I’m not going to panic, but it would be nice if the Yankees didn’t sign every free agent on the market — especially Mark Teixeira, the one guy the Red Sox really wanted.
What this comes down to is Teixeira versus Mike Lowell. Teixeira will be more productive than Lowell even if Lowell is completely healthy. More important, Teixeira is just entering what should be his prime years, whereas Lowell’s best seasons are probably behind him.
One good thing to come out of this is that Kevin Youkilis stays at first base. Youk is a terrific first baseman, and he plays with such maniacal intensity that, if he moved to third permanently, he might burn himself out.
Another good thing? Everybody hates the Yankees again.
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dan bosley
While this stinks, I am not convinced the Yankees are that much better. They have signed two pitchers that have proven to be fragile in the past. Burnett can’t pitch an entire season without injury, and Sabathia may prove to be a head case in New York. Texiera has the same tools as A-Rod,and he has another similarity; neither has won the big one. Let’s also not forget that they are replacing Mussina/Petitt and Giambi/Abreu. While none of them had a stellar season last year, they were responsible for a good share of the Yankees wins last year. Are the new trio worth $300-400m more for the incremental difference? I don’t know. one thing I do know is that between these three plus Jeter and A-Rod, the Yankees have a ton of dough committed. They have put everything on the line with their current stable of players. They have little left to reload if this doesn’t work out.
cmiller0424
Sabathia, fragile? He’s thrown 500 innings the last two seasons. He’s bad in October, but he hasn’t had health issues. For your Teixeira is like A Rod argument, Teixeira has only been to the playoffs once, so to see he’s a chronic failure in October isn’t true.
dan bosley
Sabathia has been unable to win in the post season. That is what I meant. He may be a head case in New York. He may find New York tough to handle. As for Texiera, Let’s see him win first. The Yankees keep making the same mistake of going after the highest price talent around. I would rather have players that prove they can handle stress and can win.That is my story and I am sticking to it. I am not letting this ruin my Christmas.
Mike from Norwell
I’m still wondering exactly how the Yankees are getting buyers for those home plate seats myself (hope they asked for cashiers checks on those $800,000 seats behind home plate before all of this fell apart). Between WS meltdown and now Madoff, trying to figure out who exactly wants to be seen front and center at every game on TV in a $2,500 face seat… so 2006.
mike_b1
Sample size, Dan. Sabathia has pitched a total of 14.2 innings in postseason play. Take 15 innings of any pitcher’s career — be it Cy Young, Sandy Koufax or Pablo Torrealba — and the results could be, well, anything.Ted Williams hit .200 in the only World Series he ever played. Does that mean he couldn’t hack it?Barry Bonds hit just under .200 with one homer over his first 97 at bats in the postseason. He then hit .333 with 8 homers over the next 54 at bats. Does that mean he suddenly learned how to hit? No, it means he regressed to his mean, which is pretty damn good.
Prospecticus
It’s amazing to me that the payroll restrained –ie. 90% of MLB–don’t seem to care. The NFL is an inferior game, but a superior sport. You win on player abilities, coaching, drafting, cap management and some luck with inj’s. Most of MLB’s races will be over in July. Interest will wain. This nonsense isn’t sustainable. And the funny thing is you won’t hear a hint of embarrassment from NY even though they start the season’s marathon at the 10 mile mark with their $$$ advantage.
dan bosley
i am trying to make lemons out of lemonade here. Please don’t disturb my delusion with facts. Ok, let’s talk about this. He actually has 14.2 innings pitched in league division championship starts, but if you take all playoff games including early rounds,he has pitched 25 innings post season. He has started 5 games. The reason he has so few innings is that he is 1-3 with a 7.92 era. He doesn’t stick around long in these games. And he isn’t getting better. Sabathia has a lot going for him. He is 28 years old and has three all star appearances and one Cy Young already. However, his 1400 strikeouts and 3.66 season ERA don’t translate into a playoff pitcher. At least not until now. I don’t know if it is his head or his weight is tiring him out by season end, but up to now he has not pitched well in post season.
krembo
Lars Anderson, we turn our lonely eyes to you.
O-FISH-L
After harshly critical Sarah Palin posts all day everyday in Oct-Nov. on this site, President Elect Obama gets hauled in by Law Enforcement today (Matt Drudge is reporting it in red ink) and Dan Kennedy is talking about the Red Sox, five months before opening day. Red Sox or red herring? And people wonder why 90% of poll respondents believe the media is biased in favor of liberals.
