TheKilo

Not super excited about this move. It's depth, and depth is nice, but this is this season's Bartolo Colon signing. Not an impact move.

Exactly. This isn't like the NFL, where teams like the Patriots, Steelers, and Colts consistently make the playoffs thanks to smart team management and roster construction. The Yankees have made the playoffs more often than not in large part thanks to outspending other teams, not because of smart management - and this is where there is some validity to the payroll argument.

Not true - the Ravens won. If the Ravens, Pats, and Jets all won, the Pats would win the division and the Ravens would be the WC. The Jets needed Baltimore to lose.

Packers need to draft an impact rushing defensive lineman. They need to generate more of a pass rush...and even though they have Aaron Kampman, they need to find some more way to rush the passer. I think the priority for the Packers needs to be to increase their depth within the interior lines (both offensive and defensive), and at corner. Their linebacking corps should be fine if Barnett comes back healthy with Hawk, Poppinga, and Chillar all increasing their roles in his absence. They need to plan on how they are going to replace Charles Woodson and Al Harris. They also need to find personnel that will allow Aaron Rodgers to throw the ball to this talented WR corps. Improve their lines and add depth to the secondary.

Why would the Brewers just give Fielder/Hall away?

Didn't have one.

God how stupid can the bills be? Less than 20 seconds in the half, no timeouts, and they call a running play when they are well within FG range. Predictably, the clock runs out.

JJ HRDY LULZ

"They've still cut payroll" I've heard this argument a lot since the Teixeira signing went down. The contracts of Abreu, Giambi, Mussina, Pavano, and Pettitte have become CC, AJ, and Teixeira. As it has worked out,the values of the contracts have actually reduced Yankee payroll form last year despite spending $400+ million on three players. However, I have a few questions for those who are using this argument as justification for these big contracts, especially in the wake of the economy falling out and potentially hitting rock bottom some time in the near future. The Yankees gave the aforementioned five individuals the bloated and unreasonable contracts in the first place. Why is it that the Yankees, in giving these individuals such bad contracts, are allowed to set the baseline for what is considered to be the right amount for their payroll? They spent an incredible amount of money on these five individuals and they turned out to be bad contracts at the end of their respective deals. Why can they go out, spend 95% of that value, and call it a paycut - when they inflated their payroll in the first place? "They play by the rules, stop whining." Yes, it is true the Yankees pay the luxury tax, and revenue sharing, and the likes. The question I have for Yankee fans is - how can you justify asking the city for more money to finish this stadium? They are getting huge breaks from revenue sharing thanks to the construction of the new stadium and are using that cash to spend on these free agents - while in the same breath asking for even more money from the city. The end result? Higher taxes for NYC taxpayers and the luxury boxes aren't being sold at the rate they are expecting. How can you justify any of this activity?

The whole point of trading Lugo to DET for Willis is a swap of bad contracts. Thames would be an excellent 4th OF - RHH off the bench, destroys LHP. Lugo + Kris Johnson for Thames + Willis is a win for both teams, IMO.

I have made mention of "Plan B" many times in other threads, but would like to get other peoples' opinions on what the Red Sox need to do the rest of the offseason to get the roster set for the start of next season. Here's mine:

