ESPN.com: Pirates Owner Criticizes Spending

PITTSBURGH -- Pittsburgh's Kevin McClatchy lashed out at other baseball owners Friday for a return of free-agent spending that he fears may steer some clubs close to bankruptcy.

McClatchy, the Pirates' managing general partner, warned of a growing division between big-payroll and small-market clubs that could lead to contentious owners meetings and a much harder stance during the next labor negotiations. The current labor deal with players runs until December 2006.

"I don't know what happened, maybe they drank some funny water, but they all decided they were back on the binge," McClatchy said. "When somebody goes out and pays an average pitcher $7 million a year, then anybody who's an average pitcher says they need $7 million a year. That's very difficult, and when you're giving pitchers $18 million in arbitration, that also makes it difficult."

NL Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens agreed to an $18 million, one-year contract with Houston, a record one-year salary for a pitcher and the equivalent of nearly half the Pirates' projected $40 million payroll. The Pirates' payroll is about $10 million less than that of the Washington Nationals, owned by the other major-league clubs.

Some teams criticized the New York Mets for giving a $22.5 million, three-year contract to former-Pirate Kris Benson, then for giving Pedro Martinez a $53 million, four-year contract and Carlos Beltran a $119 million, seven-year deal.

"I don't know about the bank vault being open," Mets general manager Omar Minaya said Friday. "We competed for Pedro and for Beltran with other clubs that were right there where we were and pretty much ended up paying."

The Pirates' payroll is about $10 million less than that of the Washington Nationals, owned by the other major league clubs.

After two offseasons with relatively few huge contracts, McClatchy was admittedly stunned with what he called a series of signings that were "ridiculous -- at best."

McClatchy's sharp talk mirrors that of the Orioles' Peter Angelos, who said first baseman Carlos Delgado's $52 million contract with Florida reflects baseball's "fiscal insanity."

McClatchy also questions how teams that only recently were talking about financial stress agreed to huge contracts. Arizona signed pitcher Russ Ortiz for $33 million and third baseman Troy Glaus for $45 million, both over four years.

"What you don't want to see is some of these teams spend themselves into bankruptcy -- that's not good for any of the league, that becomes a liability on all of us," McClatchy said. "I'm not sure if some of these people are writing checks with money they necessarily have, and that's a negative thing.

"You wonder how, since they were in a tough financial spot, some of the spending is going to work, how they're eventually going to be able to pay their bills. When you're drawing 1.7 million, and you take your payroll up too high, you just do the math," he said.

The Pirates, by contrast, have signed no free agents to major-league contracts and have handed out only two multiyear contracts -- shortstop Jack Wilson's $8 million, two-year deal and right-hander reliever Salomon Torres' $2.6 million, two-year deal.

McClatchy is rooting for NHL owners to reach a labor agreement that includes a cap or some other harsh salary restraint, something he said baseball badly needs.

"I'm disappointed, very disappointed in the other owners, and I think as we go toward a new collective bargaining agreement, there's going to have to be some sort of constraint put on because these other guys can't control themselves," he said.

McClatchy, who serves on baseball's executive council and long-range labor committee, is promising to be more outspoken in future owners meetings.

"I've think they've created a hawk," he said. "A lot of us are concerned and are definitely going to speak up."

Despite McClatchy's glum financial talk and the Pirates' 12th consecutive losing season in 2004, the team's annual Fanfest opened Friday to what was expected to be record crowds. Attendance was way up during the first week of the team's winter caravan, which featured Wilson and promising pitcher Oliver Perez.

Season ticket sales are up about 30 percent, partly because buyers who keep their seats the following season get the opportunity to buy 2006 All-Star tickets.

Yankee Fans: Scared of Mets?

With the Mets spending some dough, they're going to be better than in 2004. It's not like they can get much worse anyway, but my question is, how are the Junkee fans taking it?

Now this has nothing to do with my being a Mets fan. If you gave me a contract that said that the Mets would not win another World Series for the next hundred years, but neither will the Yankees, I would sign it RIGHT NOW!

But say the Mets have a 90-win season this year, raid the free agent market in '06 and make the postseason, win a World Series or two over the next five years, who knows? It may be 1986 all over again, when the Mets ruled New York and the Yankees were an afterthought.

We all know that the Junkee fans take pride in the Mets stinking up the joint over the past few years, and like the fact that they own New York. But the Mets still have a loyal fan base, so a couple of good seasons (and not 1999 with Derek Bell and Benny Agbyani in the outfield) and who knows - maybe the Mets steal the back pages.

The Yankee fans are shaking in their boots knowing that the Mets are on their way up. We'll wait and see.

Jason Giambi's 2005 Season: .225, 10, 40

No, it wasn't me making that prediction; it was Buster Olney of ESPN. He sees Giambi having a real tough go facing all the jeers and hecklers from the visiting stadiums, not to mention the Junkee fans if he indeed stinks up the joint.

So the Junkees will employ Tino at first, but how will they feel when he hits .270, 15, 80, which is decent for a middle infielder, but for a first baseman? And is he the guy you want up against Matt Clement in Game 6 of the '05 ALCS? Manny and I have already written about how washed up Tino is, and how the Junkees got him only for PR, and who knows - maybe my projected numbers are generous; he could do worse.

