Yanksfan1523

Obviously, I have agreed with that in the A-Rod thread. A-Rod is tremendous, but he opted out and now wants 30-35 million per. I don't think he should get that much. plus that means you are paying him 40 in the last years, that is crushing! Funny, I was talking about Kaz Matsui here, and A-rod keeps coming up. That is why I stopped responding in the A-rod thread. I GET IT --WE DISAGREE. I hope A-Rod signs with the Cubs!! Then with the payroll you can be closer to the Yanks money and still never win!

LOL. I never screamed the 98 Yanks had a better offense. I said that team was a better TEAM then the current crop of pinstripes. Pitching, defense, desire to win, heart and soul! Nothing about being better offensively. I am also not anti-Alex. Let him get that money elsewhere. I am willing to suffer a bad season or two after losing him. He is a great player, I just don't like him on my team. And contrary to your belief, I know the Yankees have more problem than A-Rod. I have said as much in other threads! There are many flaws and I see them. Pavano, Farnsworth, Sheff over Vlad, they Yankees have made MANY mistakes and I don't put it on one guy. Yet you can't seem to wait to be rid of the best player in baseball... Sorry I don't share your love of A-Rod. Guess I will go bury my head in the sand. How could I have been so blind to the fact that the yankees never won before A-Rod! Yes The Yankees need A-Rod or we will NEVER win again!!

In other words you say they're better because they won, but because they desired to win. If the 06/7 Yankees won a WS you'd claim they won because they desired it more? THe 1998 Yankees didnt desire it more than the 2007 Yankees. The 1998 Yankees didnt desire it more than the 2003 Tigers. Ok, You are right,. I am an Idiot. Thank you. Can we move on?

LOL. I never screamed the 98 Yanks had a better offense. I said that team was a better TEAM then the current crop of pinstripes. Pitching, defense, desire to win, heart and soul! Nothing about being better offensively. I am also not anti-Alex. Let him get that money elsewhere. I am willing to suffer a bad season or two after losing him. He is a great player, I just don't like him on my team. And contrary to your belief, I know the Yankees have more problem than A-Rod. I have said as much in other threads! There are many flaws and I see them. Pavano, Farnsworth, Sheff over Vlad, they Yankees have made MANY mistakes and I don't put it on one guy.

LOL, that's Ok. I am a big boy I can take it. It just seems I have hit some nerve with you. Didn't mean to. And I thought it was just my A-Rod stance. Anyway the Cubs would be making a bigger mistake than usual signing Kaz. Plus as much as Hall would help, Mil wouldn't make that trade in division.

Nope. YanksFan is a friend of a member of the site I trust in real life. He's legit. Thanks for the confidence. I don't what I did to that guy, but he seems to want to fight me. LOL

Out of curiosity, why would you say that?

Yes and the Mets moved him to second in order to play Matsui at short. and it failed miserably. They couldn't wait to get him to second, then he failed under the pressure. The best thing that happend to Kaz was going to Colorado. If he is smart, he stays there. As for the Cubs, they have a shortstop-- CEDENO. Just let him play and his bat will come around. Please let the man play. I stocked up on RCs!! LMAO

Kaz never could play short. Yes he could. He wasn't great there but he was more than adequate. He's better than Jeter there, not that that's saying much. OK. If he could play, why did the Mets move him to second and put Reyes BACK at short. I appriciate the Jeter shot, but I am not going there.

Kaz never could play short.

Santana's agent will say because of Zito, Santana should get this. BUt it takes the GMs to agree.and most of the times they will. Someone will alwyas give out a bigger deal!! The agents aren't the Biggest problem, the GMs are a big part of the problem.

Nothing against your post, but I really don't understand the "given a good look in the spring" comments that people occasionally make. Spring training is about the worst time to do talent evaluation. Players should not lose or win jobs based soley on ST performance. Half the regular major leaguers don't go on the road, then you have split squads, pitchers who are "just trying to get in a little work", and most of the competition will be in the minor leagues. Unfortunately we don't really know what Cedeno, Pie, or Soto will do next year becuase they haven't been given regular playing time*, but based on their performances in the past in AAA they should be given a shot to start, they've earned it. Anyway, the Cubs need to evaluate the talent they have over the winter and deicede what they are going to do via trades, free agents and whatnot and use that as a basis for making decision rather than six weeks of exhibition baseball. *Cedeno has been given more than the others but he was 23 and supposedly somewhat immature (late nights). He's have another decent season in the Winter league. When I say that about spring, I mean give regular at bats and then give April and possibly May to get regular at bats, then look at them in June and see if they are thriving. You can't give a guy a two week trial.

well no one thought A-Rod would get more than the 10/150 or so he was offered by the Mets when Hicks threw the 10/250 think out there out of left field Agreed. You never know.

i'm pretty sure A-Rod ends up with the Angels. It's a good team, and the media scrutiny is like 5% of NYC Plus a billionare Latino owner in a heavy latin market. Angels are the best fit for A-rod. But since when has Boras ever put his client in the best place for them? Kevin Millwood, Jeff weaver, and now ever Kenny Rogers all left places they were comfortable for the money. A-Rod does not care about where he plays, he is in it for the contract status. Plus Moreno has said it does not make good business sense to put 20-25% of the payroll into one player. While I think A-Rod would bring the Angels twice what they pay him in revenue, will they go 10 years on a contract? How can you say A-Rod doesn't care where he plays? If this were all about money, he'd have signed a huge contract already with the richest team in baseball, who also enjoyed a $72 million subsidy for his services. Boras knows this, and since all Boras wants is money for A-Rod, it seems that A-Rod overruled Boras. Now, if you made the argument that A-Rod only cared about staying away from New York, I'd buy that. The Yankees asked to meet with him to offer a reported 5yr 150 million extention. It wasn't enough according to Boras. If he cared where he played, why did he go to Texas in the first palce? He loves Lou Piniella, he should have stayed in Seattle with Lou and that team.

