Gom

Of course. How else could we have afforded 1 million more a year than what you offered Teixeira????

It's time for Fenway to go. The Sox need a new stadium and more seating to increase their revenue stream.

Wow...what a great deal. Too bad the OTHER teams don't comply with feeding Boston talent while getting next to nothing in return. So...you want Houston to get a 23 year old AA shortstop with an average bat and a 20 year old A ball catching prospect for an All-Star 1B who had a .987 OPS last year? Go back to sleep. How about this? We'll trade you Ian Kennedy and Austin Jackson for Youkilis? There is NO WAY you can say no to this deal. Berkman had better numbers last year, and both Austin Jackson and Ian Kennedy are considered MUCH better prospects than what you offered. Idiot.

No one in baseball is worth what they are making.

ORS, I'm not in the "Red Sox will finish 3rd" crowd. I really don't know, nor would I be surprised, if the Red Sox finish anywhere from 1st to 3rd. Ditto the Yankees and Tampa.

"The Marlins were said to be most interested in a center fielder, and discussions apparently centered on Boston's promising youngster Jacoby Ellsbury, talented pitching prospect Clay Buchholz and others in a package for Ramirez, who began in Boston's organization." This is from Heyman and Verducci. Here's the link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/baseball/mlb/12/29/heyman.verducci.hanley.red.sox/index.html Of course. There isn't a player in the Red Sox organization I'd trade Ramirez for. The Yankees...maybe. Only Arod. That may be about it, and even then, with his contract, I probably wouldn't. Read my quote. "If I was the Marlins, there isn't a single person on the Red Sox I would trade Hanley for." Singular. Not plural. No SINGLE person. Not a package. Buchholz is your Kennedy, with more talent. Tek's value offensively is s***, but behind the plate, he's a godsend. I expect the Red Sox staff ERA to shoot up by a quarter point if he's not brought back. ..and the Yankees make the wild card. Or the Red Sox win the division. You are what your record says you are. Ortiz is an unathletic player [in the sense of physique] who has a violent swing. Lowell has had injuries his whole career. Expecting a return to 2007 form is not likely for either player, due to age and attrition of skills. Out of that entire list, only Beckett, IMO, projects as an improvement. The rest are the same or down years. Buchholz? When he gets his ERA below 5, we'll talk. Out of that entire list, only Beckett, IMO, projects as an improvement. The rest are the same or down years. Buchholz? When he gets his ERA below 5, we'll talk. Another example of knowledge without intelligence. They count the whole 40 man roster. Count the lineups, the everyday players. I'm too tired to do the pitching staff, so I'll do the lineups only. Starting nine for Tampa. Navarro: 24 Pena: 30 Iwamura: 29 Longoria: 23 Bartlett: 29 Crawford: 27 Upton: 24 Joyce: 24 Gomes: 28 Average: 26.4 Starting nine for Boston: Varitek [assumption]: 36 Youkilis: 29 Pedrioa: 25 Lowrie: 24 Lowell: 34 Bay: 30 Ellsbury: 25 Drew: 33 Ortiz: 33 Average: 29.8 Starting nine for New York Posada: 37 Teixeira: 28 Cano: 26 Jeter: 34 Arod: 33 Damon: 35 Swisher: 28 Nady: 30 Matsui: 34 Average: 31.67 There is a big difference here. A lot more than what you think. Not picking on you Example, but this is my issue with a lot of posters. Think. Don't just take a number and spout it without trying to make sense of it. The Yankees are significantly older and more brittle than the Rays. So are the Red Sox [although to a lesser degree than the Yankees]. Finally some sense. The irony is that both the arguments that you mock are correct. VORP is not linear. It is exponential. So each point is harder to acquire than the point before. The vast difference in age is listed above. Can you say confused? I don't s*** on my team. I s*** on the GM, and this off-season, he's done a great job. I'm not pretending to be the voice of reason, I AM one of the voices of reason. My objectivity is based on one thing really. My ability to disassociate my fandom, which is subjective, from my baseball acumen, which is objective. Am I perfect? Of course not. Only Jacko is. Just ask him. However, stop and think for a moment. That's all I ask. Look, I'm on a few Yankee boards, and if any of you are on any of them, they're already planning the parade down the Canyon of Heroes. I try to put the breaks on there, but my fandom interferes with my objectivity. Here, you guys put me in a more objective state of mind due to our opposing fandoms. Let me give you an example. I think expecting big things from Lowell, Ortiz, Posada, and Matsui is not a likely course of events. All four players are on the down side of their careers and coming off major injuries. I would say it would be a better than even bet to say that they will improve on 2008, but I wouldn't expect any of them to be the dominant players they were. There are fans on both sides who expect their players to be superstars again. They may be..but I wouldn't count on it.

