ARod's contract was worth it. Maybe not for the Rangers.

The Yankees' net worth is now estimated at $4.6 billion. It rose so quickly, I was off by 50%. In my mind, it was $3 billion.


Today is the anniversary of ARod's mind-blowing Rangers' contract.

It's in the news.


According to this analysis ...

"The Yankees paid him $307.8 million for 12 seasons, 351 home runs, 2 MVPs, and one World Series trophy. In the end, the Yankees did get a lot of good production from Rodriguez, but it was also clear that they also got a lot of the bad as his production quickly fell off a cliff at the end."

The first comment I heard the morning after the Cole signing was, "Cole needs to win at least two rings with the Yankees."

Probably won't happen.

Rings, WAR, salary divided by WAR ... all of this analysis misses the main point.



As I've mentioned many times before, ARod's presence immediately pushed the Yankee attendance from 3 million to 4 million, and it stayed there.

It would not be inaccurate to describe the new Stadium as the House that ARod Built.


I'm relying on one guy (Mike Ozanian) to provide the data, and I didn't do all the work.

I'd like to see the rise in the Yankees' net worth year after year since that day in 2004 when they traded away Alfonso Soriano.

This is especially impressive in the context that the Jeter-led four-ring Yankees couldn't do the trick. It was the inexplicably entertaining Villain/Hero.


The Yankees are not a sports team, they are a brand.

The Yankees are not in the baseball business, they are in the entertainment business.

Of course the Yankee owners want a winning team ... because that means more people come to the stadium and walk around with $500 in their pocket.


Do you know how I know ARod's contract was worth it? Because people are still talking about it. In terms of tactical efficiency, I suppose it could be considered a bust.

But how many units did Hiroki Kuroda move?

How many people drove to the South Bronx to buy a Jon Lieber jersey?

Did anyone notice when Bob Abreu sunbathed topless in Central Park? (I have no evidence of this, but try to get the image out of your head.)


Is the Cole signing worth it?

Of course it isn't ... if you really think this is about baseball productivity and payroll efficiency

Come see me in nine years and I'm inclined to believe the Yankee Machine will be rolling along, stronger than ever.