Battle of the Brands: Robinson Cano vs NY Yankees

Robinson Cano in Seattle
(photo: sfgate.com)

The New York area's sports pages were recently roiled over the contract negotiations between the New York Yankees, its star second baseman Robinson Cano, his agent Jay-Z, and the Seattle Mariners. After considerable back-and-forth, Cano signed with Seattle for $240 million. This move led to consternation in New York, as if the Yankees, with an aging, suspect lineup, had stepped off a steep cliff.

From a talent perspective, Cano's move from Yankee pinstripes is unquestionably a loss for the team that calls The Bronx home. However, the negotiations were more than simply about the money. I think what soured the Yanks on Cano was Jay-Z's ploy to make his first MLB client a personal brand. The Yankees, in that scenario, were a splendid platform from which to launch the Robinson Cano product. The baseball team, with its own brand indissolubly linked to its successful, high-profile players, would not have been able to control the Cano brand. The notion that a player would be bigger than the team -- clearly Agent Jay-Z's talent management goal -- was something the Yankees could not tolerate. (Jay-Z's wife, Beyonce, recently demonstrated the clout of a personal brand with her no pre-publicity, iTunes exclusive release album. Yes, I think the Yankees watched that development quite closely.)

Jay-Z
(photo: npr.org)

The Yankees had experienced the emergence of personal branding in the early days of its contract with third baseman Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod had his eyes on branding from the start of his move from Texas to baseball's lucrative Northeast markets. The Yankees were not alone in that situation. Many fans forget that the New York Mets seriously entertained signing Rodriguez at the apogee of his on-field success. At the time, one demand from the Rodriguez camp was a personal marketing representative for A-Rod. In essence, he would develop and exploit his personal brand. This business scheme would have been under A-Rod's control, and quite separate from his team's success and marketing drives. The Mets could not or would not swallow this negotiating demand, and eventually took a pass on A-Rod's services.

Alex Rodriguez
(photo: Wikipedia)

While times have changed since Alex Rodriguez explored ways to create a personal brand, the lust for branded gold has accelerated. This year, common stock is now available in selected NFL players. You can purchase 100 shares of Houston running back Arian Foster, for example. Enterprises such as the Yankees have kept a close eye on these developments; my guess is that personal brands could significantly and irrevocably disrupt the teams' revenue and marketing plans. For star-driven teams such as the Yanks, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Cowboys, personal brands are red flags. The Yankees just drew a line with Robinson Cano, so definitively that the team would willingly say adios to a tremendous, homegrown infielder at the prime of his career. The feeling was that "the Yanks didn't want to pay Cano." That's true, but misses the point. The Yankees are determined to maintain their brand. No player, not even Robinson Cano, could be permitted to be bigger than one of the world's great franchises, certainly not while on the Yankee roster. As for Jay-Z, the team sent a message: we don't need you and we don't want you. Tell your client to have a ball in baseball's version of marketing Siberia, far away from his natural Hispanic fan base, and even further from appearing in post-season play.

Hey, didn't Alex Rodriguez make his name in Seattle?

Report: Chicago Cubs Worth One Billion Dollars

Wrigley Field
(photo: Major League Baseball)

Big-league baseball's opening games are less than two weeks away. Among the teams that don't have a realistic chance of winning the World Series is the Chicago Cubs. That's hardly news, as the Cubbies have been a bad team more often than not. Usually, fans don't back a loser. The Cubs are a very notable exception to that dictum. Games at Wrigley Field, the Cubs' home ball park, are typically standing-room only affairs. The club has a national following that almost certainly loves despair. Cub merchandise sells steadily.

Just how lucrative is the Cub franchise? The Chicago Tribune cited a recent Forbes article which claimed Chicago's National League team was worth $1 billion. That's fourth highest on the MLB value list, behind the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox. The piece also asserted that the Cubs were the majors' most profitable enterprise, although that might not be to the Cub management's credit. Baseball's accounting might be even more creative than Hollywood's bookkeeping. However, the Cubs' record over the years doesn't lie: the team stinks.

NY Mets' Owners Pitch for Queens Casino

Mr. Met

Oh, those wild and crazy New York Mets have created quite a story for the back pages. The tale begins with the Metropolitans, one of Major League Baseball's premier franchises, pleading poverty in the wake of the Bernie Madoff affair. Their solution to this dilemma, however, does not involve improving the baseball team. Instead, according to an article in today's New York Post, Sterling Equities has made a pitch to build a casino adjacent to the Mets' ballpark, Citi Field.

