Yankees season ticket invoices slowly creeping out

The fans may be fat from the Thanksgiving feast, but there wallets will soon be empty. The Yankees have begun to send out invoices for the 2011 season, but in all fairness are giving fans an affordable option to pay. The Yankees are giving fans payment options, of course they want to get the money up front but are breaking down the payments into four simple installments. The four payment will be made in 25% increments over the course of mid-December till the middle of March. At that time you will be forced to pay in full or you will no longer keep your tickets. On a side note that means that ticket upgrades wont be made until mid-March, cutting it close to the opening day date on March 31st.

That said not all fans have received the invoice in their Yankee account or in the mail. But should expect them this upcoming week.

Yankees offseason update: Jeter, Pettitte, Cliff Lee & Cano in the MVP ballot

After a rather quiet start to the off season today the Yankees managed to grab a few headlines today. Lets run through a few of the latest updates.

• At first reports surfaced that the Yankees were going to offer Kerry Wood and Javier Vazquez arbitration. But after further reports, it looks as if the Yanks are going to just offer it to Javy, with the understanding that Vazquez would deny it, that way the Yanks could get a draft pick.
• Reports surfaced a few weeks ago that Andy Pettitte was leaning towards retirement, but it now looks as if he is leaning towards coming back for one final season with the bombers. This would be great news for the Yanks if they could lock up Andy, then they would just need one more pitcher Cliff Lee to finish off the rotation.
• It looked as if the pursuit for Cliff Lee had finally got under way with rumors that the Yanks had offered 6 years $140 million. But after reports from the NY Daily News, no such offer has been made yet. That would have been alot of money for the first known offer, for a guy that is going to be 32 and has only been an elite pitcher since 2008. For the whole scoop check out MLB Trade Rumors.

• The discussions between Derek Jeter and the Yanks have gotten off to a rocky start, and even has Brian Cashman questioning if Jeter wants to remain in the Bronx. I know I had never expected the negotiations to go like this, but both sides are wrong. The Yankees shouldn't be playing such hardball with a player that has helped elevate the franchise over the last 15 years. They should look at all the ways hes helped bolster the franchise name, and how much more he will in the future as an ambassador of the Yankees and of the game of baseball. Jeter is the face of the franchise and will be for the rest of his life. On the other hand Jeter also should do the right thing and put his ego aside and just sign a reduced deal. It would look better on him, and he would still have the chance to make millions on endorsements.
• Robbie Cano finished third in the AL MVP voting. I understand that he may not have been first but Miguel Cabrera even finished before him. Its called Most Valuable Player for a reason, how much value does Miguel Cabrera have for a team that wasn't close to making the playoffs? Cano carried the Yanks at times during the season, but I've said it all along the real MVP for the Yankees should be CC Sabathia.

Pictures from the first football game at the new Yankee Stadium

On Saturday November 20th Notre Dame took on Army, in what was the first football game ever at the new Yankee Stadium. Notre Dame beat Army 27-3 in front of a sold out crowd of 54,251. Here are some photos that I found from assorted websites, to make you feel as if you were apart of the action.

Seats in the bleachers.

FG Post behind what would be home plate.

 


Left Field Bleachers.



View from the Grandstand

The Yankees have lost their Miranda rights

Yesterday the Yankees traded away Juan Miranda for A-ball pitcher Scott Allen. This is not loss as at all for the Yankees considering they have both Tex and Swisher who could play first base and if they ever needed an emergency first basemen they could always look to Jorge Posada. The Yankees get back a very young arm, that has a decent curve ball, for the whole scouting report check out River Ave Blues.

I will always remember Miranda for his two walk offs, one a hit in 2009 the other a walk in 2010. But I always felt he looked like Ruben Sierra, thus earning him the nick name Sierra Mist from the guys at WCWPSports and myself. Check it out for yourself..

Yankees 2011 ticket package breakdown

Tons of April games for the 12 and 11 game plans may cause for alot of people to drop those plans. Plus many of those games can be had for $5 right from the Yankees and even cheaper on Stubhub. With so many April and May games in my 12 game package it makes me hope that I can get a weekend plan even more.