At least he can keep Schilling company.

You know what's funny? That your front office thought they could get Hanley Ramirez for Buchholz and Ellsbury. If I was the Marlins, there isn't a single person on the Red Sox I would trade Hanley for. Include Pedroia, Youkilis, Papelbon, Beckett...not a single one. Funny. Trust me, if Hanley was on the market, expect every team, including the Mets and Yankees and Dodgers to get involved. I agree with Kilo on nearly every point except the Sox being a 3rd place team. I just don't know what the rankings are for the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays. I think the Rays are better than the Red Sox. I think the Yankees are the "wild card" because there are more variables due to the free agents. We just don't know how they will pan out. If CC, AJ, and Tex play to last years numbers, the Yankees win the East. If they fall off, they finish 3rd. Somewhere in the middle, they sneak into the playoffs. The truth is...you guys can't compensate for age. The Rays are a young team that will get BETTER. You can safely project a lot of players to improve. Who exactly on the Sox will improve? Pedroia had a career year. Paps is as good as they come. Youk? Maybe, but he can't get much better. About the only ones who can improve are Ellsbury, Lowrie, Masterson, Beckett and MDC. Three bullpen guys, a starting pitcher and your CF. Your downturns? Ortiz. Lowell. Pedroia. Drew. Wakefield. Bay [as from the production of Manny]. Your catching situation. You're an older team. As it stands, your team is worse today than when the season ended. Older players tend to regress. Younger players tend to improve, to a point. Exactly who do you have to be excited about? The Rays have a full season of Longoria...a resurgent Upton...a ROY candidate in Price...and their whole team is under 30. Same thing with us. It's why I'm not crazy about trading Nady. I'm not crazy about Nady, but with a cranky Damon, and a rusty Matsui, the best way to keep them fresh over the season is to rotate Damon, Matsui, Nady, Cabrera/Gardner, and Swisher in the OF and DH, and using Posada and Swisher to give Tex a break. Let Girardi have a bench. Kilo...don't bother. The objectivity on this board is gone. You can count the objective people on one hand here.

That really was not called for Jacko...and I'm an American-Arab.

Penny is a low risk, high reward move. There is no downside to this move, but also the risk of no upside either. Either way, your team is a little better today than it was yesterday. Congrats.

They have. Why not? It is THEIR business. THEY have the money. THEY choose to spend it, however THEY wish to do so. Do THEY pay a luxury tax and help subsidise other teams? Yes. Do THEY have a right to spend their money the way THEY see fit? Yes. For every contract over 5 years you show me that was a good deal in the final year, I'll show you five bad ones. It's the nature of the beast. I am saddened that you don't see this. You do whine more than any woman I've ever dated. Seriously...and I've dated some queen whiners. I don't. Any fan of any team that can justify public funds for a private entity is uneducated on the matter. This goes for the Yankees, AIG, Lehman Brothers, the auto industry...however, if I was the CEO of those companies, or the owner of the Yankees, would I go to the government for a handout? You bet I would. I've said this time and time again...blame the POLITICIANS. The fact that they get this break is part of the collective bargaining agreement. New stadiums benefit the owners, so they have made it more appealing and fiscally feasible for the owners. Do I justify what they have done? No. However, it is their choice to run their business as they see fit. You whine about this endlessly, but I really think you don't understand it or it is a badly disguised case of sour grapes.