Sterling Equities is the "development arm" of the Mets' owners, Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz. They've made a deal with a local Native American tribe to operate the gambling parlor. (Native Americans have a monopoly on table gaming in the Empire State.) Now, inquiring minds may ask how an Indian reservation was found about two miles from LaGuardia Airport. Well, there isn't one. The New York State Legislature would have to amend current statutes to permit table gambling in the Big Apple. Unsurprisingly, there's been some initial discussion in Albany addressing that very topic.

Now, before you can say "round up the usual suspects," keep in mind that Major League Baseball is highly allergic to any association with organized crime -- excuse me -- organized gambling. Further, New York governor Andrew Cuomo appears cool to the idea of a "family-style" gaming oasis in Queens. Gotham's legal games of chance currently focus on horse racing. Of course, illegal gambling is a major New York business. Why would anyone want to legalize such a lucrative money pot?

It's more than a little sad to see Citi Field pathetically empty during the height of a baseball season. The way to fix that depressing atmosphere is for Wilpon and Katz to put a better product on the diamond, rather than putting their money on a fixed casino game.

Earl Weaver and Stan Musial -- RIP

Stan Musial
(photo: sportsillustrated.cnn.com)

Two members of baseball's Hall of Fame -- Stan Musial and Earl Weaver -- passed away today. They shared the mixed fortune of being integral parts of small market franchises. Both Musial and Weaver had personalities that could have only thrived in, respectively, St. Louis and Baltimore. Musial's folksy disposition would never have survived the New York hothouse, especially as he would have been incessantly compared to Joe DiMaggio and, later, Mickey Mantle. Weaver was much too cantankerous and did not suffer fools gladly, a lethal formula in any of baseball's major media markets. Charm City's temperament was just right for the man called the Earl of Baltimore.

Intriguingly, both player Musial and manager Weaver understood their physical limitations and made the most of them. Weaver, similar to many baseball managers, came to the realization that he would be a career minor league ballplayer at best. Managing turned out to be his MLB meal ticket. On the other hand, Musial began as a pitcher and, thanks to an injury, was compelled to play the outfield. By all accounts, he was a fantastic hitter. The National League All-Star outfield, at one point consisted of Orlando Cepeda, Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente.  Musial and Hank Aaron were on the bench. So was Frank Robinson, whom the Cincinnati Reds eventually traded to the Baltimore Orioles. (Talk about a tough lineup to crack!)

Earl Weaver
(photo: cbsnews.com)

It was Robinson's arrival in Baltimore, along with pitcher Mike Cuellar, that turned Weaver's Orioles into an American League juggernaut. However, for all of Weaver's acknowledged wizardry, the Orioles of that era only won a single World Series. The team lost, most memorably, to the 1969 Miracle Mets in what remains one of the most exciting Series ever played. The Orioles also lost twice to Clemente's Pittsburgh Pirates. In the end, Weaver's Orioles were a somewhat unappreciated team. Part of that sad fact unquestionably belongs at the feet of the baseball-savvy Baltimore manager, who did his level best to piss off just about everyone he knew. For a small market team, even one blessed with exceptional talent, as the Orioles had in their glory days, media relations were and are very important. Today, with franchise value dependent upon "fan friendly" players, a major league team could not afford the Earl of Baltimore as its face to the media. For better or worse, baseball is a different game than the one where Earl Weaver and Stan Musial earned their Hall of Fame credentials.

S&P Downgrades NY Mets' Bonds

Will the bond degrade
mean curtains for Mr. Met? 

The New York Metropolitan Baseball Club, Inc., popularly known as the New York Mets, hit the dirt after receiving a chin-high fastball from Standard & Poor's. The rating agency knocked the Mets' bond rating down to the second level of "junk" status, Wall Street's equivalent of the Mendoza Line. The Mets' bonds are no longer "investment grade," which automatically prohibits certain pension funds, mutual funds, and other institutional buyers from purchasing these securities.

According to a bloomberg.com report, S&P raised concerns about the Mets' ability to meet certain revenue generation thresholds. It didn't take a wizard in financial modeling to realize empty seats and a lackluster squad equalled the proverbial downward slope for performance expectations. Considering the strength of the American corporate bond market, the downgrade is a disturbing event, one which Standard and Poor's and the Mets tried to bury during a slow, year-end holiday news period.

Overarching the ratings determination is the unspoken, but well known impact the Madoff scandal had on the Mets. The prevailing sentiment is that Madoff "made off" with much of the Mets' money. While the Mets' ownership has skated on this issue, the practical result has been the resemblance of the National League's #1 market to a small time operation. That is an unbecoming outcome, from which little good is likely to emerge.

