agreed. Thats why the luxury tax is bullshit. Its just socialism. A handout. A salary FLOOR would do more baseball than a salary cap.
Again, this is why I am in favor of contraction, and anti-salary cap in all sports. It doesn't create any parity, it just creates situations where small market teams blame their "small market" status for the team's total refusal to field a decent product. To sort of echo something Jack said, I don't even care if it's the Red Sox. Money paid to teams under the luxury tax should be required to be spent on players for the team. This is why I said it would be bad for the sport for Teixeira to wind up with a team like the Nationals. It's a waste of talent that could be better used on a number of quality teams. (And not just the Yankees or Red Sox.)
If Teixeira goes to the Nats then it's obvious he gives two shits about winning and would rather collect his money while sitting back and relaxing under no pressure to do anything. If the guy wants to win, he'll sign with the Sox or Yanks. If he wants to win and become a legend, he'll sign with the Yankees.
It doesn't appear the Yankees have ever wanted him. I questioned that the other day too. They must think they know something, it's not the money. Cashman is being really foolish if he actually believes they don't need another bat like he says he does. He thinks that Posada and Matsui are going to have good seasons. Maybe they will but that won't make up for the 200 RBIs they are losing in Giambi and Abreu. It will be a real waste if they do nothing more than sign Pettitte. Swisher isn't the answer to anything.
WTF, now Olney think Teixiera will make the Yankees an offer...lol. I swear all of these writers are on drugs. Every article you read is more ridiculous than the last. "At a time when Mark Teixeira's decision about where he wants to sign is seemingly imminent, the Baltimore Orioles' negotiations for the free-agent first baseman appear dormant. The Yankees, on the other hand, continue to review their options, preparing for the possibility -- however real it is -- that Teixeira might make them an offer that they couldn't refuse." http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3789581
Don you're foolish to bother quoting these guys anymore, I won't even read a word of it, plus I really don't care anymore...Teix will go where he goes. Cashman saying Matsui and Posada will rebound well offensively is like him saying We'll go 3 for 3 on young starting pitching.
Cano gets a $3M pay bump. (He signed a contract last year, remember?) A-Rod gets a $5M pay bump. Wang avoided arbitration and signed for $5M (so add $5M more to the books). Melky is arb eligible. So are Bruney and Nady. Look, if they had $88M come off the books, then Burnett and Sabathia account for $40M between the two of them. Now maybe that's where you heard the number of $45M below payroll, but the Yanks also re-added Marte (for $4M), added Swisher for Betemit (another $4M swing), $8M for Cano and A-Rod, and they'll have arbitration for the guys I mentioned, plus another $5M for Wang. That puts them approximately $25M below... maybe a bit less depending on the arb figures. And they still need to add that fifth starter. If we believe what they're saying that Pettitte is a done deal, then that's another $10M. They don't get Teixeira for less than $15M. Which means they're not going to be able to get him and stay under last year's payroll.
More rumors. Teixiera announcement to come today. "10:20am: According to Thom Loverro of the Washington Times, "there will be an announcement today regarding the future of free agent first baseman Mark Teixeira." Loverro says there are strong indications the Red Sox will be the victor, though it's unclear whether those indications are based on inside information." Not worth posting the link but here it is anyway. http://www.sportsline.com/mcc/blogs/entry/8691437/12472090
I don't think it's the same thing. First of all, I don't think he was planning on going "3 for 3" with the young starters. I think we saw one of the worst possible outcomes from that situation, but I don't think GMs work like that. Everything is based on probability and contingency analysis. Secondly, Matsui and Posada are far safer bets to be improvements over last year's production. Posada's bat is effectively replacing Molina's. Even if Posada puts up slightly below league-average numbers, it's still very likely to be world's better than anything Molina could give us for an entire season. And there's no reason to expect Matsui to not be able to perform at his typical levels. Both knees are healthy now. If he's DHing, he should be fine.
Baseball needs a Salary Base AND a Salary Cap. Say...$75 million - $180 million. That makes it so that those small market scumbag owners have to put a somewhat competitive product on the field, and the big market owners are not buying up all the big players and paying some nonesense "tax" after the season. Now onto the matter at hand. Teix can go fuck himself. Greedy prick can eat a dick. I don't care if he signs with the Red Sox, the Yankees or the god damn Harlem Globetrotters. Fuck him.
Look at this: http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/salaries Save for the Rays, most of the competitive teams have a salary in the $70 million dollar range, starting. The Rays are an anomoly, good drafting and development paid off, but soon they'll have to pay out as well.
further reason to never listen to this ppl... 11:42 AM...According to the Washington Times, "there will be an announcement today regarding the future of" Mark Teixeira and "there are strong indications that the Red Sox will announce that they have landed" him. With the Angels dropping out of the bidding war and the Yankees yet to make a significant offer, Teixeira is seemingly left choosing between the Red Sox or playing close to home with either the Orioles or Nationals. Boston is said to have offered $170-180 million over eight years. 2:12 PM...SI.com's Jon Heyman believes the Yankees "are seriously talking with [Mark] Teixeira's people" and that the free agent "appears to seriously considering signing with New York." Heyman doesn't really offer anything to back it up. He could well be right, but this might also simply be more information put out by Boras in an effort to increase the bids of the actual competitors for Teixeira.
This is really getting funny. I am surprised the Yankees are in at all but then it is Heyman and he has nothing to back it up. I am thinking I might prefer Manny for 2 or 3 years and then going after Pujols who will become a FA after '11. Of course a lot can happen between now and then.
Do any of these guys have ANYTHING to back up their stories? Heyman's always interesting because we know he has that direct pipeline through to Scott Boras. You can choose to believe the story or not, but you can be sure that Boras has an interest and a hand in the story somehow.
I think Pujols is more likely to resign with St.Louis then not. They'll have gobs of money to throw his way, and he seems to genuinly enjoy it there. The whole Teix shit is just getting rediculous. Boras apperently succeeded in getting Cashman to open the wallet and offer mountains of cash. I'm at the point, as a Red Sox fan, where I would rather resign fucking Manny.
