James M. Odata at The Times-Union has whipped out his CPA calculator to figure out the Yanks’ top five earners’ tax liability. Based on the assumption that none of these guys consider New York State, for tax purposes, to be their primary residences and that the Yanks are in New York for 100 of the season’s approximately 240 days, the state alone would make $3 million from Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, Derek Jeter and A-Rod. If they all permanently resided here, the state could claim up to $7 million. The city would take some, and the Feds would want a large cut too. (Hat tip to Shysterball again. Craig does good work. Read him.)
Prospect Profile: Ryan Zink
Ryan Zink | RHP
Background
Zink grew up in the baseball … ahem … hotbed of Madison, WI, where he attended LaFollette High School. A standout for the Lancers, he was named to the All-City First Team and was an honorable mention for the All-Conference team as a sophomore, when he led the school to the City Championship. As a junior Zink repeated as a first team All-City player, adding All-Conference First Team and All-District Second Team honors to his resume. He was at his best when needed most, striking out eleven batters and allowing just three hits in a ten inning outing in the Regional Finals.
City gives up luxury suites
Score one for the little guy. After facing intense scrutiny over aggressive e-mails and shady land dealings, the City of New York will be giving up its luxury suite at the new Yankee Stadium for a cash payment. While this doesn’t really solve the rampant problem of the tax-exempt bonds, it’s a victory, albeit a small one, for good government groups.
Fernanda Santos has the story in The Times today:
After intense criticism, the Bloomberg administration has given up a perk it worked fervently to secure: a free luxury suite at the new Yankee Stadium.
The city will relinquish use of the 12-seat box in exchange for whatever revenue the Yankees generate by selling the seats, minus the cost of marketing them. Although neither the city nor the Yankees have publicly disclosed the market value of the suite, similar suites at the new stadium are being sold for as much as $600,000 a year…
Under the new arrangement with the city, the Yankees will be allowed to keep the parking spaces and use of the billboards, and the city will be guaranteed at least $100,000 for each baseball season, even if no one buys the suite. The deal was formalized last month in a letter from Mr. Pinsky to the Yankees president, Randy Levine, that was made public on Tuesday. A similar arrangement is being negotiated with the Mets, which also gave the city free use of a suite in its new ballpark, Citi Field.
While I think this is a fair deal, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky is a bit skeptical. “The taxpayers who are paying for the construction of Yankee Stadium cannot afford to buy tickets for the games, but the mayor was getting a luxury box, so he had to back off,” he said to The Times. “But the reason he backed off is because next week, the city is going to give the Yankees more taxpayer money.”
Next week, the city should just make the Yankees take taxed bonds. This whole thing would be over. Either way, King Mayor Bloomberg has discovered that if he doesn’t play nice, he doesn’t get his perks, and the city will give up a luxury box it probably could have gotten through more legitimate means. Such are the way of things.
An Andy Pettitte musing
So this Andy Pettitte article from Joel Sherman seems to be making the rounds, and again, I’m forced, against my will, to confront a Post article. Basically, Sherman’s premise is that the Yanks are going to respond to Pettitte’s supposedly rejection of their $10-million offer by — wait for it — lowering their offer.
Sherman writes:
Andy Pettitte’s chances to return to the Yankees New York Yankees have dropped precipitously because in the aftermath of the Mark Teixeira signing the organization is now strongly inclined to lower the $10 million offer that the lefty already has been resistant to all offseason, the Post has learned.
Pettitte recently rejected the Yankees’ latest $10 million overture, and now – barring a wave of sentimentality by the Yanks or significant change of strategy by either side – that dollar figure very likely will not be offered again. A reduced offer almost certainly would assure the end of the prideful Pettitte’s second tour with the Yankees.
Multiple sources refused to divulge if the offer had been lowered already. But one executive briefed on the matter described both the chances of making a deal and the $10 million bid as on life support. Another executive said he did not believe that the $10 million offer was there to be taken any longer.
So in one paragraph, Serhman speculates — “the Post has learned” — that Pettitte’s offer will be lowered. Two paragraphs later, no one on or off the record will confirm to him that this is indeed anything more than a move of his creation. One person says the deal probably won’t happen; the other says the offer is off the table. No one at talks about lowering the offer.
Now, if the Yankees want Pettitte back, they won’t lower the offer. They’ll probably just keep it on the table while continuing to promote the idea that the Phils — Coke and Hughes — will be given shots at the rotation and that Ian Kennedy and Al Aceves will get long looks as well. They’ll make Pettitte aware of the fact that he doesn’t deserve and shouldn’t be making $10 million and that the teams knows this and is prepared to move on.
Meanwhile, Yankee bloggers aren’t that heartbroken over the Pettitte saga. Alex Belth thinks it would be “a nice luxury” but doesn’t feel that the Yankees necessarily need Pettitte. Brian at In Mo We Trust takes Pettitte to task for thinking he is worth more than he really is. I still wouldn’t be too shocked to see Pettitte back in pinstripes, but I won’t be disappointed if he’s not. I don’t, however, for a second believe that the Yanks are going to insult the man by lowering their offer.
A Nady trade proposal
Not from me, though. Ken Rosenthal mentioned Xavier Nady and Nick Swisher in connection with the San Francisco Giants, so Grant at McCovey Chronicles checks to see if the clubs match up. He doesn’t like the $22 million gamble on Nick Swisher rebounding, but does find Xavier Nady interesting. Giants GM Brian Sabean has said he will trade for only players who are under control beyond 2009, but Grant points out a possible loophole. What about Randy Winn?
I admit, when I first heard this I thought about it for a second. Winn is coming off two seasons of 105 OPS+ and has generally been above average for his career. He gets on at a decent clip and can hit for average. He could always have a down year, which is a risk, but the same could be said of Nady. He’s got just one year left on his deal, so there would be no long-tem risk. His salary, $8.25 million, will be a couple million north of Nady’s arbitration figure, so a one-for-one swap is feasible.
That’s all secondary, though. The idea behind Grant’s proposal is that Winn can play center, which fills a need (or want, however you think about it) for the Yankees. That’s why I started to think about all those other things related to the proposal. Yet it is flawed at its very core. Randy Winn doesn’t play a good center field, or at least so says his UZR. He hasn’t posted a positive UZR since 2005, and has played a steadily decreasing number of games there since 2004. He’s good in right field, but all things equal I’d rather have Xavier Nady.
So, while it makes a “ton of sense” to Grant, it makes little to me. There’s no reason for the Yankees to trade Nady or Swisher at this point unless they’re blown away with an offer. Every team could use the depth. It could come in handy just a few months from now. Then, with most of the free agents off the board, that depth could be even more valuable.
Abreu in line for real estate disappointment too
Barring a Mets deal, Bobby Abreu’s days as New York resident are numbered. To that end, Abreu is looking to sell his two-bedroom apartment in One Beacon Court, and Luxist takes a tour of the property. Abreu is asking $7.9 million, but as will be the case when he finally signs with a new team, he won’t get his asking price for the apartment either. No matter though; he’ll turn a profit on his original $3.5-million investment. (Hat tip to Shysterball.)
Yanks ink Berroa to minor league deal
This one comes from Ken Rosenthal. Angel Berroa is expected to compete with Cody Ransom for the utility infielder spot come Spring Training. The deal is contingent on Berroa admitting that Hideki Matsui should have won Rookie of the Year back in ’03.