Miguel Cabrera and Baseball's Triple Crown

Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera

On a night when two presidential contenders engaged in a debate, one candidate earned an undisputed victory. He's Miguel Cabrera, the Detroit Tigers' third baseman, who has just won Major League Baseball's triple crown. It's a stupendous achievement, last accomplished in 1967 by the Red Sox's grumpy Carl Yastrzemski.

Yaz had the advantage of playing half of his games in Fenway Park; Cabrera spent half his season in Detroit's spacious Comerica Park. Players understood the dimensions of Cabrera's achievement and often spoke in awe that any of their peers could accomplish what the Detroit star did. For baseball and its fans, Cabrera's success is a tribute to the spirit of competition and the very hard work it takes to be a champion. In a sports landscape filled with spoiled, conceited, corrupted athletes, Cabrera's winning of the Triple Crown is a very welcome sight. Congratulations, Mr. Cabrera.

New York Mets Hire Firm Specializing In Bankruptcy

Mr. Met

According to a story in today's The New York Times, the New York Mets have engaged the services of bankruptcy and financial restructuring specialist CRG Partners to "provide services in connection with financial reporting and budgeting processes." The baseball team immediately denied CRG was brought it to advise the team's besieged owners about how to navigate through dodgy fiscal issues, even though the firm handled the Texas Rangers' bankruptcy. Nope, the Mets just wanted some savvy numbers crunchers to join the party with Mr. Met in the House that Madoff Built.

The Mets, meanwhile, have reportedly been late on loan repayments to Major League Baseball. The baseball franchise will have a major bank loan payment due. There's no sign the team ownership has enough money to make the payments. In November, according to the Times article, the Mets laid off ten percent of its full-time staff. That's an astonishing act for a flagship baseball franchise in the nation's largest, most lucrative market.

It's no secret the Mets have traded away expensive players and did not make a bona fide effort to sign its star shortstop, Jose Reyes, at the end of the 2011 baseball season. He was merely the first Met to win a batting title. During the summer, the Met management made horse's asses of themselves by trying to get hedge fund sharpie David Einhorn to purchase a minority interest in the team. Einhorn, an outstanding poker player as well as a sharp value investor, didn't take long to walk away from whatever charm team owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz could muster.

Now, a once-proud franchise has been reduced to peddling pieces of the team to anonymous, presumably deep pockets. This turn of events is hard for me to swallow. When I was a young boy, I somehow talked the sponsor of our baseball team into naming it the "Mets." And, at one point in New York Mets history, a relative of mine was the team's general manager. Now, it's impossible for me to root for the team. Mets season ticket sales are evaporating. The Mets ownership may face a very tough court case with the feisty trustee representing victims of the Madoff scam. A bankruptcy specialist has been brought it, while employees are let go.

Who's next? Who knows. In the meantime, the team's song "Meet the Mets" takes on an ironic feeling, as there won't be anyone left at the Queens ballpark worth meeting. As for Mets fans, fuggedaboutit.

$3.6 Million Florida Marlins Pitcher Used False Name, Rigged Documentation For Years

What's in a name? For Juan Carlos Oviedo, this was no mere philosophical question. At the time, the 16-year-old Dominican baseball prospect had the right stuff, except one essential qualification. He was a year outside the big contract money. So, as with many resourceful or desperate wannabe peloteros, Oviedo did the practical thing. Probably through his trainer,  he obtained a fraudulent birth certificate and a new name. And just like that, the former Juan Carlos Oviedo became Leo Nunez.

It turned out Nunez had a 3.6 million dollar arm. His most recent team, the Florida Marlins, spoke highly of his character. The team also discovered that Nunez was really Oviedo. There was another issue that finally forced Oviedo out into the open: funerals.

According to the Miami Herald, the Dominican consul general noted that the player "told human stories of family members who had died and he could not go to the funeral under the name Juan Carlos Oviedo, because everyone in the Dominican Republic knows him as Leo Nunez..."He couldn't just show up at the wake as the relative of some Oviedo. That would be a problem."

Yes, a problem. The story, not exactly unusual in Major League Baseball, is a good one. Here's the link to it.

Harmon Killebrew RIP

Former home run king Harmon Killebrew, who passed away today, came from a baseball era that seems light years away from today's millionaire jocks, dull video replay, and luxury boxes no one can afford. Killebrew played on some good Minnesota Twins teams that included a great player (Tony Oliva) and a very, very good player (Rod Carew). The Twins had the mixed fortune of having a stingy owner. The players, including Killebrew, were dreadfully underpaid. However, the owner's frugality led him to sign talented Latin ballplayers. It's hard to imagine now, but having Spanish speaking athletes was something certain franchises avoided. The Twins and the Pittsburgh Pirates broke that mold, but for financial reasons and not to advance a social cause.

