RANDY LEVINE FOOLISHLY & PUBLICLY DISSES "DYLAN" BETANCES

Dummy!

Photo:Seth Wenig/AP

In case you missed it, the Yankees beat Dellin Betances in their arbitration case. Now the Yankees will pay Betances the $3 million they proposed rather than the $5 million that Betances wanted. Whatever. It sucks for Betances but that is still a record salary for a first year arbitration eligible set-up man. That's not the real story here though.

Photo: Getty Images

I hate to say it, but I have lost all respect right now for the Yankees so-called president Randy Levine. A leader of any organization, baseball related or not should always be a leader by example. The Yankees are a classy organization, but their president is far from it. Levine and the Yankees won their case. They saved themselves $2 million dollars (which is not even a drop in the bucket for them) so the win should've been enough for him.....but it wasn't.

After the hearing, Levine held a conference call and basically mocked Betances and his agent Jim Murray for what he considered an unrealistic salary expectation and called the idea "half baked" and "not based on reality" read that HERE. After insulting Betances Levine quickly back peddles to say that the Yankees do love and respect Betances as a player and a person.

He can't respect him too much considering he mispronounced his name calling him "Dylan." Only a brainless president makes that mistake. Journalists asked if it would be wise for Levine to have a conversation with Betances and Levine replied that he should consult with his agent instead. WOW....classless.

Naturally, after the conference call social media went crazy with responses from beat writers. Here are a few:

Murray said Levine called Betances "Dylan" not "Dellin" Also: "#Yankees hid behind the (arb) system. It is really unfortunate."

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) February 18, 2017

"$5M goes to elite closers. Pitchers who pitch the 9th inn and have a lot of saves. Dellin didn't have that record. He never did." - Levine

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) February 18, 2017

Whether or not Betances had an unrealistic salary request that is something that you just SHOULD NOT do. Now, Levine's stupid conference call not only jeopardized the Yankees relationship with Betances for the long haul, but they just made spring training awkward for Joe Girardi, He already had some concerns on what might need to happen once Betances arrived for camp and now that concern is sure to be magnified even more.

Since Levine's comments have gone viral, Betances has fired back at Levine and his response says it all. There is bad blood here now.

“You look at it a little differently now. I think free agency will be a little easier when the time comes.”

Dellin Betances said that he was going to put the hearing behind him until he heard about Randy Levine's comments: pic.twitter.com/L15yFk0eiq

— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) February 18, 2017

I hope Levine is walking around with his chest puffed up and feeling strong after all of this because no matter how you slice it, Betances has been a model employee. He is a hometown boy who cares about the community and has been very active in it and supported the Yankees endeavors. This is NO WAY to show respect to him if they love him so much.

Photo: Getty Images

Arbitration hearings happen all of the time and it's always the same someone wins, and someone loses. However, at the end of the hearing there are no additional comments or press conferences! At that point, he should've been the leader he is supposed to be and worked on mending that relationship to start the season off right instead of demeaning him and trying to overlook his accomplishments.

Photo: Harry How/Getty Images

This is no way to treat a three time All-Star who you supposedly respect and has accomplished so much for your organization. Is Betances hurt by this? Sure, the response says it all. Is he serious about leaving the Yankees in 2020? I'm sure he is right now. Emotions are running high but by the time summer comes around this could blow over and be forgotten. Then again, it might not be forgotten by Betances but instead not talked about. No matter what future implications may be, none of what happened post arbitration hearing can be justified. It was mean spirited.

In response to your comments Levine NO you aren't an astronaut, Dellin Betances may not be a closer BUT you shouldn't be the president of a classy organization like the Yankees....because you have no class. You're trash!

I have a lot of pride in my Yankees, but unfortunately not in their "president." The right thing to do here would be to extend an olive branch and try to mend any broken bridges, but I won't hold my breath.

Finally... let me say this.  Many of us here at Bleeding Yankee Blue did not approve of Dellin asking for more money.  But when it comes to something like this... respect from the organization, we will defend him 100%.  This is insanely coming out of the mouth of a crazy person.  Perhaps it's time that Randy Levine takes a hike...

--Jeana Bellezza
BYB Managing Editor
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