I have no issue with money Crunchy. I never have. The thing is this...as a GM, from my perspective, the three things you need to do is to make trades, draft, and sign free agents. Now...he's done fine with trades for the most part. Some hits, some misses, but overall, decent. His free agent signings have been poor before this off-season. His drafting has been probably one of the worst in baseball. Considering he has the biggest payroll to play with, I decrease his effect on free agents. So...let's see. I give him all the credit for signing the best three players in the off-season, but he needs to go forward. Seeing how the two best FA OFs next year will be Holliday and Bay, I'm hoping that his pick, Austin Jackson makes the squad. He bought himself some time. About three years.

You are correct...to a point. He basically did everything I wanted him to do, the only difference is Tex over Manny, and although I like Tex more than Manny, even I didn't think they'd spend that much. Now...do you defend what he did last year? Jacko, you tell us you're a smart guy, so why do you blindly follow this guy? What he did this off-season was easy. Signing a free agent when you have the biggest checkbook isn't all that difficult. The players he took were no-brainers. Now...does this eliminate my scorn for him? Temporarily. My thing with Cashman is that I did not think he was good enough. Looking forward to next year, the free agent crop is nowhere near as good, and also, he's got more money coming off the books. He's got three years to come up with a replacement for Sabathia, just one more season to replace Pettitte. He's got three years in my book. He's had the last two. That's enough to develop one front-line starter or starting position player. My thing with Cashman is that I simply did not feel that he was the right man for the job. If, after 2011 the farm system still hasn't produced at least ONE starting player/pitcher, then he should be released. So Jacko...explain to me a point. You favored not trading away prospects, but by signing type A free agents, they lose picks. Aren't those guys prospects as well? I readily admit that he has had an incredibly productive off-season, and he's ok in my book, for the time being. My question for you is...why do you blindly support him?

I am not defending what the Yankees are doing as much as I'm saying this is what they are SUPPOSED to do. Make money. You guys are blaming a business for making themselves profitable, which shows a level of stupidity unheard of here since JHB was an active poster. Now..that being said...the blame falls on the government that allows it. You don't blame a dog for pissing on the floor, you blame the owner.

I fail to see the issue though. Isn't this what a business is supposed to do? Make money?

Never mind.

I understand your point. The thing is this...I really don't know what happens with Boras. So I follow the money, and that seems to work best. Also, I am trying to look at it from Boras's viewpoint, the teams' viewpoints, and the player. For Tex...Angels, Yankees, Boston, in no order. For Boras: Boston, then Nationals/Orioles For the teams: Angels, Boston/Yankees I think what Henry did that I disagreed with, if I was the owner, was make that comment. The longer this drags out, the less I like the chances of him going to Boston, only because it gives the Yankees more of a chance to get involved. Trying to think as if I was a Red Sox FO...with Youkilis, Pedroia, and Tex, you'd have a solid core of good hitters to transition you from the current regime of hitters. Barring injury, you've got a solid core for 5-6 years. As the Angels, how can you expect to compete if you lose K-Rod, Garland, Anderson, and Teixeira in one off-season? Probably still win the AL West, but that's about it. You're pretty much the sacrificial lamb of the post-season. For the Yankees, Tex is a perfect bridge the gap player. He's an elite hitter, and probably the best 1B since Mattingly. He transitions the team as the young players come up through the system, and the older ones are phased out. It seems foolish to go this far and be lacking punch in the lineup when the calendar turns to October. So...there are different viewpoints, different agendas...I just think the Red Sox would have been better served giving him an ultimatum, and then backing off. Leaving the door open plays into Boras's hand, and he's the one who initiated contact with the Yankees. I gotta like what the Angels "say" they've done. Moved on. That leaves Tex with one option if he wants to win...the Red Sox. The longer they wait, the better the chances he ends up in the Bronx. Are the Angels really out? I doubt it. That's why I take all this stuff with a grain of salt, and try as best as I can to put myself in the respective shoes of the person in question. This is an objective view, not based on fandom, but rather logic.

