By Rich Mancuso/ Sports Editor
Inside The Empire
Everything about the New York Yankees is not a secret. They are the lucrative baseball franchise and own the championships. The Yankees are baseball and of course the history speaks for itself from Babe Ruth, the exploits of owner George Steinbrenner, and the current corporate hierarchy that refuses to take a loss.
There is more about this hierarchy in the Bronx and how the historic franchise continues to build. Many call this an Empire, and “Inside The Empire- The True Power Behind the New York Yankees” authored by Bob Klapisch and Paul Solotaroff, goes behind the scenes and chronicles a behind the scenes look at the 2018 New York Yankees.
Those insights and what drives the mind of GM Brian Cashman are explained. Behind those closed doors the authors get a good take of strategy and that word analytics, a part of baseball and the Yankees daily vocabulary.
“But just remember what I told you,” says Cashman to the authors. “That seventh month’s a very different deal.” Meaning, it comes down to trade deadlines and how the complexion of teams change from Spring training to October.
And with the Yankees, changing names on uniforms is nothing new. The complexion of this franchise changes often and for a reason. In the Bronx, at their Tampa Florida complex, it’s all about winning and taking it all in October as Cashman reiterates,
Again, that’s nothing new about the Yankees. But this read, and a good one, goes deep into the trenches of how this hierarchy in the Bronx puts this together. They have the finances and that leads to the best player and scouting development that produced Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Gleyber Torres, via a trade, Miguel Andujar, Luis Severino, and many more.
There are the inner circles of obtaining Giancarlo Stanton and a lucrative contract. There are things we knew, and get to know, as to why the success of Joe Torre and Joe Girardi were no longer welcome to lead the historic New York Yankees in the dugout and clubhouse and why Aaron Boone met the standards of this front office to be the leader.
Klapisch, a longtime baseball journalist on the New York beat, he gained the trust of Cashman, owner Hal Steinbrenner, and those players in the clubhouse. Those players talked behind the scenes and nothing that put them in jeopardy.
It was all compelling to hear how this hierarchy in the Bronx is aware about a winning formula. Again, much we know, but the authors put in perspective, as if we are there, to witness the dealing and wheeling of the New York Yankees.
“Nothing personal, it’s strictly business.” A chapter that details the rise of Randy Levine. George Steinbrenner anointed a friend from the political orbit. Deals were made. The YES Network, that contributes to this wealth and billion dollar cathedral of a new Yankee Stadium in the South Bronx, all attributed to team President Randy Levine.
“Ticket revenues have more than doubled in year-over-year comparisons with the old park, which was actually 20 percent larger. New network? Check. YES is a cash cow on steroids. Aaron Judge’s jersey is the biggest seller of the last two years. But the best part of all the Yankees’ off-site income, including the proceeds from Legends, their dividends from YES, and the New York City Football Club, of which the Yankees own 20 percent? Most of that money isn’t subject to revenue-sharing, so the team keeps ninety cents of every dollar those streams deliver.”
Not your everyday and lucrative business deal, but this is the New York Yankees. And it is always subject to review and approved.
The book is available on Amazon, in bookstores and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Also stay tuned as a paperback edition is coming that will detail more.
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