If they are really going to avoid spending huge money on big name FAs, then they absolutely have to do this. I have zero issue with doing so because it could mean you develop your own talent (ie a Pedroia, Papelbon, Youkilis) or you use prospects to lock up young talent via trade (Sanchez/Ramirez for Beckett/Lowell). The issue you run into doing this is that you lock up a lot of money (relatively) for a prospect that may not be MLB-ready now or will ever be (Craig Hansen, anyone?) This brings a lot of risk in it as well because these guys, while "underpaid" are not MLB-proven at all, vs. overpaying for talent that may not live up to the duration of the contract. If they're going to go the scouting and development route, then scenarios like Alex Meyer cannot and should not happen at all. Like you said, the top of soxprospects should be filled with names like Matt LaPorta, Michael Inoa, and Alex Meyer. Complete agreement. Youkilis is a double-edged sword. If you let his contract run out to become a true FA, then there's no way they will sign him to any sort of a team friendly deal. I think the proper avenue would be to offer him a JD Drew type contract - 5 years, 70-80 million dollars. There is absolutely risk involved with buying out the last few years of arbitration - but that seems to be counterbalanced by signing him to a lower AAV than he would get if he hits FA. Papelbon is a different animal - he's got three years left before FA. I have no problem making him earn his paycheck the next three seasons - But just in case, I'd offer him 4/50 after next season if he makes it completely healthy. I find it difficult to believe Papelbon would get much more than $12.5 million on the FA market - KRod just got that exact same AAV, for less years, after setting the save record. They will be a solid team. Right now - they're the third best team in the division, and I don't think anyone can really dispute that. The Yankees have surpassed them - they're getting a Cy-Young caliber pitcher to replace Mike Mussina, and AJ Burnett to replace Sidney Ponson. They're getting a GG-caliber 1B to replace the statute they had before. They are a much better team - there's no disputing that. The Rays added Matt Joyce (completely underrated move) and will have BJ Upton and David Price for 162. In a vacuum, the Sox look to be a very good team. When taking the other teams in the division into context, they have not lived up to their end of expectations, especially as the 2nd richest team in baseball. Luckily, they still have time. See above - I'm not saying they won't be competitive, I'm not saying they'll tank - right now they look like an 88-90 win team which will be good for 3rd place in the division this season. That doesn't get you into the playoffs, which should be the goal for this team every season. All I'm asking in consistency in the way they'll get there. It's becoming clearer, now they need to execute. I'm glad they didn't sign Johnny Damon, KRod, or Mike Cameron. Mark Teixeira is exactly the guy you spend that kind of coin on. The fact they cry poverty after losing out to Teixeira is completely disingenuous - this guy was their first priority all offseason, and they lost the bidding by $12 million. Now they want to swear off big name FAs forever, and say the Yankees are ruining baseball? Don't buy it. Yeah - good thread. This is exactly what was needed - I need to understand the direction this FO wants to go in. I don't necessarily agree with it 100%, but we'll see where it goes.

Bay has said he wants to come back here, and is open to an extension. It hasn't happened yet...when it appears to be a slam dunk. If the FO is going to pass on Bay and wait for Holliday they'll lose another bidding war to the Yankees next offseason. Correct. If you don't pay him who is going to be your 3B (assuming Lars is the 1B)? Even then I have my doubts that Youk will be the 3B for much longer due to his body type. 3B is a far more demanding defensive position than 1B, and he's been the 1B for three years now. And you don't assume they're actually working on these deals.

I don't know how many more times I can say it - negotiating with the big fish is fine, but you need to have contingency plans if and when that falls through. Two of the biggest things they can do to improve the team in the sort and long term would be extending Youkilis and Bay, but they aren't working on these. I can't for the life of me fathom why - especially when Bay has expressed interest in an extension.

