Now starting at first base for the Oakland A's... Jason Hart. http://espn.go.com/mlb/news/2001/1206/1291052.html Giambi will don pinstripes for seven seasons -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN.com news services NEW YORK -- On a day on which baseball commissioner Bud Selig went before Congress to plead poverty, rumors swirled that the Yankees and Jason Giambi had already agreed to make him one of the richest players in baseball. One source told ESPN Radio's Dan Patrick that the parties had already reached agreement. This much is confirmed: The sides have agreed on a seven-year contract but are still negotiating the money, which is expected to be from $122 million to $125 million. That figure would place him among the top-five most highly paid players in the game. Yankees manager Joe Torre called Giambi in recent weeks in hopes of luring him to New York. This past season, the 2000 American League Most Valuable Player batted .342 with 38 home runs, 120 RBI and a league-leading 129 walks He was second in the 2001 MVP balloting to Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki. Last year, Torre made a call to right-hander Mike Mussina, who left the Baltimore Orioles for a six-year, $88.5 million deal and went 17-11 with a 3.15 ERA. First baseman Tino Martinez, one of four Yankees starters that has been with the club since Torre took over, is a free agent. Torre also called Martinez to let him know the team is pursuing Giambi. On Wednesday, Torre put his signature on a new three-year contract worth over $16 million. Giambi has told Torre he wants to play first base, not designated hitter. According to an AL scout, the Yankees think of Giambi as an average first baseman. Torre told New York reporters he would try Giambi at first base, but Oakland manager Art Howe told a newspaper he thinks the Yankees may have something else planned. "I've heard rumors that the Yankees are looking at him as a DH, not a first baseman," Howe said. "Whether they tell him that or not is another story." The Yankees, according to the New York Post, even trotted out Hall of Famer Yogi Berra to contact Giambi with his own sales pitch for the Yankees. "I told him to come to the Yankees," Berra told the Post. "I met him at the Bob Hope Classic last year and he is a good kid. He can help the Yankees. I told him that the right-field fence at the Stadium is a lot shorter than the one in Oakland." Since losing the World Series in seven games to Arizona, right fielder Paul O'Neill, third baseman Scott Brosius and backup infielder Luis Sojo have retired. Meanwhile, the Yankees are on the verge of signing reliever Steve Karsay to a four-year contract and reports continue to circulate of their attempt to bring in outfielder Moises Alou. Where will this money come from? The Yankees payroll is $23.75 million less than it was last season, thanks to getting rid of the contracts of Martinez, O'Neill, Brosius and Chuck Knoblauch. The second player doesn't necessarily have to be Alou. The Yankees are known to have inquired about virtually every major free agent, including everyone from Juan Gonzalez to Roger Cedeno. As for third base, Torre seems comfortable with Drew Henson taking over sometime next season. Henson, Michigan's quarterback before he rejoined the Yankees last March, struggled at Triple-A as he recovered from a broken hand.
i think im going to puke, if baseball doesnt get a clue now theyre gonna watch their game go down in flames Like i said guess what the YANKEES BUY THEIR CHAMPIONSHIPS, i hope for justice sake they lose over and over again. The A's shouldve given him his no trade clause earlier yes, but good god this is sick, its like the yankees are monopolizing baseball and IT SUCKS. As for Jason Giambi, i understand the decision but i dont respect it some of these players need to tell steinbrenner to shove his money and so called "mystique" up his *** and stay with their original teams esp if they are super like oakland wouldve been. Right now im very ticked off but if ny gets another 1 or 2 high profile guys im going to want massive changes, this is ridiculous. This is a BLACK THURSDAY FOR BASEBALL and if things dont change they can kiss their fan support bye bye and the pastime will go away.
let see...go to the historic yankees for lots of money and have a really good chance at winning a championship with the team I rooted for growing up... ...or stay with a team that when i was a kid didnt care for and although has a good team and could still make lots of money isnt the yankees... hmmmmm tough decision...
This is EXACTLY why I hate major league baseball!!! The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. I cant take it anymore. Its time for fans to turn their backs on America's pastime. You get to watch boring over-paid jerks lose to the New York Yankees every year...... Damn this pisses me off more than anything. The fact that MLB is going to retract is the epitome of all that is wrong with professional baseball.
