yankees228

And for the record, fandom isn't influencing anything, because Jacko and I are maintaing the same position even though it didn't hurt the Yankees. I'm surprised that you feel the way you do, and I guess I would be interested to see what other members of the forum thing.

And with the exception of the Astros, no other team has objects in play. There is a reason for that, and the Astros shouldn't be allowed to do it either. And comparing it to a bad hop? Are you kidding me? There is an obstruction in play. I don't care what used to be, it's absolutely ridiculous either way.

How MLB is OK with a pop up hitting a catwalk and being considered in play is almost incomprehensible.

Nice job. Really loved seeing them get out of it. Anyway, MLB needs to reassess the ground rules here. Any ball that hits the ceiling that isn't going to be a home run cannot be in play.

This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Outfield dimensions are a completely different story. Objects obstructing the field of play is another thing. You really could not be more wrong with that analogy.

This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. AJ needs to regain his composure.

This place is an absolute joke. If this costs the Yankees, it's pretty ridiculous.

So far he has been really good so far, and he has now gotten hits in his last two ABs against lefties.

Ever since Joe Maddon took over this team, they really have become a pretty dirty team. As a runner, you're just not supposed to do what Pat Burrell did. Maybe for some reason they feel that they need to do these kind of things to hang with the Yankees and Red Sox. Either way, there is no place for it. And Granderson with two nice plays.

Have to admit, AJ has looked good today. If it wasn't for his inability to control the running game, this game would either be tied or AJ would be pitching a shut out.

Awful job by Cano, setting up the entire inning for failure. He looks great early this year, but there are still little adjustments that he needs to make.

It could very well mean they were a finalist because Pavano had met with them. Until you show me that an offer was made, you'd have to admit that your point about him isn't factual. What I remember about the Pavano situation is him going around to about a dozen teams, talking about everything, but not exactly fielding concrete offers. After gathering all the information about all the interested teams, he decided who he wanted to play for, and then negotiated just with that team (the Yankees).

It proves they were in on him, just like all the other teams he met with. Maybe he had already eliminated some of these teams at that point, but it's also possible that the article is just ignoring all the other teams he met with (because the author didn't think they all were legitimate candidates). Either way, there is nothing here about making an offer, just proof that there was interest.

You're ignoring the fact that other things might have been involved besides money, which is separate from the Yankees' financial advantage. As for Carl, I don't remember an actual offer, only a meeting. Got a link?

Much better inning from Shields. And classic Rays, not showing Teixeira's numbers on the scoreboard. Whether it's blocking second base, running over catchers in spring training, or throwing at Teixeira at the end of last season (because CC hit Pena on the hand on a two strike pitch) you can also count on some questionable garbage from Joe Maddon's Rays.

Contreras was about a lot more than money, if you know the story that has been made public. Pavano was also about a lot more things than money. He went around to a ton of teams that winter (remember, the Carl-A-Palooza tour), and decided that he wanted to play for the Yankees. Sure, part of it was money, but it wasn't the whole story, and (to the best of my knowledge) the Yankees and the Red Sox were never bidding against each other. If you want to include Pavano in the discussion, then I can include Lackey. The inclusion of Santana is absolutely meaningless.

Good inning from AJ. Shields really looks awful, as every hit besides Swisher and A-Rod (who didn't see any strikes) either hit the ball hard, or had multiple opportunities to hit the ball hard. It's frustrating that they only have one run through two innings, as it easily could have been much more. Hopefully that changes the second and third times through the order.

I'm talking about you declaring victory in our discussion, nothing to do with the Yankees and the Red Sox. Either way, that wasn't the main point of my post.

They've had a payroll ceiling every single offseason. It just hasn't really increased the last few years. Dipre, I could counter every single once of these points, then you would counter them, and we would just being going back and forth like usual on this topic, accomplishing nothing. I readily admit that the Yankees have a financial advantage over every other team. I just think you overstate the advantage, and I think I've shown this with fact. You disagree, and it has become pointless to continue to have these discussions. EDIT: And for the record, don't believe this is any kind of concession that would allow you to declare victory. I truly believe what I'm saying in the above post.

I'll take the out from Zobrist. Awful decision. AJ, once again, looks like crap. He's so frustrating, and especially when he's pitching on the road, it always seems like the Yankees are behind the eight ball.

You're right, there aren't any players that the Yankees and the Red Sox have both made substantial offers to that the Yankees haven't ended up signing. However, there are three things to consider... 1) There are players that the Yankees have shown interest in that ended up signing with the Red Sox. 2) There are players that the Yankees have actually been in contract negotiations with that ended up signing with other teams, for reasons I've already mentioned in two separate posts in this thread. 3) The Yankees haven't gone to incredible financial lengths to sign any of the players that both the Yankees and the Red Sox are interested in, as you seem to be implying. Sure, if the Red Sox topped the Yankees' offer for Teixeira and Damon, it is very possible that the Yankees would have countered again, eventually signing them. But given the facts I've mentioned, to say this is an absolute certainty just isn't true. Additionally, consider this. If the Red Sox were so sure that it would be foolish to top the Yankees' bid, because the Yankees would just increase their offer until the player signed with him, then why wouldn't they just increase their bid to drive up the price? They wouldn't be losing anything, and they would only be forcing the Yankees to overpay, which will hurt in the future. My guess why they choose not to do this is because the increased price exceeds how much they believe the player is worth, and they're scared of getting stuck with that player for the increased price.

I was here, and I understand, but it's obvious that once you create a separate forum, it's pretty clear that you're going to get all kinds of Yankees' talk (ranging from minor league players to the big league club). If the forum's administrative team didn't want that, they never should have created a sub-forum, instead they should have taken measures to limit the Yankees' talk in the general baseball forum. Jacko wants to talk about the Yankees' minor leaguers in the Yankees' sub-forum. I'll say this, it says a lot about people if they are actually bothered enough by this to come into the thread and make posts that demonstrate how bothered they are.

I have a hard time believing the last part of this. Sure, the Yankees offered money that exceeded the value that the Red Sox were willing to offer, but the Yankees don't get every player that they're interested in. There are players that the Yankees have made actual offers to, but once the money either exceeded how much they believed the player's value to be, or once the money exceeded their available funds, they chose not to increase their offer. Yes, there are times when the Yankees do everything they can to get a player (Sabathia). However, you cannot claim that once the Yankees get involved in a player he automatically goes to the Yankees, because it simply isn't true.