I bet the Junkees will regret not signing Carlos Delgado. They need a power first baseman, and they ended up with a guy that nobody else would have taken.

Okay, so they'll still score a ton from the other positions, but the less stability, the better.

Yankees: Done for Offseason?

George has an itchy trigger finger - he loves making deals just for the sake of making deals. Yet it seems as if the Junkees have nothing more to do - they have all their positions filled, even backup catcher, and their pitching staff, so George has to sit it out until April. Sure, he'll try to get rid of Brown, but until now there've been no takers; what makes him think that teams will suddenly jump on the Brown bandwagon?

So this is their team. As Manny Ortiz pointed out the other day, a rusty 1B/DH combo borne of PR, a second baseman who could easily revert back to 2003 form, a shortstop whose numbers are constantly declining, a third baseman who misses playing in a hitter's park, a left fielder who's pretty good, a center fielder whose defense has gone south (as has his offense), a right fielder with a barking shoulder, a catcher whose offense ain't what it used to be, and a pitching staff with question marks all over.

What I think is fascinating is Mariano Rivera. Okay, so he blew the save in Game 4 of the ALCS, which is not terrible, but overall, he's not what he used to be. Who knows - this may be the season where he breaks down. You never know.

Yankee despisers keep hope alive!

These Are Not Your Late '90's Yankees

I don't care who they try to bring back anymore. Mike Stanton won't cut it. Bringing back Tino is just a gimmick. I don't care if they have Luis Sojo coaching, or whoever. The days of classy players like O'Neill and Brosius playing for the Yanks are over. Much as the Yanks were ever-so-hateable during the dynasty days, you had to admit they were a classy team. Sure there were exceptions, like Wade "I'll Get My 3000 Hits Elsewhere" Boggs, David Wells, Darryl, etc. But now, the team is full of jerks. And the Big Jerk fits right in with the likes of A-Schmuck, Brown, and Sheffield.

If the Red Sox are a bunch of idiots, then the Yankees are a bunch of jerks. And the Big Jerk looks like he'll enjoy New York about as much as Jose Contreras and Eddie Whitson did. And unlike the idiots, the jerks have yet to win a thing.

One more point: to the Yankee fan salivating over Opening Day with Wells v. Johnson: I guess when your team pulls off the biggest choke in October, all you have to look forward to is April. Enjoy the thrills of the regular season, including those incredible games against the Devil Rays and Blue Jays. See ya in October.

Selig's Tax Dollars at Work

Well, the Schmets have beaten the Yankees in getting Carlos Beltran. And unlike Pedro, this is not a player the Yankees didn't want. Beltran is no prima donna and doesn't carry the injury risk that Pedro does. Not to mention the fact that he's 6 years younger than Martinez. Till a few weeks ago, the Yankees had their eye on Beltran. They wanted him bad. But when the reality of the luxury tax set in, the Yanks balked.

Before last season, Jayson Stark wrote about the potential impact the 2002 CBA would have on the Yankees down the road: "Now we're not accountants. And we don't want to be accountants when we grow up. But by our calculations, that means the Yankees' revenue-sharing and tax bills this year will be over $80 million. Within two years, they'll no doubt blow past $100 million.
That's $100 million over and above their payroll, which could be more than $200 million. There is only one franchise on earth that wouldn't be phased by that kind of I.O.U. And let's just say it sure isn't the Devil Rays. "

Perhaps Jayson was a bit off on this one. The Yanks got cheap here.

And without Beltran, the Yankees' offense starts to look a bit suspect. First base- an old man Tino brought back for PR, and steroid-addled Jason Giambi who they're stuck with- that's bad news.

Tony Womack is a BIG question mark at second base. I still can't figure out why George didn't go for Kent or Nomar. No one can tell me Womack is better. Gotta be due to the tax, too.

They still have Jeter and his incredible intangibles, athough the Yanks sure could use a few more tangibles from Derek.

A-Schmuck is still pretty good, but he clearly misses the friendly confines of Texas's hitters' park.

Shemp Matsui is consistent in left. But CF with Bernie is a disaster. He's done. And at 36, Sheffield isn't getting younger or healthier. Another oldie in Ruben Sierra will still get you a big hit once in a while, but isn't reliable.

The Yankees' pitching may have improved over the winter, but their offense, which was dead for the last 4 games of the ALCS, has not. Okay, they got rid of Tony Clark -- addition by subtraction. But the Junkees sure could've used Beltran. Thanks, Mr. Selig.