I'm so sick of hearing people b**** about the Yankees "buying their championships" because it is a complete boat load of horse $hit. Teams have to go out and win throughout the season and then win again in the playoffs. I'm not sure what you do for a living DV or if you even have a job, but I'm willing to bet that if one of your company's competitors, that has over 100 years of success, came to you and offered you an outstanding salary, making you one of the highest paid people in your field, that you'd turn it down because you don't want to contribute to the continued success of said company. And I would also be willing to wager that if our beloved Rockets were in the position of the Yankees, with a great history of players and coaches, and they had the means to go after any free agent(ie. Blazers, Lakers, Dallas) that you'd be disgusted. Give me a break.
Hmmm, I must be mistaken because I thought the Yankees had their single season record for wins broken by a team with a much lower payroll, had to beat two teams in the playoffs that were better than them throughout the season and arguably better than them in the playoffs, then go the distance with the best team of the other league only to lose in the last inning.
Woah, this isn't final yet. I have inside information... One of the baseball editors at my company noticed on ESPN.com that Giambi had signed with the Yankees. Being the die-hard Yankees fan he is, he immediately went over to one of the guys in player licensing and asked if this was indeed true. The licensing guy called Giambi's agent to congratulate him on the signing. The agent responded with a "What?!?! Huh?!?" and explained that the information was false. I believe the agent then called ESPN to b**** them out. The website later retracted the statement, saying Giambi was "close to signing." We later joked with the baseball editor that he must have felt good knowing he affected the world of sports in a small way... Here's the kicker: Giambi's agent told the licensing guy that he and the Yankees were still far apart regarding money... Yeah, this info isn't much, but it's kind of cool anyway...
look pimp, i know its a business but give me a damn break, do you want me to bring up the drew henson situation and the fact is your payroll is 4 times that of an oakland and you shouldnt be able to add a giambi each yr, which is what happens, i guarantee give oakland and beane your payroll and they could do as well or better than NY. Soon enough their will be no competitve balance as avg salaries will skyrocket, largely in part due to the yankees and baseball will be hurt unless they discover they need rev sharing or a cap, iyts really simple. Teams like houston even wont keep studs because ny can pay them through the roof. Im sorry but the yankees are the poorest excuse for a "dynasty" ive ever heard and while i dont solely blame them i like the sport and general and this only hurts the game, the only silver lining is if it causes a change in the economic structure of the league. Right now, yes the yankees very much buy their championships its within the rules but its a pathetic use of the word "dynasty", without them you dont get giambi, mussina, clemens, justice who made 9 mil at the trading deadline for christsakes. Yes steinbrenner is a good owner, but this isnt a level playing field and until it is baseball is screwing itself over.
By that logic, the Bulls didn't have a dynasty because they were able to offer MJ an obscene amount of money to keep him in Chicago. The same thing goes for football teams like the Cowboys that used huge signing bonuses to sign guys like Sanders and Teague. Did they buy their championships?? I don't think so. It's a ridiculous statement. The teams still had to go out and win games. A perfect example is the Blazers who have the highest payroll in the league. Despite stockpiling talent, they haven't won anything. Look, I'm just sick of you guys saying the Yankees buy their championships because its nonsense. A group of 20+ players has to go out and win as many of 162 games as they can, then be the first to win 11 in the playoffs. The Yankees weren't able to do that this year and they are having a number of players leave/retire so they are simply trying to make their team better. Being a Yankees fan, I also wouldn't call their current team a dynsaty either because of the number of players they have that are moving on or retiring. However, they are working to build a new dynasty and every single team in any league seeks to improve their own crop of players with players via free agency. Thats the name of the game. I do agree that there needs to be something done to make it a more level playing field for the entire league, but Selig also needs to take some responsibility for expanding the league too rapidly and not giving teams the ability to give their own players incentives to remain with their club.
pimp, its a continual thing, in the nba the bulls signed jordan but they didnt go get vince carter and kobe to top it off, the yankees do that, each yr the biggest players flock to ny like mussina,clemens-albeit in a trade, knoblauch, drew henson was obtained in a manner i call cheap as he was dealt to cincy, then because he wanted to go play football they lured him away with big bucks, if thats fair i must be off my moral train of thought these days. The difference between the nba and mlb is simple, their is no salary cap in baseball thus while the bulls signed jordan way over the cap, they didnt go get two or 3 more studs to top it off, because the cap prevented it, however the yanks are planning on adding an of-alou likely, karsay besides giambi(their main target). Im not denying steinbrenners a good owner but its quite annoying to watch good teams break up because of money and the thing is the yankees never lose anyone in their family they want to keep, and indirectly drive up the price for small market teams to keep their guys. I wouldnt care if it wasnt a continual thing, but every year ny drives up prices, trades for big contract high profile guys at the deadline and typically tries for the biggest fish out in free agency and succeeds. Overall, torre and steinbrenner are both good coaches/owners but the yankees very much outspend people for a championship and i dont think that constitutes a dynasty or worthy as americas team. Look at mussina, he had plenty of suitors but ny got him when they already had a 100 mil plus payroll, while montreal barely has 20 mil total, or this yr ill agree the a's if they lose jason screwed up with no trade clause but out of 28 other clubs its the yankees of course who pony up the most money to get him. Ill be honest put billy beane with a yankeeish payroll and that team would be near impossible, but in oakland he doesnt have that luxury and its sad that baseball likes to watch the yanks win every yr while good young teams like florida and oakland are dismantled because of payroll concerns
so yankee fans what about your organizations cry a few years back of building within, clemens, mussina, giambi-these guys do not qualify Could it be when the unthinkable happened and you lost the world series steinbrenner scrapped that approach, but if he stuck to it i could respect you guys at least.