Yankees Raise 2011 ticket prices

The cheapest non obstructed seat at Yankee Stadium will now be $15. With the poor economy, many teams are cutting ticket prices but the Yankees are not. Today it was announced that the Yankees will increase six categories, including the bleachers, main level and field level. It was first reported on the LoHud blog here , but then Lonn Trost confirmed it on Mike'D up. Trost claimed that the reason the Yankees increased the prices is because they studied the secondary market and realized many of the seats were being sold for an increase. The entire Trost interview can be heard here.  The Yankees have already changed the prices on the its website seating chart.

I will say that I still plan to renew my seats, and will actually attempt to upgrade my seats to a weekend plan. But it stinks that the Yanks have upped the bleacher seats, although the price is still fair and a great deal. I am befuddled as to why the Yanks would ever increase the seats on the lower level, as it is already the seats are empty and I don't care that Trost attempts to tell me that the seats have been sold, I don't believe that. I do believe that many fans do walk around and get out of their seats.

I will continue to follow the situation throughout the off season, and update my site as soon as any other ticket news it out.

On the Yankees radio network...

From the NY Daily News : Right now their future is up in the air. The Yankees contract with WCBS-AM, worth about $12 million per year, expires at the end of the 2011 season, so do Sterling and Waldman's pacts. Sterling has been the radio voice of the Yankees since 1989. Waldman joined him in 2005.


There has yet to be any serious negotiations between the Yankees and WCBS. The job status of Ma and Pa cannot be resolved until a new radio-rights deal is cut. Industry moles say other outlets have chatted informally with Bombers brass. These potential suitors are looking to get a sense of which direction the club wants to go with its radio rights.


Outside of WCBS, which probably wants to keep the Yankees, it's highly likely ESPN will - if it hasn't already - stick its beak into the mix. For ESPN-1050, the process of trying to chip away at WFAN, longtime Mets rights holder, has not been easy.


Adding Yankees radiocasts to the mix of Jets, Knicks and Rangers would help change the equation - drastically. But how much would ESPN be willing to pay for the radio rights to Yankees baseball? And would pinstripe honchos be satisfied having their games go out over ESPN-1050's weak signal? That situation could be corrected if ESPN ever purchases another station with stronger reach.


There also has been talk about the Yankees buying a radio station. With the radio biz in the toilet, and in the current lousy economic climate, that is not likely to happen. "

Let me start of by saying that I don't hate Sterling or Waldman as much as some Yankees fan, although I liked Waldman better when she was the on field reporter for YES. But if the Yankees wanted to switch commentators and stuff I don't have a huge issue, although I would hope they keep Sterling since his calls are classic and he is the voice of the Yankees for the past twenty plus years.

I don't not want the Yankees to even think about switching to ESPN radio. The signal is so bad, that there are times just driving around on Long Island it has an issue coming in. I know that the Yankees may get offered more money by them, but at least with WCBS they know what they are going to get. WCBS has such a strong signal it can be heard as far as Kentucky and North Carolina on a clear night.

As for the Yanks owning their own radio station, that would be very interesting since I have not a clue what other type of programing they could have on. They could make it another sports talk radio, but they area already has WFAN and ESPN radio, so it would be tough to compete.

What does Jorge think of DHing?

Seems safe to say that Posada still thinks he can catch, but stats show otherwise. Earlier this week Jorge's wife Laura tweeted that Posada will be the DH all next season, other news outlets had reported similar things. It makes the most sense that at this time the Yankees use Jesus Montero and add a defense minded catcher as a free agent.

Are you ready for some football?

Notre Dame and Army will play at Yankee Stadium on the 20th of this month. Aside from the fact that the teams stink, it will be the first football game in the new stadiums history. It looks really strange to see field goal posts up in center field and near the pitchers mound, but even stranger not to see the infield dirt!

Possible Free Agents that could help the Yanks

Now I was not signed away from this blog because I was a free agent, just everyday life taking me away. Since my last post MLB free agency has started up. Its obvious that the Yanks will go after Cliff Lee and will most likely get him, but here are a few other free agents the Yanks should take a look at..