I think the money is off...and like I quoted [it was Tim Dierkes's quote anyways] that this paper has scooped some stories in the past, but also missed. Take it with a grain of salt.

I feel like Jacko...jumping the gun a bit, but at least I'm putting it out there that the source is not the most credible one. The money seems wrong, but if it's true, it's all but guaranteed the Yankees a playoff spot next year.

Kilo..do you worry about your own finances this much? No...I see nothing wrong with a company getting a handout from the government. That is what they are supposed to do. I BLAME the GOVERNMENT. Not the team. Why should I? Let me ask you a question. If you owned the team...wouldn't you do the SAME EXACT THING? Look at the Sox. Increase seating capacity by putting seats above the monster. NESN is basically a Red Sox station. Marketing the Red Sox as Red Sox Nation. Most expensive seats in baseball. Don't be foolish and naive and make this into a Sox/Yankee argument. This is a BUSINESS. The Yankees got a sweetheart deal from the city. Why shouldn't they take it? Even ask for more if they can get it.... Wait...this just in...an exerpt from a secret conversation between George Steinbrenner and Mayor Bloomberg: "Well, Mayor Bloomberg, thanks for the extra tax-exempt bonds that total an extra 500 million. However, I think we'll pass because it wouldn't be fair to the taxpayers of the city. In fact, we're lowering out concession prices to normal supermarket levels, and we've decided against moving our fans out of the season tickets they've had for decades by pricing them out of their affordability range." Wait..there's more.... "In fact, we're going to play nice with everyone. We're not going to go after high-priced talent. We have so much money coming off of our payroll, rather than invest it back in the team, we'll pocket it. Remember in the mid-80s and early 90s when we averaged about 26,000 in attendence? We'll head back there again, becoming a mediocre team that struggles to draw 1.8 million. Why give the city of New York a winning team? We should let Tampa Bay, and Baltimore and Toronto a chance. Even those jolly guys up in Boston. We make so much money from our stadium, or network, our marketability...but we should curtail our own spending so the Twins and Royals of the world have a better chance. Why? You see, I read this post on a board from a guy named TheKilo who kept complaining about all the money we spent, and I thought...You know? He's right! Why should we, the richest team in sports, use our resources to our advantage? We'd be idiots to do so! We should curtail our spending, finance our own ballpark, and not sign any good free agents...because he thinks so! Who cares about maintaining a good team that gets good ratings, or drawing 4 million fans a year, or any of that jazz? By God, even though we're not doing ANYTHING against the collective bargaining agreement, we should still run a poor business model, like the CEOs of major companies, who make millions of dollars in golden parachutes while their companies go under. Why give New York a winner when we can just pocket all the money? Why can't we be like John Moores, the Padres owner, who's tearing his team apart because of a nasty divorce? I mean come on...have you read his posts? Check them out. We feel God-awful about reinvesting the profits of our team and putting it back in the product. Please tell him and all the fans like him, that we are very, very sorry, and we'll never do it again." Now...do you see how foolish you sound? Once and foreall, CASE CLOSED.

As they should. I would, if I owned the team. If you say you wouldn't...well, that explains why you'll never run your own business, let alone own a team. This is what a BUSINESS is SUPPOSED to do. Don't blame the Yankees. Blame Bloomberg/Guiliani, and the politicians of New York City.

Ok...what team will sign a good offensive player who will obviously be in decline? Look at Ibanez. Similar numbers: 3 years, 31.5 million and a Type A free agent that will cost them picks. Why do you think Abreu will get nearly 50% more than Ibanez will?