Cheers, Mike!
Usually, when I prepare for a post like this I read every article or blog that covers it so I either have information to use or to ensure I don’t copy whatever someone else has written.
This time, I’m flying solo. The idea of reading any of the whining I know is coming in regard to Mark Teixeira makes my eye twitch.
I’m not sorry the Sox didn’t get him. I’m truly not. But reading people bash the front office because the Yankees decided to throw a ridiculous contract at yet ANOTHER free agent isn’t how I want to spend my evening.
Wait, I lied. I read Red’s take on it. My favorite subject line of the day. And, actually, Denton’s view (also over at Surviving Grady) is one I share:
Wherever he lands, it will be his 4th team in just his 7th big-league season, not to mention the non-signing with the Red Sox back in the 1998 draft. I don’t know how he’s done it, but Teixeira has avoided any and all criticism for doing exactly what guys like A-Rod, Pedro and Clemens have done: pimping themselves out to the highest bidder.
So you have the understanding that I’m not exactly broken up about the Yankees signing Teixeira. I don’t see this as a failure by Theo/the Front Office. I don’t think they were outsmarted or outmaneuvered. Cashman is determined to buy up all the free agents this off-season and that’s what he’s doing. Why this surprises anyone is beyond me.
I don’t live in a cave, I know Teixeira is good. But he’s not a good as the contract he got and no one will convince me that he is. With this acquisition, the Yankees will employ the four highest paid players in Major League Baseball. They just came off a season where they finished behind the Red Sox and the Rays – so why are people acting like Cashman’s spending spree is an oddity?
I received an email this afternoon from a Yankee fan who used to comment on my blog more regularly (read: when they weren’t in third place). He was gloating about Teixeira and became defensive when I wouldn’t take the bait and join him in a flame war. “Don’t pretend that you aren’t heartbroken that Cashman shoved it up Epstein’s ass” is a direct quote from one of his messages to me. I didn’t even bother to respond because that idea is just too funny to me. All Cashman did was show MLB that the idea of building his team around young and homegrown talent is out the window. The decision has been made that the only way to win it all is to buy it. Now, I don’t have much of a problem with that, bring the players in who you believe will make your team successful…except for one small issue: the Yankees have been “buying” for years and all they have to show for it these past 8 seasons is a bunch of AL East Champion banners. Color me unimpressed.
I’m proud that our front office has created limits for themselves. They set a number and stuck to it (and held to their resolve to not give out no-trade clauses) and Boras couldn’t force their hand. The Yankees are definitely a better team for having picked up Teixeira, but the Red Sox aren’t a worse team for not getting him. That’s good enough for me.
Now let’s work on the catcher situation, eh Theo?
Comments 14
Are you happy that Lowell will stay now? Is that the real reason this situation doesn’t phase you?
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 12:39 am ¶What one NY newspaper has to say:
http://www.newsday.com/sports/ny-spwally1224,0,989675.column
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 12:40 am ¶Actually, it has nothing do with Mike Lowell. I’m not unhappy that this, most likely, means he’ll stay with the team, but I was certainly prepared for him to go.
I’m happy my team has limits and sticks to them.
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 8:07 am ¶“Red Sox aren’t a worse team for not getting him.”
Well, we won’t know that until the season starts-IMO Lowell is going to have to perform more like 2007 than 2008 for that statement to be true, and I’m not sure he’s got it in him. Teixeira probably *would* have made the Sox a better team-just like he made the Angels better-but it’s water under the bridge now.
Jake Peavy is still hanging out there, and Saltalamacchia can be had for a price. Two good directions to be looking in.
In any event, it makes the upcoming season a lot more interesting, because the fact is, sports are a lot more fun wqhen your arch rival doesn’t suck like they did last year.
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 8:58 am ¶With an injured Lowell (and, hell, injured Beckett and Papi) the Sox took it to game 7 of the ALCS. This is not a team that was screaming to be greatly improved. I stand by my statement that I don’t think it makes them worse for not picking up Teixeira. If those three show up healthy in ST – and the team has a damn catcher – I’m pretty confident in the team being put out there.
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 9:56 am ¶I’ll take Lowell over Tex any day. While I’m disappointed that the Sox missed out on a great player, I would much rather have a guy on the team who wants to be there than one who is just following the money. I know i am i bit unrealistic but i feel that baseball, like music should be filled with emotion. Thats why i’m a Sox fan and not a Yankees fan.
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 10:38 am ¶Well, they made it to game 7 in part because there was no competitive Yankees team to worry about during the season.
