgers is a game-changer and a primary reason why the Steinbrenner family might actually contemplate selling the team for what amounts to all the money in the world.
First, there is no replacing George Steinbrenner, the tyrannical Boss who micro-managed the Yankees back to prominence when he bought the franchise from CBS for $10 million in 1973.
George Steinbrenner brought about the free-spending ways of sports owners, paying lavishly for free agents and then demanding they earn every dime he paid them.
Imagine what he would be saying about the 2012 Yankees?
Neither of George’s sons can ever hope to emulate their bombastic father, although my feeling is that Hank Steinbrenner might try.
Hal, however, is managing partner and appears to be the voice of the family. And perhaps he would be more inclined to end the Steinbrenner era and sell for a price he probably never imagined.
Nothing is forever and the Steinbrenners know that when their father bought the team, it was no longer the powerhouse it had been in the 1950s and early ’60s. With an aging roster and saddled with a huge payroll that will be difficult to trim, it is conceivable that the Yankees will have a few lean years in the near future.
Why not get out and let another ego-maniac have the stage.
The problem is who can afford $3-4 billion? It might take a village, as the saying goes.
But there has to be a front man and there are some candidates who might not be able to resist.
Here are a few:
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