Dan Kennedy
Fish: (1) You didn’t even come close to reporting accurately what Drudge has put up in red type; and (2) did you follow the link?You should take Newt Gingrich’s advice and recognize this as the pathetic non-story that it is.As for Palin, she is far worse than any of us managed to get across. She got off very easy.
mike_b1
Prospecticus: Similar words have been written since free agency was first granted in the 1970s. We’re still waiting for that to happen.Fish: I thought you were ecstatic over Obama. Don’t tell me all the jock-talk is making you, um, itch.
Doug Haslam
Dan, you make the best point at the end– everybody hates the Yankees again- and to be honest, nobody is better or worse- as a team- for this deal
io saturnalia!
Hank (Francis from “Peewee’s Big Adventure”) Steinbrenner sure has been spending lots of his daddy’s dough for third place.
O-FISH-L
Mikeb_1, I AM ecstatic about Obama, especially given the line-up of successors that might follow if he is jailed in this case.Dan, just so it’s clear, this is cut and pasted verbatim from the Drudge Report, sans the red ink: “President-Elect Interviewed by Prosecutors”. I thought “Spin City” was canceled some years back, no? Can we at least get a Heather Locklear visual if you’re going to keep this up?
Dan Kennedy
Fish: I know what Drudge put up. It does not remotely equal your headline: “President Elect Obama gets hauled in by Law Enforcement today.”Fitzgerald absolved Obama at his news conference, and the Smoking Gun story Drudge linked to doesn’t contradict that.
mike_b1
Mikeb_1, I AM ecstatic about Obama, especially given the line-up of successors that might follow if he is jailed in this case.And Boston’s public schools fail us once again.
Vox
I never stopped hating the Yankees.Merry Christmas!
Mike F
Signing Teixeira isn’t really going to help the Yankees. Sure he hits for power, gets on base at an over .400 clip, drives in runs, and plays gold glove defense, but there’s no guarantee that he doesn’t get abducted by aliens or eaten by a time-traveling dinosaur over the next eight years.To your point about Lowell Dan, I think the comparison is really between the value of Tex at his price and whoever ends up being the future Sox first or third baseman (I’d still prefer Youk at 3B, where his value is increased – and where I think he could also be a gold glove caliber fielder.) If the suddenly New England-famous Lars Anderson ends up being a top notch player within a couple of years (which isn’t an outlandish thought when you consider how amazingly well almost all of their call-ups have done) then missing out on Tex (or is it Teix?) could turn out to be a boon for the Sox, given the vast difference in money. But for this year at least, it’s a huge loss (even if healthy, Lowell doesn’t come close to comparing, given that he’s also overpaid), especially since the Sox could easily afford Teixeira’s price on a year-to-year basis.Meanwhile, I’ve become enamored with the thought of Adam Dunn, who doesn’t seem to be drawing that much interest around the league (poor avg. but a good obp.), and who would give them an all-star hitter that they could plug in when any of their health questions miss time (i.e. Ortiz, Lowell, Drew), not to mention giving the Sox a bird in the hand with the future of Lowell, Ortiz, Bay, and even Youk up in the air. This is all ridiculous speculation/dreaming on my part though, I haven’t heard a word that he’s on the Sox’ radar.
Dan Kennedy
Ah, yes, J.D. Drew. Forgot all about him. Easy to do! It’s tough when one of your best hitters has a ruptured disc in his back. I’m not a Drew-whacker. I do think he plays in a lot more pain than people realize. (When he plays.)
Rick in Duxbury
Christmas has come early. Barnicle actually made sense this morning in his take on the signing in NY. And “every time a politician blogs, an angel gets his wings”. (And the pol doesn’t cost me money while so distracted!)
Mike from Norwell
You know, for all of the acumen that Boras has, has anyone actually figured out that the RS $168m and the NYY $180m are pretty much the same dollar figure? I don’t care where these players live in the offseason, they’re taxed where they play. 5.3% v. about 12% between NY state and NYC taxes leave you about in the same place. Unless the pro athlete makeup includes bragging rights on taxes, NY has to pay a premium because you’re going to get alot less at the end of the day (never mind obvious cost of living differentials).Of course, that doesn’t make anyone feel any better; think he just didn’t want to come to Boston. Too bad, because that pretty much shuts out Manny from signing with the Yankees. Can you even fathom what the fan reaction would be for his first game back at Fenway?
mike_b1
One, Boras makes his money off commissions, which we can assume are based on the gross. So Boras has an economic incentive to shoot for the highest salary, damn the net to the player.Two, the potential for ad and endorsement dollars is much higher in NY.Three, Tex makes his home in Texas, which has no state income tax. Several years ago, states began sending tax bills to visiting players; I would again assume that Tex comes out ahead by maintaining that the 81 road games coupled with spring training and the offseason keeps the number of days he spends in NY under 180.