January 23, 2014 at 12:45 pm
Better the Yanks than the Phils. No way in hell do I spend that much for 0 games in MLB.
January 23, 2014 at 12:50 pm
Ray K (1/23/2014)
Very happy that my boys from the Evil Empire signed Tanaka[/url]!Now it begs the question: is he the next Yu Darvish or the next Hideki Irabu?
Let the discussion begin . . .
I have a feeling if he doesn't go 24-0 with a 1.29 ERA this year, or whatever he had in the Japanese League last year, that NY fans will view him as a bust.
January 23, 2014 at 12:59 pm
roryp 96873 (1/23/2014)
if he doesn't go 24-0 with a 1.29 ERA this year, or whatever he had in the Japanese League last year, that NY fans will view him as a bust.
Speaking as a Yankee fan, you'd be surprised.
Personally, I don't expect him to be perfect, nor do I expect him to be an ace -- even Hal Steinbrenner said he expects him to be no more than a No. 2 starter. I think if he performs to the capability of, say, Andy Pettitte (whom we just lost to retirement), Yankee fans will be very happy with him.
I've read that his mindset is that of a veteran -- nothing fazes him, and he knows how to make adjustments. That, in and of itself, is very encouraging for me.
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January 23, 2014 at 1:08 pm
Ya, perhaps you are right. I think I'm just a little bummed the Cubbies didn't get him. I'm not sure how much media pressure and what not he had in Japan, but it will be interesting to see not just how well he pitches, but how he handles all the off the field stuff that comes with being in NY, especially after all this off season hype about him.
January 23, 2014 at 2:15 pm
Chance of Phillies vs Yankees in the World Series = Chances of SQL Server team creating a full-featured Business Intelligence Metadata Integration Tool in this decade.
January 24, 2014 at 6:25 am
The Yankees just won't learn. Stay under the luxury payroll cap, nope. Don't spend tons of cash on older/unreliable/untested players, nope. Recruit for long term success instead of short term gain, nope. Fill the stadium consistently to support the ridiculous spending, nope. Don't do drugs... wait, that's just Arod, that we know of.
Sorry to say it Ray, New York is sailing on another failboat of a year. They spent almost a half billion dollars (that's right, half a billion dollars!) on four players in this one off-season. They gave Tanaka a full no trade clause along with an opt-out clause after 2017. If he's a bust, it doesn't matter. They can't get rid of him and they're stuck paying his salary. If he's great, he's gone in 2017 without a trade and New York gets nothing. Plus they're paying his Japanese team the 20 million buyout, insane!
New York needs to take a page from Boston (the reigning World Champions), spend wisely, develop talent, play with heart instead of your wallet.
(Hey, I got a full year to brag!)
I'm getting pumped for this next season to start! Some items of interest for the coming year.
-I actually look forward to seeing Tanaka pitch. Can he stand up to the hype?
-I want to see what $30mil/yr looks like on the mound (kershaw anyone?!?!)
-Should start a pool to see how many games Ortiz sits out
-Arod saga. I actually feel bad for the Yankees on this one. If he gets suspended, that frees up another twenty-something million dollars to spend!. Wish he would just go away.
-Ellsbury transition
-Of course my local team. Will be fun to see if the Nats can pull it together. They have a solid team just no offense last year.
-Love to watch Yu pitch. Future hall-of-fame players are always a treat.
-Cano in Seattle.
-Fielder in Texas!
-Will Puig grow up?
January 27, 2014 at 9:15 am
The Yankees used to do better, build better farm systems, and grow players, but they've gotten out of the habit and are too afraid of not having big names.
I hate that they re-upped A-Rod, and while CC has done well, I thought that was another in a long line of paying too much for pitchers that are too far along in their careers.
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January 27, 2014 at 10:20 am
The Cardinals and the Red Sox are the only ones that seem to "GET IT" AND HAVE THE RESOURCES/SMARTS available to quickly dig themselves out of an overpayment mistake--and compete/overachieve every year.
