The Tuesday Discussion: What Job Would You Want On the Yankees?

February 20, 2024

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We had fun this week and asked our writers the following:

If you could have any job with the Yankees, what would it be?  Would you like to be the General Manager?  The manager?  The shortstop?  How about a starting pitcher?  Maybe the ace of the pen?  The hitting instructor?  The bullpen catcher?  A vendor in the upper deck selling hotdogs?

Here are their replies...

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James Vlietstra - Well my playing days are long gone but I feel like I have a lot to offer as an Assistant GM. 

I don’t have the personality to be out front, but with my background with numbers and

analytics, I can definitely help run the team from behind the curtain.

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Paul Semendinger - If I could have any job on the Yankees, it should come as no surprise that I would be a starting pitcher for the team. I'm in shape. I'm ready. I just threw 100 pitches a few days ago with my one baseball team at an indoor practice. I've been throwing now for over a month. I'm ready to go. I can give them a complete game tomorrow. I could easily give the Yankees 200 innings as the MLB minimum salary. My biggest dream would be to pitch for the Yankees!

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Mike Whiteman - My ultimate baseball/Yankees job would be a scout. A job that allows me to travel the country and watch baseball? Sign me up!

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Cary Greene - Rather than answer this question from a purely fantasy perspective, imagining myself to be a left handed masher in the mold of Lou Gherig (my favorite all time baseball player - and it's not close), I'll instead provide a realistic answer. Yes, I'd make a great beer vendor and while it would be fun to have zero pressure as I sling $10 drafts and enjoy the Yankee stadium atmosphere, frequently peeking at the action from various premium locations as the games play out - I can't help but think that I'd be capable of more. 

Every blogger of course thinks they'd make a great GM, but projecting myself as a good GM is several steps above being a beer vendor. I also have zero MLB experience, so how could I possibly be a good GM? I doubt I could be, no matter how much I write about what the Yankees should do every offseason -- LOL. The problem with being the GM is that Hal Steinbrenner sets the budget, so it's not like a Yankees GM actually gets a blank checkbook and a simple command: "Go get me a World Series Title!" Plus, if the GM doesn't win, he becomes the target of upset Yankees fans throughout the five boroughs.

Would I perhaps prefer to be the team owner then? No way! Sounds like a lot of headaches if you ask me. So...is there anything more fun that I'd also be good at, aside from being a beer vendor? Why I think there might actually be one thing. 

Since we were instructed to have some fun with this question, I can reasonably project that I'd be a GREAT stadium announcer. I can imagine myself calling out, "Now batting for the Yankees, Number 99, Aaron Judge!" My voice can go very low and I can call out flatly and in a very stoic tone - befittingly even, so I do know with certainty that I'd be very good at serving in this capacity for the Yankees.  I'd enjoy making calls like, "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remove your caps..." --or-- "In honor of the hometown heroes of the city of New York..." so there's no doubt that this job would be right up my alley and I'd probably actually be able to do it reasonably well. 

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Ethan Semendinger - If I could have one job with the New York Yankees? Let me be the assistant to the travelling secretary. I'll have the team wearing cotton uniforms again in minutes!

All joking aside, I'd take over as the head of all ventures related to the fan experience. Be it creating new ideas for promotional items (there are far too many bobbleheads produced each year), changing the bare-bones stadium atmosphere, and making decisions FOR the fans. There are so many points during the year that bother me as a die-hard Yankees fan with the lack of effort the organization puts in to support the fans. In short, it's disappointing and it feels like we are being taken advantage of. I'd immediately come in and put in some new ideas.

The Yankees are an organization stuck in following the same playbook year-in and year-out. It's time to change and reinvigorate the fanbase. I'd start letting fans on the field before the games (each game honoring a group of season ticket holders to hold a flag, or stand on the mound during the national anthem). I'd bring in a former Yankee (or a few) to every game to stand at the main entrance to say "Hi" to fans. I'd turn Old-Timers Day back into an actual game to be played and not just a clapping ceremony. I'd fix monument park and keep it open during games for fans to enjoy. And, most importantly, I'd start filling in the "moat" seats during games. I'd start rewarding fans from the upper decks with tickets to be allowed to fill-in empty seats in lower sections as the game goes on. Why let a good empty seat go to waste on a rich and spoiled fan who left in the 4th inning?

Maybe my goals are a bit to ambitious, but I'd be sure to make the Yankees the number one fan destination in baseball again.

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Andy Singer - I'll tell you what: I sling a mean hot dog.

Kidding aside, this is a really tricky one for me. I love the idea of managing all aspects of a baseball organization, from roster construction, scouting, player development, budgeting, analytics, contracts, and even training. If I'm being honest, that's something I've always wanted to do, so the idea of being a General Manager or Team President is one that is incredibly appealing to me.

However, a large part of me wonders if that desire is born from the realization that I will never stand on a big league mound in a game at this point in my life. After all, I am a misplaced baseball rat. Nothing gets me more juiced up than lacing up my cleats, stretching, running my pre-game sprints, swiping some dirt on my left hand, warming up in the outfield, and toeing the rubber. Me against whoever dares to stand in the box 60 feet, 6 inches away. I want to feel the sweat drip from the brim of my cap, mix speeds and spin with my fastball before ripping through the best knuckle-curve my left arm can muster. I want my team behind me knowing that I am going to will myself to a win, or exhaust myself trying.

I want to be a General Manager more than almost anything else. That something else would be to pitch in any capacity in the Majors. Start, close, mop-up doesn't matter to me. Being a pitcher in the Majors would be that one special opportunity.

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Tim Kabel - The perfect job for me with the Yankees would be the Director of Player Development. I would love love to be in charge of the process of finding, recruiting, and then developing future players. I would even go do some scouting time to time. It would be a wonderful experience to see a youngster you signed and developed make it to the Major Leagues.