Point noted. LOL, I never said that. Although I have thought it.

i'm pretty sure A-Rod ends up with the Angels. It's a good team, and the media scrutiny is like 5% of NYC Plus a billionare Latino owner in a heavy latin market. Angels are the best fit for A-rod. But since when has Boras ever put his client in the best place for them? Kevin Millwood, Jeff weaver, and now ever Kenny Rogers all left places they were comfortable for the money. A-Rod does not care about where he plays, he is in it for the contract status. Plus Moreno has said it does not make good business sense to put 20-25% of the payroll into one player. While I think A-Rod would bring the Angels twice what they pay him in revenue, will they go 10 years on a contract?

Most GMs say they do not beleive A-Rod will get to 10/350. I have heard alot about him getting 8/240. Still alot, but 100 million short of Boras' STARTING POINT. I also do not think Boras will get 16 per for Jones. And what happened to Hunter getting 12? I think he is high, except for the mediocre pitchers.

Did anyone read the thread tht follows the article? Cards fans actually took time to say Cubs blow, while their team looks like idiots! Gotta love it.

Soto, Cedeno, and pie should all be given a serious look in the spring. Soto is better than giving Kendall 10 mil. Cedeno should have received time this year as should Pie. Pie can hit, he just needs two weeks to adjust. I saw all play for the Icubs and all looked real. Pie is a beast!

2 1/2 -3 years. Long enough for Gene Michaels and co. to put guys like Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Pettitte in the minors and allow Bernie Williams to mature into a Centerfielder and not trade him. Also trades for O'neill and pitching worked out well.

To a degree. It's a massive advantage to be able to outspend your mistakes. I agree that teams liek the Yanks, Sox, Mets, Dodgers, and Cubs can spend to cover up mistakes, but that does not bring in wins and causes more problems down the line. Hence the Yankees downslide into mediocrity. I agree they will be hard pressed to win 90 next year, but they have to pay for the mistakes of overspending on garbage and build themselves back up. They do have the system now to go out and make some trades to fill some minor holes. No, it does bring in wins. The only reason the Cubs went from 90 losses to 85 wins was money. The only reason the Yankees have stuck around at the elite level for so long is money. If you spend $90-100m, a couple mistakes can really affect you negatively. If you spend $200 million, you can withstand a lot more mistakes. It always cracks me up when Yankees fans try to lump themselves into the same group as LA, the Cubs and others. The Yankees are an entirely different concept than any other team in baseball. The Red Sox are similar, but significantly less well funded to make a difference. The next group doesn't even compare. I disagree. The Yankees built themselves to this point. When Steinbummer bought the team they were trash! He spent money to make money and it took years. Now the yankees rake in money hand over fist and everyone puts them in another level. There are many owners who have more money then Steinbummer, but don't want to spend it to grow their business. Imagine the Cubs value if the Trib spent money (wisely of course) and the cubs won a world series? they would be valued at the same level as the Yankees!! Everyone who wants to have the money arguement always says the Yankees have more to spend. So the Yankees have more money than the Trib? Does he have more money than Wally worlds son in KC? No, Steinbummer jsut chooses to spend his money(unwisely) and find ways to make money. And let's not lose sight of the fact that the Yankees Dynasty was built when Steinbummer was suspended from baseball and guys who know the game were able to put together a minor league system that developed the core of a team that steinbummer then filled in with his checkbook. Yes he is overspending and yes he can afford to, but only because he built a business over the last 30 years that can sustain the cost. What other business do you buy and not invest any money in and you grow?? why do people think that just because you buy a team you don't have to put any money into building that team?

Not really. Hughes, Chamberlin, Tabata and Kennedy. What else is there? Eric Duncan, Humberto Sanchez and plenty of B level talent. Notice I said MINOR holes. We have plenty of Theriot, Fontenot types in the farm. And you never know what those players may give you for a season or two.

Don't kid yourself. It will always matter. As great as Tampa's young talent may be, NY and BOS will always be able to threaten the 95-100 win range with just a handful of moves. Money matters. It's the one advantage the Cubs have over the 5 NLC teams, and the one reason they might stay at or near the top of the division. New York's payroll is going to be massive in 2008, and unless they pull a rabbit out of the hat, they aren't going to win 90. Yes, from time to time a big money time will take a step back because they've overpaid for so long. However, the point is they will always be able to threaten the 95-100 win range with a couple moves. There's no need for magic. Just agree to overpay financially, and there will always be talent available for the taking. And sometimes that works out to your advantage. Like with the SAWKS taking Lowell and his contract to get Beckett. Now Lowell is a beast. That worked out well for them.

To a degree. It's a massive advantage to be able to outspend your mistakes. I agree that teams liek the Yanks, Sox, Mets, Dodgers, and Cubs can spend to cover up mistakes, but that does not bring in wins and causes more problems down the line. Hence the Yankees downslide into mediocrity. I agree they will be hard pressed to win 90 next year, but they have to pay for the mistakes of overspending on garbage and build themselves back up. They do have the system now to go out and make some trades to fill some minor holes.

I think everyone needs to realize that it is not how much you spend, It is how you spend it! Spending money does not equal wins.