It’s official. Money has now become no object in Steinbrennerland.
If AJ Burnett had been a consistent top of the rotation guy, then this would be a reasonable deal. But it’s a matter of when this guy breaks down, not if.
If you hadn’t noticed, this is eerily similar to the Pavano deal, but with two additional seasons attached. Pavano had a great year for the Marlins going 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA, by far his best season ever before coming to NY. He was often injured and only managed to win more than 12 games once in his 9 year career. He only managed to pitch more than 200 innings twice in that span as well.
The good news is that Burnett has been better. But only marginally. He’s taken nine trips to the DL in his 10 seasons. NINE. He’s pitched more than 200 innings in only three seasons, two of which were contract years, which tells you something. He’s also only won more than 12 games once in his career. He had arguably one of his best seasons ever last year, but still managed only an ERA over 4.
But getting to brass tacks, he is a good pitcher (not great) when he’s healthy. However, his health is the x-factor. The Yanks know that they are not going to get full value from this guy. Nor does he have any postseason experience to draw on. And based on his history, he’s not going to get stronger or less injury prone at age 32. They probably think he’ll average between 20-25 starts per season with a 3.75 ERA which is optimistic at best. Fact is, he may not last into years 4 or 5 of the contract anyway.
Because the Yanks have the money, this isn’t much of a gamble. Assuming they sign a Lowe, Pettite, or Sheets, they still have Hughes and Kennedy waiting in the minors to fill in when needed. But they need that depth to further insure Wang and Chamberlain. That gives the Yanks a formidable rotation and makes them a viable contender. If they have enough depth to cover injuries, they’ll be in the mix in Oct.
Up next is the probable trade for Mike Cameron. Once consummated, that brings the Yanks 2009 payroll into the neighborhood of $175M. They’ll add another arm (Lowe/Sheets/Pettite) for let’s say $15M, bringing them up to $190M.
Many baseball executives feel that the Yanks spending is simply irresponsible, especially in light of the current economic conditions. Some writers think that there is nothing wrong with these expenditures because their payroll will be lower than last season. First of all, let’s put things into some perspective…
There is no salary cap in baseball, and the luxury tax is not having the desired affect. Until the rules are changed, the Yankees are allowed to spend whatever they like. If you don’t like it, change the rules. The Yankees are taking full advantage of the economic conditions because they can. They now have $100M more in revenue per season to draw from, due to the new stadium. Smaller market teams have to worry about filling seats while the Yanks are exponentially increasing the gap between the “haves and have nots”. Is it completely unfair? To most of the league, absolutely. But, all the blame goes to MLB for letting it happen.
On the other side of the coin, the Yanks should not be applauded for lowering their payroll. Why would you give credit for having $85M in bad contracts come off the books, but then adding $65M in bad contracts back in? Yup, that’s right, we mismanaged $20M less than last season…
Lastly, what is stopping the Yanks from grabbing Texiera? Nick Swisher is a nice player for $3.6M, but he hit a whopping .219 last season. There have been rumors of Manny in pinstripes, but he’s going to cost over $20M per. I guess you could platoon him with Damon and Matsui in LF / DH. But you’d probably only pay a few million more per season for Texiera. If you’re going to spend $210M with Manny, why not spend $215 with Tex? It’s still less than they spent in 2007, but now with more revenue. You have a place for him at 1B. It’s a no brainer isn’t it?
If AJ Burnett had been a consistent top of the rotation guy, then this would be a reasonable deal. But it’s a matter of when this guy breaks down, not if.
If you hadn’t noticed, this is eerily similar to the Pavano deal, but with two additional seasons attached. Pavano had a great year for the Marlins going 18-8 with a 3.00 ERA, by far his best season ever before coming to NY. He was often injured and only managed to win more than 12 games once in his 9 year career. He only managed to pitch more than 200 innings twice in that span as well.
The good news is that Burnett has been better. But only marginally. He’s taken nine trips to the DL in his 10 seasons. NINE. He’s pitched more than 200 innings in only three seasons, two of which were contract years, which tells you something. He’s also only won more than 12 games once in his career. He had arguably one of his best seasons ever last year, but still managed only an ERA over 4.
But getting to brass tacks, he is a good pitcher (not great) when he’s healthy. However, his health is the x-factor. The Yanks know that they are not going to get full value from this guy. Nor does he have any postseason experience to draw on. And based on his history, he’s not going to get stronger or less injury prone at age 32. They probably think he’ll average between 20-25 starts per season with a 3.75 ERA which is optimistic at best. Fact is, he may not last into years 4 or 5 of the contract anyway.
Because the Yanks have the money, this isn’t much of a gamble. Assuming they sign a Lowe, Pettite, or Sheets, they still have Hughes and Kennedy waiting in the minors to fill in when needed. But they need that depth to further insure Wang and Chamberlain. That gives the Yanks a formidable rotation and makes them a viable contender. If they have enough depth to cover injuries, they’ll be in the mix in Oct.
Up next is the probable trade for Mike Cameron. Once consummated, that brings the Yanks 2009 payroll into the neighborhood of $175M. They’ll add another arm (Lowe/Sheets/Pettite) for let’s say $15M, bringing them up to $190M.
Many baseball executives feel that the Yanks spending is simply irresponsible, especially in light of the current economic conditions. Some writers think that there is nothing wrong with these expenditures because their payroll will be lower than last season. First of all, let’s put things into some perspective…
There is no salary cap in baseball, and the luxury tax is not having the desired affect. Until the rules are changed, the Yankees are allowed to spend whatever they like. If you don’t like it, change the rules. The Yankees are taking full advantage of the economic conditions because they can. They now have $100M more in revenue per season to draw from, due to the new stadium. Smaller market teams have to worry about filling seats while the Yanks are exponentially increasing the gap between the “haves and have nots”. Is it completely unfair? To most of the league, absolutely. But, all the blame goes to MLB for letting it happen.
On the other side of the coin, the Yanks should not be applauded for lowering their payroll. Why would you give credit for having $85M in bad contracts come off the books, but then adding $65M in bad contracts back in? Yup, that’s right, we mismanaged $20M less than last season…
Lastly, what is stopping the Yanks from grabbing Texiera? Nick Swisher is a nice player for $3.6M, but he hit a whopping .219 last season. There have been rumors of Manny in pinstripes, but he’s going to cost over $20M per. I guess you could platoon him with Damon and Matsui in LF / DH. But you’d probably only pay a few million more per season for Texiera. If you’re going to spend $210M with Manny, why not spend $215 with Tex? It’s still less than they spent in 2007, but now with more revenue. You have a place for him at 1B. It’s a no brainer isn’t it?
Let's hope not. Gee, still wonder why no one likes the Yankees?
3 comments:
it's weird, this reminds me of something one professional Boston team did a year and a half ago, they wear green jerseys - rings any bells?
Right, exactly the same thing. With one exception, a salary cap. Must suck to know that the only way your team can be competitive is to vastly outspend anyone else. Did the Steinbrenners adopt Varuca Salt? I want an Umpaloompa now!
in last one of the lastest news update.
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