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New York Yankees: Dellin Betances Not Happy With Randy Levine Comments

By Kenneth Teape

Oct 1, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Dellin Betances (68) pitches during the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. New York Yankees won 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees relief pitcher Dellin Betances (68) pitches during the ninth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. New York Yankees won 7-3. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Yankees setup man Dellin Betances was not happy with comments team President Randy Levine made following their arbitration hearing.

The New York Yankees and Dellin Betances had their arbitration hearing Friday and the decision was revealed Saturday morning. The arbitrator sided with the Yankees, who went into the hearing offering $3 million to Betances; that is what he will make in 2017. Betances countered with a $5 million offer.

The arbitration process is a difficult one to go through. If the two sides cannot agree on a deal and go to a hearing, it gets ugly. A team basically has to talk badly about the player so that the arbitrator sides with them and they pay the player less for the upcoming season.

Betances said that he felt trashed by the Yankees during the 90-minute hearing but was going to put it behind him Saturday afternoon. That was before team President Randy Levine decided to open his mouth about the process.

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Levine was critical of Betances’ agent, Jim Murray, for the asking price he brought to the table. Levine felt that Murray was asking for closer money despite Betances clearly being a setup man.

"“What his agents did was make him a victim of an attempt to change a marketplace in baseball that has been well-established for 30 or 40 years,” Levine said. “And I feel bad for Dellin that he was used in that way by his agent, because anyone who knows about this process [realizes] that the history is very much established — that $5 million goes to elite closers.”"

Betances will make almost six-times as much in 2017 as he did in 2016, coming away well in his first year of being arbitration eligible. But, the comments made by Levine did not sit well with Betances.

"“I was planning on putting everything behind me until I was aware of Randy Levine’s comments saying I was the victim in this whole process and saying how much they love me, but then they take me in a room, trash me for about an hour-and-a-half,” Betances said. “I thought that was unfair.”"

Betances went on, saying that he may have to rethink being available on a consistent basis and pitching multiple innings or coming in during the middle of an inning. Betances believes it is fair for him to say that, as he has led the major leagues in relief innings and strikeouts in his first three seasons, all All-Star seasons as well.

Being called a victim obviously didn’t sit well with Betances, but Levine didn’t stop there. He compared Murray asking for closer money in arbitration to himself, the President of the team, calling himself an astronaut.

"“It is like me saying, ‘I’m not the president of the Yankees, I’m an astronaut,'” Levine said. “I’m not an astronaut, and Dellin Betances is not a closer, at least based on statistics, not whether he could be or couldn’t.”"

Levine continued putting the blame on Betances, agent, saying, “If Dellin is upset about going to a hearing, now we know the result, he should go talk to his representatives and say, ‘Why did you bring me in here? What was the point? I should have made a deal. It was obvious.”

Arbitration hearings will always cause hard feelings. Listening to your employer trash your performance is not easy. It makes for an awkward situation, but both sides have to hope that cooler heads will prevail once the regular season comes around.

The Yankees need Betances in the backend of their bullpen if they want to be successful. He and Aroldis Chapman make for one of the most dominant duos at the end of games in baseball; hopefully, this hearing doesn’t change that.

Next: New York Yankees: Top 5 Reasons 2017 Will Be Great

This could make for an ugly situation for a couple of days. But once Spring Training gets going and the Wold Baseball Classic begins competitive juices should kick in and help blow things over.

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