TARNISHED BRAND

Yanks, YES look to shake rust after lackluster ratings & futile postseason

The Detroit disaster put a major dent in the once-impenetrable Yankees brand. Whether Brian Cashman, on the baseball side, or Randy Levine, on the business side, can repair the damage is a story with many possible endings.

This regime has tasted playoff failure before. Yet there’s a difference coming off the Yankees’ pathetic offensive performance against the Tigers. The Bombers were humiliated in the ALCS. The team was booed out of New York. Instead of taking it on the chin and walking away, the players whined, showing just how fragile their egos are.

They were shocked the “faithful” turned on them. Was this a delayed reaction from the fans? Or was the level of disgust building before the postseason even began?

The empty seats at the Stadium during the regular season and playoffs do not provide conclusive evidence. That’s partly a residue of an anemic economy. Many fans cannot afford spending food or rent money on a Yankees game, even if the tickets are deeply discounted on StubHub.

The Yankees’ TV ratings on the Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network are a better indicator of fan dissatisfaction. The Bombers averaged a 3.92 rating, down 8.3% from 2011 and YES’ lowest Yankees household rating since 2003. The nine-year low came during a season in which the Yankees battled Baltimore down to the wire to win the AL East, which should have driven the ratings to an all-time high.

At the time we first reported the ratings drop, the thought was that more fans take it for granted the Yankees will punch their October ticket, so why watch? Considering the fan backlash and the Yankees’ reaction to it, maybe a negative perception had already caused these fans to turn off YES.

All of those old-grinder, Paul O’Neill teams are now completely in the rearview mirror, finally replaced by a different breed of player, some of whom are perceived as selfish whiners. Players who went through the motions when their backs were to the wall.

How will this play on YES during the 2013 season? If the Yankees continue to be viewed as aloof and unlikable, if they give off an uncaring vibe, like Robinson Cano, the brand will be further tarnished. Like it or not, the current face of that brand is Alex Rodriguez.

This has everything to do with his playoff tribulations (pinch-hit for, dropped in the lineup, benched), including someone in the organization looking to discredit him by leaking the “flirting” story. This is not a full-fledged Bronx Zoo thing, but it is dysfunction. Suddenly A-Rod, who had become a relative recluse, was the biggest star in this October soap opera. His story, which played out on a national stage, will linger all winter.

The Yankees’ hot stove will be belching negative smoke signals. Bombers brass better hope elder statesmen Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera return healthy. And that their presence in the clubhouse restores fan faith and pinstripe pride.

The problem runs deeper than putting the right pieces on the field. It’s about an image taking a cockeyed turn, a brand that is rusting around the edges, and slumping TV ratings.

There’s no magic broom to sweep this all away.

YES MAY WAIT ON KAY

Is high finance affecting Michael Kay’s contract negotiations with YES?

The distinct possibility exists. With the Yankees looking for an investor to buy out their partners in YES, the suits running the joint may wait and see who ends up owning the majority chunk of the network before completing Kay’s deal.

The thought is that the new owners may want some say over who their play-by-play voice is — perhaps someone other than Kay — and the terms of the contract. Or they could just tell the brainiacs currently in charge of production to handle it themselves.

BARRY’S OUT, ESPN LOSES

Let me put this as delicately as possible. Jon

Barry got screwed. Barry was the best thing on ESPN’s rancid “NBA Countdown” studio show. The faculty at Bristol Clown Community College gave him the boot. Or as they delicately put it in a press release: Barry “will transition to game analysis.”

Perhaps the faculty didn’t appreciate Barry’s backbone, original insight and reluctance to genuflect to the Show Killer, Magic Johnson. Unless new analysts Jalen Rose and Bill Simmons find a way to put a sock in Johnson’s mouth, “Countdown” will be a show in search of yet another new cast for the 2013-14 season.

SPRING IN HIS VOICE

For John (Pa Pinstripe) Sterling, there are constants. Bad calls, bad descriptions, and a voice full of disgust when the Yankees are losing.

Obviously Sterling left his faith in the Bombers outside the broadcast booth before Game 4 of the ALCS was even over. For in the “Daily News Fifth (inning),” with the Yankees down 6-0, Sterling ended an interview with beatman

Mark Feinsand, saying: “I’ll see you next spring.”

BABBLING TO CBS

Chris (Mad Dog) Russo’s fleas are driving yakkers out of SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio.

John Feinstein is the latest mouth to exit through MDR’s revolving kennel door. He’s heading for CBS Sports Radio’s 9 a.m.-noon gig. Feinstein has turned his partner Bruce Murray into a solo act for the time being.

Got to believe Murray is not shedding a tear over Feinstein, the often condescending Tower of Babble, departing. Whom will the geniuses running MDR bring in to team with Murray?

Maybe his old “MDR” partner, Bill Pidto? That pairing clicked big-time. What about MLB Network’s Brian Kenny? We hear he is looking to do some radio. Kenny once teamed with MeMax Kellerman on ESPN Radio. Then there’s Jonas Schwartz, with whom Murray regularly argues on SNY’s “Daily News Live.” The two have a chemical balance and have yet to come to blows behind the scenes.

MA & PA HALF-FULL

Don’t want to read too much into this but it was interesting that WCBS-AM used Doc

Gooden and Gordon Damer on a special halfhour Yankees playoff pregame show, leading into a half-hour program featuring Sterling and

Suzyn (Ma Pinstripe) Waldman. Surprised Ma and Pa didn’t get the full hour. ... Have to say MLB Network’s Sean Casey is killing it during the postseason. Love this guy’s passion. And the different angles he takes to get to a point.