I actually think he would have improved the Red Sox *much* more than he does the Yankees, frankly. Teixeira’s numbers aren’t all that much different than Giambi’s were last year, and while we’re on the subject, Sabathia will essentially replace Moose in the rotation. Burnett is the wild card, but he could end up just replacing Carl Pavano on the payroll. Still not a team with enough horsepower to win the race, I don’t believe.
I agree that a catcher needs to be priority, as well as an end of the rotation guy not named Lowe. I like the bullpen and have high hopes that Beckett can get his act together and be the ’07 version again.
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 10:41 am ¶…”I don’t know how he’s done it, but Teixeira has avoided any and all criticism for doing exactly what guys like A-Rod, Pedro and Clemens have done: pimping themselves out to the highest bidder.”…
Forgive me if I take exception to this comment. The truth is that Teixeira was traded, first to Atlanta, then to the Angels.
If the SG guys bothered to follow the path that Teixeira took, he had little to do with being traded, other than not causing any clubhouse trouble, while racking up multiple seasons of 30/100… The last deal he signed was a one year extension with the Braves for 12.5 million, while avoiding arbitration.
The point this morning seems to be one of disdain for the Yankees capacity to pay any amount, while some fans take it out on Teixeira simply for being a good player, and not signing with Boston. And at the root of all this? The devil himself, Scott Boras.
Reading the front page of the newspapers across the country, the unemployment rate has climbed to a 26 year high, with families struggling to make ends meet. While baseball, and specifically the Yankees have the resources to do as they wish (yes, the return on financial investment is there), putting it together on paper, and putting it together on the field are two entirely different things; not one pitch of the new season has been thrown.
When the dust settles, Teixeira got himself one hell of a Christmas gift, while Boras earns a fat commission, and the Yankees fans level of expectation rose a few notches. And the Red Sox? Well, they did not get that extra improvement at the plate that Teixeira would have brought. That, and they saved themselves a small bundle…
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 11:13 am ¶Try of goes past his trades and allbthe way back to his being offended by the signing bonus Fan Duquette offered way back when. Teixeira has been following the money since day one. Nothing wrongcwirh that – more power to him- but he certainly has earned the greedy tag.
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 12:42 pm ¶Cyn, I’ll disagree that he has a greedy tag. All ball players hope to grab the golden ring; it’s part of the reason these guys are out there. The other part has to do with getting to and winning a World Series; unless you’re Barry Bonds.
FWIW, Texieira had no position of greed in getting traded from Texas and Atlanta. He avoided arbitration, and the Braves we responsible for that… and, it was a one year deal.
Aside from passing on signing bonuses (we both know he’s not the first to do that… a certain Sox RF has done it also), how did he take the greed train in the trade scenarios?
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 1:01 pm ¶“Cyn, I’ll disagree that he has a greedy tag.”
Hey, there’s something to be said for knowing what you’re worth and holding out for it. That’s not greedy, it’s just smart business.
Posted 24 Dec 2008 at 2:36 pm ¶There’s a difference between knowing your worth and believing it’s something it isn’t.
Just because he got the money he did, doesn’t mean Teixeira is worth it. It just means someone was stupid enough to give in to his demands.
Posted 25 Dec 2008 at 8:58 am ¶“Just because he got the money he did, doesn’t mean Teixeira is worth it. It just means someone was stupid enough to give in to his demands.”
Eh. I disagree. Worth is what one determines it to be, and how much one is willing to give up to get something. That’s why those with the most disposable resources generally determine the relative “worth” of things. In this case, the Red Sox decided their cash was worth more than Teixeira; the Yankees decided just the opposite, because the fact is, even if he *is* a bust, they won’t really be negatively affected by it, at least in terms of finances. They’re a billion dollar organization. Huge potential upside, little risk. We’ve seen this before with them. They will not stop making money if it turns out Teixeira isn’t a magic bullet.
For the Yankees, it wasn’t a stupid signing, and I don’t think it would have been for the Red Sox, either. Salaries are what they are in MLB whether we agree with them or not, although most people-except Manny, perhaps-don’t perform consistently over the course of an 8-year contract.
FWIW, like I said, I don’t think Teixeira is a magic bullet for the Yankees or the Sox. but that doesn’t mean the Yankees were stupid in signing him for what they did-or that the Red Sox were stupid in passing. Only time will tell.
Posted 26 Dec 2008 at 11:03 am ¶“Usually, when I prepare for a post like this I read every article or blog that covers it so I either have information to use or to ensure I don’t copy whatever someone else has written.”
You read every article to make sure you don’t copy anyone? You could do that better by not reading every article. You’ve kicked logic in the ass.
Posted 27 Dec 2008 at 3:30 pm ¶