<B>By that logic, the Bulls didn't have a dynasty because they were able to offer MJ an obscene amount of money to keep him in Chicago. The same thing goes for football teams like the Cowboys that used huge signing bonuses to sign guys like Sanders and Teague. </B> No, because all of those teams were restricted to spending approximately the same overall amount of money. If the NBA said each team's salary cap was $10 x the number of people living in the team's hometown (so NY had a large cap, Houston a medium one, and Utah a small one), would you say that's fair to all the teams? That's how the MLB is currently set up.
Ya know, I for one won't argue that the Yankees should somehow restrain themselves from buying the World Series. Hell, if the Astros could do it, I'd sure as hell want them to try. As long as the rules permit the Yankees to buy every free agent they want, I have no problem with them doing so. But, it isn't good for the sport and MLB should really do something about this. Where's the competition when the Yankees can sign two of the three best hitters on the FA market (Giambi and Alou) AND an excellent reliever? That's boring. The Yankees will be the odds-on favorite next year, not because they ahve a great organization... not because they engineered brilliant trades... not because they drafted and groomed prospects well. The Yankees will probably win the WS because they have more money to spend. Did anyone else find it depressing to read ESPN.com's free agent guide this year? DIdn't see the Astros mentioned much, did you? And some of the teams that were mentioned finished with a better record and need FA's less. MLB needs a way to at least level the playing field a bit. I have no problem with dynasties. I do have a problem with a sport in which the dynasties are fixed according to the bottom line. And I also find myself wanting the Yankees to lose... since I can't really see how they deserve to win. I'd rather see some team that built itself from the ground up wi nthe WS anyway, than George Steinbrenner and the Free Agent All-Stars.
My problem with Yankee bashers is that they don't b**** about the Dodgers. The Dodgers have a huge payroll, but they stink. The A's had a small payroll, but made the playoffs. It isn't the payroll people hate, its that the Yankees win while their team loses. Sour grapes. Obviously the Yankees do not get every free agent they want, otherwise why would they pass on A-Rod, Griffey, etc. I like the fact that free agents in baseball really are free. They can go to whatever team that want and take as much money as the organization is willing to give them. It keeps great players from being stuck on lousy teams. Don't you think Shareef would love to play for someone besides the Hawks or the Grizz? And it isn't as if the Yankees don't develop players. Jeter, Williams, Rivera, Posada, and Pettite are all homegrown IIRC. No team is going to completely forego signing free agents. If they do, they are the ones who don't deserve to win, based on their sheer idiocy.
Oakland screwed this up, they had their chance early in the season to sign this guy, but they blew it because of a no trade clause. My question to all of the Yankee haters is which team (other than the A's because they blew it) would you be okay with Giambi signing with other than the Yankees? Could he have signed with the Cardinals for example, and you guys not cry "BIG MARKET BIG MARKET!"? For some reason, I doubt it...
Pimp: I know you are not going to really listen to what I think about this since I'm a Red Sox fan, but I agree with DVauthrin and haven on this issue. All I'm going to say is there is something seriously wrong with "the system" when a pretty big market like Boston offers Bernie Williams one of the highest contracts in the game at the time (like over 10 million per season at the time) and the Yankees simply come in and up the contract to a point where no one can match it. Which leads me to ask this: how many times would the Yankees have won the World Series or even had made it without "Bernie Baseball"? It's the fact that they can pretty much out-bid all the other teams for anyone that makes people upset. You may not believe me when I say this: but that is why I don't like the Yankees...the way that they just go out and get anyone they want because they are the Yankees and they can. Winning all those damn World Series is just a dessert, not the main course.
