A Yankees season ticket holder emailed the Yankees to say that he was canceling his ticket package because he thought the Yankees were cheaping out and not putting the best team money could buy on the field, notably by signing Nick Johnson, and by opting for Randy Winn over TSESO Johnny Damon.

A Yankees ticket representative replied via email, and included this slam of Yankees captain Derek Jeter:

While Nick Johnson is an injury prone player, he does not have any chronic injuries Yankees fans should be concerned with. He has shown throughout his career that he can consistently get on base and I think he will flourish in the number 2 spot in the order behind Jeter and in front of Teixeira. His On Base Percentage last year was .426 which was 20 points higher than Derek Jeter’s .406 which led the team.

The same rep also explained away the perceived penny-pinching frugality of the new generation of Steinbrenners, saying “The Yankees have a plan and part of that plan is sticking to a budget this year so next year they can spend on what they see as a better free agent class.” He did not mention that Nick Johnson was also better than Lou Gehrig, who had a pathetic .273 OBP in his final injury-plagued season with the Yankees before basically quitting on his teammates, but I think it was strongly implied.