Yankees latest penny-pinching decision with spring training is embarrassing

Haven’t the New York Yankees learned that by now? Haven’t most MLB teams learned by now? If the truncated 2020 season has taught us anything, it’s that fans look down on timid financial decisions and encouraging long-distance broadcasts.

Yankees fans were at the forefront of this discussion when New York refused to go the extra mile from 2020 to 2022, apparently over luxury tax concerns. Additionally, they “cut costs” by allowing radio stations John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman to call games remotely, which continued into the 2021 season.

Add to that the fact that Paul O’Neill was forced to broadcast remotely during the 2022 season because he’s not vaccinated (we still do that??) and the viewing/listening experience was impacted.

While spring training isn’t the highlight of the baseball season, this year is perhaps the most entertaining in recent Yankee history. There is no starting left fielder. There will be competition for the shortstop, starter reel #5, closer reel and a number of top contenders, most notably Anthony Volpe, will be battling for a spot on the opening day list. fans will watch.

But that didn’t stop the Yankees from forcing YES Network broadcasters to call games remotely (about half of this year’s spring training competitions will be hosted on YES).

Do we need to reiterate that the Yankees are a $6 billion organization? While it’s important to note that the business operates at a $40 million annual loss just so you have all the facts, keeping a few stations at home to save a few thousand dollars certainly won’t do the trick Move the needle closer to zero in relation to this number. That’s why it seems unnecessarily economical.

But perhaps most importantly, it’s an insult to fans, many of whom devoutly follow the team by any means, whether it’s off-season content, spring training games, mid-August regular-season games and then the usual disappointing performances trades the playoffs. They are there for every page change.

Perhaps the Yankees don’t realize that such a decision affects fans as much as they might think … but that’s another part of the problem. There’s almost never a human touch with this team’s brasses.

Sometimes it’s the little things that can soothe or spark an engaged fanbase. For a team as ubiquitous as the Yankees, every decision is discussed in a public forum.

Because of this, your decision to keep costs so low is going to cause quite a stir, especially when you consider all the circumstances that come with it.