Killebrew and Minnesota's fans took to one another immediately. He was, as circa 1980s Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek noted, "Paul Bunyan in a uniform." Killebrew was a legit home run hitter in the grand style. He not only hit home runs, he hit majestic shots. His generation included some extraordinary home run hitters, including Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, and Frank Robinson. Killebrew's attendance in All-Star games put him on the same field as Roberto Clemente, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, Juan Marichal, and Al Kaline. That's pretty lofty company and Killer was worthy of it.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune obit offers a useful glimpse into Killebrew's life. One interesting anecdote, and one I did not know until today, was how Reggie Jackson loaned Killebrew money when Killer was on the heels of bankruptcy. A lot of people, both inside baseball and just plain folks, thought the world of a man universally cited as decent and giving. He'll be missed.

NY Mets to MLB: Hey Bud, Can You Spare $25 Million

The New York Mets baseball team, according to today's New York Times, tapped Major League Baseball for a $25 million loan late last year.

The loan was provided on the hush-hush to the Madoff-tainted franchise. The secrecy has raised eyebrows among many interested parties. Those include other major league baseball franchises (the Yankees must be having a very good laugh over this episode), the banks whom the Mets' owners have strung out to the tune of $400 million in IOUs, the team's sponsors, the players who must be wondering if Met ownership is solvent enough to meet its $140 million payroll, and the trustee of the Madoff mess who is suing the Wilpon/Katz empire for a cool billion dollars.

Yes, the Mets have issues. Spring training has just begun, and already "Let's Go Mets!" sound pretty hollow. It's going to be a very long, lonely season at Citi Field.

Yanquis Go Home

The Texas Rangers knocked the Yankees out of the baseball playoffs the other day. The series turned out to be a mismatch, but not in the expected way. The Rangers shattered the New York team in all aspects of the game. The Yankees won two games, but never really looked like they were in the series.

What became evident was that injuries and age caught up with the Yankees. What was really amazing was that New York won 95 games in the regular season. Their best players, except a relatively young Robinson Cano, were hurt at some point during the year. The team showed a lot of grit, and manager Joe Girardi deserves credit for getting the team into the money season.

Girardi's best move was convincing Yankee general manager Brian Cashman to obtain pitcher Kerry Wood from Cleveland during the season. Girardi knew Wood when the pitcher was a Chicago Cub star and Girardi was with the club. Wood stabilized the Yankee relief corps, and carried the Yankees to the ninth inning and Mariano Rivera.

Perhaps the most telling detail of the Yankees' playoff demise was that the Yankees were often knocked out before Rivera had a chance to warm up.

For the Yankees, the so-called "Core Four" has reached its Waterloo. Rivera will be 41 years old next year. An aging Derek Jeter is clearly living on his reputation rather than his current performance. Alex Rodriguez is thirty-five and might be the only player in major league baseball this year to have over one hundred RBIs' and have an "off year." Andy Pettitte is ready to retire. While Cashman has made the Yankees younger, he'll have his work cut out for him this off-season. With all the fuss about Cliff Lee, the Yankees larger need might be younger position players.

In the meantime, Yankee haters have had their moment, courtesy of the Texas Rangers. However, there was no doubt Texas was the better team in American League championship series, and the team George W. Bush once owned will soon play in its first World Series.

Bobby Cox

Bobby Cox's last game as the Atlanta Braves' manager took place last night. In an act that showed class, the San Francisco Giants stopped their playoff victory celebration, clapped for Cox and tipped their caps to him.

This is almost unheard of in baseball, and the act gave Cox a gesture of dignity and respect that he entirely earned. It was one of the sport's proud moments.

(Pittsburgh) Pirates Make Millions

Who said piracy is dead? According to documents leaked to deadspin.com, the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball franchise made over $30 million last year. For years, the team's management has pleaded poverty, traded any player who would command a marginally high salary, and showed no commitment to improve its team.

Some of the Pirates' loot comes from revenue sharing, a scheme in which prosperous franchises such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox give small market teams some money. The notion is that the funds would be used to improve the small fries' talent pool and thus add more equitable competition to major league baseball.

The Pirate organization chose to keep the money, and essentially stiff its team's fans and sponsors. Major League Baseball is fighting furiously to shut the deadspin.com leak. However, this leak has as much life as BP's leak in the Gulf of Mexico. And for greedy baseball team owners, the financial documentation leak demonstrates their view of credibility parallels BP's perspective on the subject.

This leads me to the conclusion that Pittsburgh's team might be the most aptly named sports franchise in America.