Randy Levine put his foot in his mouth today. The Yankees beat reliever Dellin Betances in arbitration, but that wasn’t enough for the Yankees president:
Levine used a conference call with reporters who cover the Yankees to blast Betances’ agent, calling Betances a “victim” and a pawn in a “half-baked attempt” to reset the market for relief pitchers who, like Betances, are not closers.
“It’s like me saying, ‘I’m not the president of the Yankees; I’m an astronaut,’” Levine said. “No, I’m not an astronaut, and Dellin Betances is not a closer.”
Levine added: “That $5 million number? It might as well have been $50 million.”
The arbitration process is contentious enough without rubbing salt in the wound. Sportsmanship may be more important here that on the field. Here’s Betances responding. The Yankees trashed him in the hearing, but he was willing to overlook that. Not this:
“Is it selfish of me just to say now, ‘Hey, guys, I just want to come in for the eighth inning with no runners on, all the time’?” he said.
He continued: “That’s not the player I am. I try to go out there and battle for my teammates. I try to do the best I can. But now that you go in that room and you see some of the comments, do you put yourself at risk at all times?”
This is why teams and players try to avoid arbitration in the first place. Now, Levine may be right about what the agents were trying, but so what? That is their job, and if they won, they would have won a battle for all relief pitchers and might have expanded their practice. Their loss wasn’t going to impress anyone, and now Levine alienated a fine pitcher. Maybe he’s been in the president’s chair a few years too long. Levine’s rant was a huge mistake.
