'Bernie should be here' Rivera blasts Yankees for treatment of Williams
TAMPA, Fla. -- Bernie Williams isn't in Yankees camp. But whether he comes or not, it's obvious he's going to be an issue.
Mariano Rivera, the great Yankees closer who'd previously expressed dismay over the team's delay in extending his own contract, told SI.com on Tuesday that the Yankees should be treating Williams better.
Responding to a question about whether he's surprised that Williams didn't receive a guaranteed deal from the Yankees, Rivera responded, "Surprised? Yes ... I think Bernie shouldn't be treated that way. But who am I to say?''
Rivera had declined to discuss Williams' situation on Monday, when he expressed disappointment at having to wait to have his contract addressed since he told the Yankees weeks ago that he was interested in staying beyond 2008. However, Rivera made it clear in an interview with SI.com how he feels about Williams' plight.
"Bernie should be here with his bat,'' Rivera said, emphatically. "He had a great year last year, and he helped us a lot. I guess that's the business side of baseball.''
Without regard to sentimentality, the Yankees made a calculated choice to align their roster to contain 12 pitchers and three first basemen and only extend a non-guarantee, non-roster minor-league invitation to Williams, a Yankees icon. However, they risked upsetting a few longtime teammates of Williams's, particularly since he had a fine 2006 season, hitting .281 with 12 home runs and 61 RBIs.
While Williams has responded to questions regarding his situation in a circumspect manner, friends say he is very upset to be relegated to non-guaranteed and longshot status after having a terrific bounceback year in 2006. Asked how Williams is taking his plight, Jorge Posada said Tuesday, "What do you think about that?''
The problem is that some key Yankees decisionmakers feel that Williams is not equipped for a reserve role, saying that he's no longer above average defensively and that he couldn't excel as a pinch-hitter. Williams, though, did perform admirably as a backup last year even while learning a new position for him, right field.
The Yankees also had to know that with their decision they chanced upsetting the very players who led them to four World Series titles, and on Tuesday, Rivera became the first to express criticism of the team for the call. The decision regarding Williams may also have caused Rivera to possess and express anxious feelings regarding his own contractual situation.
On Monday, Rivera suggested dismay over a delay in his own talks and glumly spoke of baseball as a business. "I definitely want to finish my career here,'' Rivera told several New York writers on Monday, "but if they don't give me the respect I deserve ... I'm not going to stay at my house crying. I have to move on.''
Meanwhile on Monday, Rivera's longtime teammate, Posada, yet another great Yankee heading into the final year of his contract, expressed support for Williams without being critical of the team. "I'm a Bernie fan;'' Posada said. "He's done a lot for this organization, and we all know that.'' Posada expressed hope Williams would accept the minor-league invite but stopped short of criticizing the team for its decision.
Posada didn't discount the possibility that Williams' fate triggered Rivera's remarks concerning his own situation. "Yeah, it could happen with anybody,'' Posada said. "You hope it won't happen to Rivera.''
Yankees people were surprised at Rivera's remarks regarding his own talks on Monday, especially since Rivera, a supremely low-maintenance superstar, has hardly ever uttered a critical or anxious word during his reign as one of the greatest closers of all-time. Yankees decisionmakers view the situations of Williams and Rivera far differently, considering Rivera is still one of the top two or three closers in the game. Their position in the Rivera delay is that they were busy forming their team and that they will not only get to it soon but expect to get it done. The great likelihood is that the Yankees grant Rivera the two-year extension he seeks.
However, they don't discount the possibility that Williams' situation has affected Rivera's mood. And it surely has.
