Dellin Betances' Agent is Furious with the Yankees Front Office

By Djack

Boy oh boy did I quiver in my boots when I got a hold of this news. Betances and the Yankees had their final arbitration ruling Saturday, and the arbitrators ruled in favor of the Yankees. This whole dispute was over a $2 Million difference in salary for Betances this upcoming season, the Yankees were only willing to offer Betances $3 Million and Betances wanted $5 Million. This would've been a ground breaking ruling if the arbitrators sided with Betances since getting that much money for a setup man in his first year of arbitration would've been record breaking, but that didn't occur. Betances' agents were going to respect the decision of the ruling and move on as any respectable sports agency would do, but when Yankees president Randy Levine held a press conference following the hearing, Betances' representatives were not happy to say the least.

Jim Murray, who is Betances' main agent, had a lot to say about Levine following his press conference. He was saying things like "Betances will not be bullied by the Yankees team president", along with accusing Levine of trying to mislead the media, and trying to bully the board into not siding with the player. Murray also said, “With regards to Dellin, it was very ironic to hear the Yankees’ president express his love and affection when he spent the only portion of the hearing, to which he contributed to, was calling this player by the wrong first name. It is Dellin, for the record. He then proceeded to blame Dellin for the Yankees’ declining ticket sales and their lack of playoff history while trying to bully the panel, saying something to the effect that the sky will fall if they rule for the player." Murray continued on but you get the gist of it. 

Dellin Betances is a fantastic reliever essential to the Yankees success this season, although I do NOT agree with his agents. Betances is receiving a record deal in his first year of arbitration already as a set up man, he's certainly capable of being a closer on any other team, but the fact of the matter is his role on the Yankees is as a set up man. The ruling was definitley fair in my opinion, however what Levine said was completely unfair. I get he's just trying to make his case so that the Yankees don't have to spend extra money and can win the case, to call the player by the wrong name is just downright disrespectful. The accusations that Dellin is the reason for declining ticket sales and the lack of Yankees postseason history since joining the team is outrageous and simply put, dumb. The guy pitches 1 inning a game, he doesn't control much of the outcome for any game and he certainly shouldn't be held responsible for being a major fan attraction. Anyone that believes the nonsense spewing out Levine's mouth is just as dumb as his outrageous statements. As for the the aftermath of this whole scenario, the Yankees can probably kiss any hope of resigning Betances when he's eligible for free agency after this debacle. It's going to be another few years before we cross that road, so the Yankees will have plenty of time to mend fences with Betances and his representation. However, when you disrespect someone to that degree, it's hard to repair the relationship. Enjoy Dellin Betances while you can Yankee fans because he's probably packing his bags the second he hits the free agency market.