I love it. The solution to an aging team with a bloated payroll is to give raises to A-Rod, an old Rivera, and an old Posada. Brilliant!
Actually he may be on to something. The Yanks way overpaid Posada and are about to do the same thing with Rivera. Let's see how much they overpay A-Rod. The Yanks need to get their rotation in order more than anything else.
They need to get their rotation in order - but the only way that happens is if their young players turn into bonafide studs. I'm not sure signing A-Rod and Posada would be a bad moves, because they're offensive production is literally irreplaceable. A-Rod everyone knows about, but Posada hit nearly .340, had an OBP of .426 and hit 63 extra base hits. Unless the Yankees are going to pull of a trade for Joe Mauer or Victor Martinez there is no one else who's going to give them that.
I think Yankees' offense will still be good even without A-Rod. Of course you gonna miss that 50+ home runs, 150+ RBIs, but using that money, you can at least sign two quality hitters and the differences won't be that noticeable. Anyone who is familiar with this Yankees team knows that their offense was very streaky. They could be explosive one night and be shut down completely the other day. The flaw of this offense is the inability to manufacture runs. Too many sluggers and not enough dirty players. Of course the biggest problem is the starting rotation. CheinMing Wang is solid. But he is not a No.1 type of pitcher, however he was still Yankees' best pitcher in the regular season. Next season, Wang, Andy, Joba, Kennedy, and Moose? Good enough? I don't know. And, you have to consider if Joba being inserted into the rotation, the bullpen will be a mass except Mo. Overall, I am really surprised Yankees doesn't solve their pitching stuff first and blow all their money on this selfish playoff bust, especially after the way he treated the organization in the first place. I am disappointed.
I am happy that he could be coming back, though I think it was a jerkass move to opt out in the first place. He could end up making basically the same money as the Yanks offered by the extension, but now the Rangers aren't on the hook for part of the tab any more. Getting Posada back was critical, he is one of the top catchers in the game. I am not too concerned about the rotation, so they really only need one more arm for the pen. The rotation should be (not necessarily in this order): Joba Pettite Wang Hughes Mussina or Kennedy Moose seems like he could still pitch solidly enough to be a #5 starter and if Joba can match his success in the pen from last year he can be an effective #1.
Baseball is such a joke. For real, if this was any other sport with all the resentment and bad blood involved with this situation he would have been gone to another team in a heartbeat but in typical baseball fasion it's all about where the money is.
This is why I'm not so sure A-Rod's worth $27-30 mil per or whatever he's going to sign for next season. That money is enough to get 2 near all-star FA. So it's not as if they're just going to go from A-Rod to AAA scrub next season if they don't resign the guy. OTOH, I'm not sure about the FA market this year, so it could just be that there's no one else for the Yankees to sign. In which case, this could be right move if they have the jack to spend. That said, A-Rod is seriously wasted on the Yankees. As a SS, I think he actually comes close to earning his paycheck, due to the paucity of offense at that position.. But a good hitting 3rd basemen is much easier to find than a good hitting SS.
I can’t believe this! If A-Rod ends up signing with the Yankees, I…… Spoiler won’t care one way or the other.
The Yanks need to take a year or two to reload, which they won't do. Therefore, they are forced to re-sign Posada & Co. at ridiculous salaries because they have no immediate alternatives. The expectations on the Yanks actually hurt them and prevent them from making sound decisions that would benefit them long term. They will severely regret the Posada and (forthcoming) Rivera contracts in a couple of years. Maybe even next year.
there is more parity in baseball right now than in any other sport. we've had 10 different teams make the World Series in the past 6 years. we've had the white sox and red sox kick their curses in that time frame. we've seen the angels win their first ever. we've seen the rockies and astros make it for the first time in their franchise history. but what that has to do with A-Rod is beyond me. if you're looking an example of a baseball player who took less to stick with one team, look to biggio. if you're looking for examples of players in other sports who left a team for money...well.....there are too many examples to name.
It has everything to do with A-Rod. As my original post stated, if this was any other sport he would have been gone in a heartbeat. Baseball is structured so poorly that it can allow a team like the Yankees to just blow everybody else's offer out of the water in order to keep him. You went from your typical "time to move on" scenario to basically who can offer the most money and that's a problem for me. I don't blame him one second for taking the money and of course professional athletes generally end up wherever the most lucrative offer is. That's not the point. The point is other professional sports are structured in such a way that any team in any league in the right scenario can have a shot at a player of the caliber. In baseball that's not the case. In baseball it's the same 3-5 teams doing the same thing every year. If that's not competitive advantage then I don't know what is.
And yet, the Yankees, for all the dollars they've spent, haven't won a world series in nearly a decade. Meanwhile, teams like the D-Backs, Marlins and Cards have. So I get what you're saying...but in the end analysis, those other sports' "protections" to ensure competitiveness fall short. In all likelihood, either the Pats or the Colts will win it all AGAIN this season. In the NBA, we've had two teams win 7 titles among themselves in the last 9 years (Spurs/Lakers). The 9 year period before that had 1 team win 6 titles. Competitiveness is happening in baseball. There are outliers on both ends, to be sure.