Conversely, the Angels and the Phils are great examples of what NOT to do......
Overpay heavily for past performance.
Not turn over your roster enough with young talent.
I can't believe I am saying this, but watch out for the Royals. Mike Arbuckle was the brains behind building the Phillies talent (Rollins, Utley, Hamels, Howard, Ruiz), plucking nice Rule 5s (Victorino), cheap projects (Jayson Werth in 2007), and he is doing a nice job making KC relevant again. After the Phils' 2008 WS victory he was passed up for the GM job in favor of Ruin T'Amaro Jr (he keeps RUINING TOMORROW with the things he does today). Granted, Arbuckle didn't have the people skills to be a GM, but to let him just walk out the door was a major mistake.
January 27, 2014 at 10:33 am
sneumersky (1/27/2014)
The Cardinals and the Red Sox are the only ones that seem to "GET IT"
Disagree.
Daisuke Matsuzaka. Carl Crawford. Adrian Gonzalez. Everyone makes mistakes. Evaluating talent is not an exact science. A ballplayer who could thrive in one environment could absolutely bomb in another. And neither the Cards nor the BoSox have shied away from the big signings.
If there are any teams that "gets it," it would be the Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland A's. They do a great job of making the best out of a limited payroll.
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January 27, 2014 at 10:43 am
There is a fine balance of young talent and veteran talent that can take a club to the playoffs. There is also luck... or unlucky as well... injuries can play a big part in a team
Having a very good group of scouts and being able to sign good young talent is key. Regardless if you bring them up into your Major League roster or not.... they can be trade chips if you need to fill a hole in your roster to get you to the next level.
THe problem becomes when a team becomes successful the team tends to resign these players but their production tends to fall off and without young talent on the team the team sinks... The Phillies are a good example of that... The Yankees to a degree as well.
THe problem of the Have's and the Have Nots is starting to widen again... The huge cable deals for the big markets are starting to put them way ahead of the Have Nots. Teams like Tampa, KC, Twins, Reds, Indians, are never going to even come close to the deals LA, Philly, NY, Boston cable deals will just based on the market size.
January 27, 2014 at 11:03 am
"GET IT" AND HAVE THE RESOURCES/SMARTS...........this was a SQL AND....not an OR to be taken out of context. 🙂
January 28, 2014 at 6:59 am
Yeah, the key is that they recognized these problems (over paid long term contract athletes) and resolved the problem before it gets out of control. Signing Crawford was a huge mistake that took a couple years and the loss of Adrian Gonzales and Josh Beckett to fix. Youklis was/is a good player, but he's super injury prone and couldn't justify a resigning. The Red Sox have made moves each year that I didn't like but ended up benefiting the team as a whole.
And I wouldn't consider Adrian Gonzalez a mistake. He definitely earned his keep in Boston. If we didn't get Crawford, I'd bet Gonzalez would still be in Boston. He was just collateral damage to get rid of Crawford.
Ellsbury, as an example, is a great offensive/defensive player but he's spent half of his last 3 years on the DL. As much as I hate to see him go, he's just not a $20mil man. We have a few amazing young'uns to fill his spot that, with a little more seasoning, will be just as good as Ellsbury.
Concerning Tampa and Oakland, yeah, major kudos to them. Other smaller market teams can look to them on how it's done. To have such a low payroll yet compete with the AL east/west every single year. Having lived in KC for a while I have a small place in my heart for that team. That's where I really got into the sport and had the ability and opportunity to go to the ballpark to watch games. I always hope they do well and I like to see them in the running come September.
January 30, 2014 at 6:24 am
February 7, 2014 at 10:56 am
February 7, 2014 at 10:58 am
calvo (2/7/2014)
Just saw Fernando Rodney is close to a deal with the Mariners. This makes me wonder, does his crooked hat bother anyone else?
Not a fan of it.. but.. to each his own... doesn't CC Sabathia do that as well?
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