Dellin Betances would say it all again.
A day after his war of words with Yankees president Randy Levine, in which Betances said it would be “fair” if he refused to pitch more than an inning per relief outing this season, Betances did not back down.
“I don’t regret anything I said [Saturday],” Betances told reporters in Tampa, via MLB.com. “I had to get it off my chest and I did. I’m just trying to put it behind me.”
Betances said he had not talked to Levine.
Betances lost his arbitration case with the Yankees on Friday, settling for $3 million when he requested $5 million. Levine then called a surprise press conference to defend the team against Betances’ agents, who he said made the Yankees’ three-time All-Star reliever a “victim” of the reality of the baseball marketplace.
Levine insisted the Yankees made Betances the highest-paid, first-time-eligible setup man. Betances’ team had argued that setup men, especially in the fashion the Yankees have used the flexible Betances, are more valuable than ever.
“Even though I disagree with the arbitrator’s decision, I was planning on putting everything behind me until I was aware of Randy Levine’s comments and saying I was a victim in this whole process,’’ Betances said Saturday. “They say how much they love me and then take me into a room and they trash me for an hour and a half, and I thought that was unfair. Especially, I felt I have done a lot for this organization. I have taken the ball time after time. Whenever they needed me I was there for them. I never said, ‘No.’ Whenever [Joe] Girardi said, ‘You want the ball,’ I got it. I felt like this whole process was unfair.
“Some of the stuff they said in that room, they value me as an eighth-inning guy. Is it selfish of me to say now, ‘Hey, guys, I just want to come in for the eighth inning with no runners on?’’’ Betances added. “That’s not the player I am. I go out there and try to battle with my teammates, but now you go in that room and you see some of that stuff, do you put yourself at risk at all times? It’s fair for me to say that.’’
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