Red Sox Update

Ok, so last night I told myself that I wasn't going to write about what has transpired in the past 24 hours. But I just have to get this off my chest.

Yes, the Yankees (once again) swooped in and signed another free agent coveted by the Red Sox. Mark Tiexeira has agreed to an 8 year, $180 million deal with the Yankees. While the contract is only $10million more than the Sox, the Yankees reportedly included a full no-trade clause in the contract, which the Sox have historically refused to do.

My initial response of "Those bastards" has since worn off. Frankly, I'm glad the Sox didn't make this deal. The Sox still have Kevin Youkilis at first and Mike Lowell coming back from his hip injury. If they had added Teixeira, one of the two of them would be sent elsewhere. Both guys have proven that they are more than capable players and are able to get the job done when needed. Since Theo Epstein became general manager of the Red Sox, he has delivered on his promise of revamping the Sox farm system to be a "machine". Players like YOOOUUUKKKK, Jon Lester, Justin Masterson, Clay Buchholz, and MVP Dustin Pedroia are what makes this team run. The highest paid free agent signed by Theo to date, JD Drew at $70 million, is also a reasonable investment. Sure, it seems as though Drew misses a ton of games due to injury, but he can flat out hit the ball. But even looking at the Tampa Bay Rays. The AL contingent to the World Series this year had a team payroll of about $40million. Big money does not buy wins.

So far this offseason, the Yankees have given out more than $420million in contracts. Between Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and AJ Burnett, the Yankees look to have the team to beat in the AL East. However, haven't we seen this from them before? Johnny Damon, Bobby Abreau, Roger Clemens, A-Rod, Jason Giambi, and Randy Johnson. The Yankees have always shown a tendency to go out and spend huge money on big-named free agents. The point to this rant is, where has it gotten them? No where. Between Teixeira, Sabathia, Burnett, A-rod, Posada, and Jeter, the Yankees have almost $1billion in contracts. They even gave out a $5million 1-year deal to pitching bust Chien-Ming Wang. In today's current economic climate, that is just foolish. People are losing their jobs and their homes but someone is getting paid obscene amounts of money to play baseball. We all need to get our priorities straight. There is a great article on the web about the Yankees doing a disservice to the sports industry. The Yankees keep dishing out these huge contracts and yet each year their results get progressively worse, including mussing the playoffs for the first time in 13 years in 2008. Big-money names don't guarantee success on the field.

Sure the Yankees got Teixiera, the one player that the Red Sox looked to acquire this offseason. However, they overpaid for someone who, although he is a great player, finished 23rd in the MVP voting for 2008 and has only made All-Star game in his 6 year career. The Sox were able to sign the league MVP for $7+ million per year. You have to give credit to Dustin for taking something of a hometown discount and leaving some money on the table. Teixeira on the other hand, was courted by the team who has won two of the past 5 world Series, yet turned them down to sign with a team that didn't make the playoffs last year. CC Sabathia, although brilliant during the past couple of regular seasons, has not been able to do the job in the playoffs. AJ Burnett has only had two good seasons in his career, both of them during contract years. The rest of the time he is injured. So the Yankees went out and spent a lot of money this winter. With the new stadium opening they need to put people in the seats. Hopefully, time will show the Yankees that they can't buy a championship.