Juan Uribe: For the last three months I have been telling anyone who will listen to me the Yanks should sign Uribe. After the last two seasons of watching Ramiro Pena attempt to bat, I think its time to cut ties. Sure Pena could field at all infield spots, but so can Uribe. In fact Uribe will bring enough offense that the Yanks can rest Jeter or A-Rod and not have to worry about a huge drop of in production. Uribe also has had clutch hits in the 2005 and 2010 World Series so if your thinking postseason 2011 already he would be a great fit. The issue could be that he would be getting contract offers to start elsewhere so the Yanks would have to throw a few extra dollars at him.

Chris Young: Not the D-Backs centerfielder, but the Padres pitcher. The 6'10 righty is coming off a season filled with injuries but had a nice run from 2006-2008. If Young could remain healthy he could make for a great back of the end starter or even long reliever. The issue could be that he has expressed interest in returning to San Diego and has had injury issues the last few seasons.

Jake Westbrook: Another possible end of the rotation guy, but would want too much money and has been an injury concern in the past. The upside is he has pitched the American League before.

Miguel Olivo : Sure he does not take pitches but that's not the point, hes a catcher that can actually throw runners out. With Posada likely taking a larger role as DH and Jesus Montero still just 21 and not the best defensively, the move makes sense.

J.C. Romero: Brian Cashman has already said that he wants to add another lefty reliever, and Romero held lefties to a .217 batting average last season, and .215 over his career. The issue is that he walks way too many batters.

Randy Winn: The Yanks are going to have to replace Damon somehow..oh wait this is 2010? Never mind...


So their you have it some potential free agents that can help the Yanks. All have flaws as its been noted, but that's because of a weak free agent class. The pitching is laughable after Cliff Lee, and the Yanks don't really need to add another big bat. So the main goal should be, sign Lee.

Jesus could be with the Yankees in 2011

From today's NY Daily News : "The consensus among the Yankees' high command is that Montero who turns 21 on Nov. 28 - is ready to assume the starting catcher's job, according to a source with knowledge of the team's thinking."

Its about time, I could no longer watch Jorge Posada constantly running to the back stop to retrieve the ball or not even attempting a throw to second. Scouts have claimed that Jesus Montero is not the best defensive catcher, but is one of the best offensive players in the minors. I'll admit that while I am unsure if Montero is ready it cant hurt to give him a shot, in the mean time, they should go out and sign a catcher who may not produce much with the bat, but is great defensively. Think Jose Molina. If they could do that, they would be able to trade away Francisco Cervelli, and not be forced to call up Montero till after Memorial day and save a year before his is arbitration eligible.

Bleacher brawl

Not what the Yankees or Yankee fans would want to see after Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg ripped them for being violent. 

What you talking bout Chuck? .. Rangers owner rips Yankee fans

"I thought Yankee fans, frankly, were awful. They were either violent or apathetic, neither of which is good. So I thought Yankee fans were by far the worst of any I've seen in the postseason. I thought they were an embarrassment."

Yes those were the words said by Texas Rangers owner Chuck Greenberg, while his team was facing the Giants in the World Series. I find it interesting that while his team was in the World Series that he was more concerned with bashing the Yankees and their fans then to worry about how his team was performing on the field. As it turned out his team did not play so well losing to the Giants Monday night.

Greenberg wants to take a shot at Yankees fans? I understand that it did look bad when Yankees fans were leaving early from blowout games, or the story about Cliff Lee's wife being spit on but what about the Rangers fans? Chuck praised the Rangers fans for being such good fans but they were also the same ones who were chanting "Yankees Suck" at each game. I think that at sometimes I can be tough on Yankees fans for being quiet during the regular season, but they sell out each game. The Rangers on the other hand cant nearly draw as many fans, even against major teams like the Yanks or Red Sox. So while there stadium may have been sold out during postseason games, its because of all the bandwagon fans and maybe Cowboy fans who needed something to cheer about. That's another thing, the Cowboys and Mavericks get alot more respect then the Rangers in Texas. Do they deserve it? No not really, but that's the way things work, because fans are more interested in those teams then they are the Rangers.

I really don't care if Hal or Hank Steinbrenner want to get into a war of words with Greenberg, but they should take the high road and not say anything since Greenberg has since issued an apology. The Yankees can get their revenge in a different way and that's by signing Cliff Lee away from the Rangers.