This is an interesting thread. From my understanding, I think we're trying to evaluate what the FO is going to do to strengthen the team not just for 2009 but for the next decade. The problem I am having with this FO and their "plan" is consistency. It's clear they have aversions to long term deals for position players and pitchers alike - and that is not a bad thing at all. I have no problem with roster flexibility. The problem comes in the fact that the Red Sox are the second most profitable team in all of baseball and will continue to make money at an alarming pace. The Red Sox are recession-proof. There will always be money flowing on Yawkey Way. I can understand a billionaire like JWH being apprehensive devoting that serious coin to Teixeira, but if people making far less than him are willing to sell out Fenway for every home game for the foreseeable future, then he needs to have a damn good reason for not spending their money. If you're not going to spend money on big time FAs, then they need to pump even more money into their player development and scouting departments. There's no excuse to not sign any of their draft picks if they aren't going to pony up for big FA contracts. The issue with this policy is that following 2009, we will be without their left fielder and after 2010, their corner infielders. Where are their replacements coming from? Do we really think they're going to pay Youkilis $20 million plus? Why? It would go against their supposed policy of not doling out big contracts to FAs. I can't come up with any rational explanation as to why they would give Youkilis that money and not Teixeira. I don't think Youkilis will be able to be a 3B for much longer, I'm not sure his body will allow him to do so after being a 1B for such a prolonged period of time. The thing I am beginning to really struggle with is the fact that the Sox are not using their financial resources to put the best product on the field. They are not working on extensions for Bay, Youkilis, or Papelbon. They got extremely lucky that Pedroia signed to an affordable contract following an MVP season, comparable to Ryan Braun or Evan Longoria. If those two won MVPs this season, do you think they'd sign the same deal? I don't - for every Pedroia there's hundreds of other players that want to follow the dollar signs. I think the biggest fault of the FO and a lot of people on this board is to assume that since the Red Sox made game 7 of the ALCS with an injured squad, they'll rebound and still be a 95 win team when everyone comes back next season. In a vacuum, sure, the improvements should be a great help - and they should, but the Rays are going to get better and the Yankees improved substantially. The Rays will get a full, healthy season of BJ Upton and David Price in their rotation. The Yankees close the 5 game gap between the Sox and themselves, surpassed it even (IMO). It's frustrating to see a team, and an ownership group, with the incredible resources at their disposal, not make use of them. I've asked this question many times on this board - but if you're not going to spend bigtime FA dollars on a guy like Mark Teixiera, who are you going to spend it on? I have no interest seeing this team become a big market Marlins, Pirates, or Royals. Spend money. Improve the team.

Can they even sign another type A?

We have a guy with his skillset already on the team. His name is Jacoby Ellsbury.

That's all well and good, but when the RED SOX FRONT OFFICE comes out and says that signing Teixeira is their number one priority and then comes out and fails miserably, they have some explaining to do.

What RF are they going to sign? The Yankees have holes in the corner OF positions after this year and will be filling them with choice FAs.

At least this team will be competitive this season.

I fail to see inconsistencies in my message - sure, these guys COULD rebound and provide for a successful season but they had the ability to land the best hitter available and all it would cost them is money instead of the young talent they so covet. If they're going to invest heavily in the draft route, I need an explanation as to why a guy like Meyer wasn't signed this year. I'd like to see some consistency in their strategy. They preach payroll flexibility, but then don't flex any financial muscle. They've dropped what, $50 million off payroll this season? Where is that money going? There's plenty of time left. Losing out on Teixeira when he was clearly identified as the team's main goal, and seeing all of their time an energy wasted leaves me less optimistic than I was 10 days ago. They have time. Like I've said all along, Theo better have a heck of a Plan B because right now we're the third best team in the division.

Their negotiating tactics have left a sour taste in my mouth, and the left the Yankees won the sweepstakes for a mere $12 million. They have time to remedy it. They can't sit back and claim poverty and wish that Lowell and Ortiz have bounceback seasons. They can't do it.

Let me ask you - they didn't do anything to improve the team last offseason. Ortiz and Lowell are not going to be around forever and the offense has the chance to struggle next season if these guys don't bounce back and continue to decline. Teixeira could have solved both problems. They are the second most profitable franchise in all of baseball. They preach payroll flexibility for some reason - and then do NOTHING when they have the opportunity to flex their muscle. They cry that they are at a disadvantage and it sounds completely disingenuous. I still have not gotten this answer from anyone - if you're not going to spend FA dollars on Teixeira, who are you going to spend this money on? Youkilis? Nope - they aren't negotiating with him now. Bay? Seems like if they really wanted him, they would have signed him already. Are they waiting for Matt Holliday? If they do it will be an incredible mistake because the Yankees are going to sign him next offseason too. Papelbon? Nah - it looks like Paps wants to be a FA and get paid more than anything else. For every Dustin Pedroia who takes a team-friendly deal, there are tens of others who want to get the money. A dramatic overhaul is not needed unless it improves the team in the short, medium, and long terms, which is what the Teixeira deal would have done. It would have only cost them money but they decided not to use it. Now that negotiations with THEIR MVP caliber 1B have fallen through, it'll be interesting to see what they do, if they do anything. I wonder if JWH send out a pissy email about Youkilis's agent?

I'm tired of the excuses, I'm tired of the hissy fits. Improve the team.