Jayson Stark: Yankees Still Face Tall Order

By Jayson Stark
ESPN.com
When Randy Johnson throws his first pitch as a Yankee next April, exactly one thing will be absolutely, positively guaranteed:
The Big Unit will take the Yankees to new heights on the mound.
The immortal Stefan Wever and Lee Guetterman (all 6-feet-8 of them) will be greatly saddened -- because they'll no longer be the co-answers to the trivia question: Who was the tallest pitcher ever to start a game for the Yankees?
But that, friends, is about the only thing His Unitness will guarantee.
If you're a Yankee hater, you should still feel free to rant, rave, grumble and mumble about (pick three): the Yankees' money, greed, egomania, Yankee-centric TV network, ticket prices, souvenir shop, parking nightmare, sound-system decibel level, owners-box guest list, yada-yada-yada -- whatever you think you have to vent about to get through this crisis.
But just remember: 10 months from now, all that angst could prove irrelevant -- because Unit or no Unit, there is still lots of stuff that could happen that could prevent the Yankees from winning the World Series.
Seriously.
Once again, we've been directed by the Citizens for Competitive Balance to write the Randy Johnson column everyone but YES network subscribers have been waiting for:
FIVE REASONS THE YANKEES STILL WON'T WIN (POSSIBLY) (IN THEORY)
1. THEY'RE OLDER THAN THE NEW YORK PHILHARMONIC
When the Marlins won the World Series two years ago, their entire roster included no pitchers, only one regular (Jeff Conine) and just one bench guy (Mike Mordecai) who were born in the 1960s.
Well, the '60s haven't gotten any more recent since then -- and you can look that up. But the 2005 Yankees, as currently constituted, will include (gulp) 13 players born in the '60s, a total of 19 players who will be 30 or older by Opening Day and (barring a Carlos Beltran signing) an entire starting lineup of guys who will be 30-something by the end of July.
We've never commissioned the National Athletic Trainers Association to do an exhaustive study of this, or anything. But one thing we still feel safe in saying is:
Old guys get hurt more than young guys.
Which could be great news for, say, Bubba Crosby, but possibly not-so-great news for several George Steinbrenner employees we can think of.
No one on this team, however, is older than the Unit himself. He'll be 41 Opening Day. He'll turn 42 by the playoffs. And he'll be 44 by the time his new contract extension expires.
So let's see now. Who's the last pitcher, 41 or older, to win 20 games? That would be Warren Spahn, who did it the year Johnson was born (1963). And Spahn, by the way, was the first to do it since Cy Young in 1908.
OK, here's another one: How many years has it been since a non-knuckleballer won more than 13 games in a season at age 43 or older? Oh, only 77 -- since Jack Quinn did it in 1928. During the Calvin Coolidge administration.
Even the seemingly ageless Spahn won just 13 games the rest of his career after a 23-7 season in 1963, at age 42. So history tells us the Unit is a much better bet to self-destruct than he is to go 24-3. (Consumer note: This offer not guaranteed.)
2. CARTILAGE IS GOOD
Yes, friends. Cartilage is, in fact, good. That's one of our mottoes in life.
We bring that up because the amount of cartilage currently found in Johnson's right knee would be approximately ... uh ... zero.
The last vestiges of that cartilage were yanked by surgeons after the 2002 season. Which led to a 2003 season in which Johnson went 6-8, 4.26, and spent three months on the disabled list.
Of course, had the Unit had another season like that in 2004, there wouldn't be much need for us to write this column. So the pursuit of accuracy compels us to report that he was able to compensate last year by getting regular injections of (and this is an actual medical term) elastovicous fluid in that knee.
And 290 strikeouts later, he was elected president of the Elastovicous Fluid Fan Club. (Which is an unpaid position, as far as we know.)
If Johnson duplicates that season this year, there's a good chance Joe Torre and Brian Cashman will be appearing in elastovicous-fluid commercials by Thanksgiving. But sooner or later, all 6-foot-10 guys are likely to miss their own personal cartilage. And sooner could, very conceivably, arrive this summer. (Key word there: conceivably.)
3. THEY DON'T GET TO PLAY THE BREWERS
The journey from the National League over to the American League doesn't look particularly perilous, in theory. No native guides, body armor or special inoculations are required by law before you embark, so it would be easy to conclude it's not that big a deal.
Except we can also think of four reasons to conclude otherwise:
Javier Vazquez. Kevin Brown. Miguel Batista. Mark Redman.
What do those four have in common? They were the four most prominent starting pitchers not named Curt Schilling who traveled from the National League to the American League last winter.
So how'd it go? Don't ask. Their ERAs inflated by almost a run and a half a game -- an average of 1.44. It's even money their 401K's didn't beat that rise.
Schilling, on the other hand, survived the journey slightly better, as you may have noticed -- going 21-6, 3.26, despite a soon-to-be-famous bum ankle which bugged him much of the year.
Well, you know Johnson is supremely confident he'll make a Schilling-esque transition. As opposed to a Redman-esque transition. Which he very likely will, if he's healthy. (See cartilage section above.)
Carl Pavano has a career ERA that's north of 4.00.
But accompanying him on this trek are two other prominent National League refugees -- Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright. And suppose their transition to AL life follows the model of those non-Schillings?
Pavano is coming from one of baseball's most pitcher-friendly ballparks (Florida's Pro Player Stadium), where he pitched in front of one of the best defenses on earth. You might also want to note he has won more than 12 games exactly once in his career.
Wright, meanwhile, is leaving a team (the Braves) that sprinkles all new pitchers with special Cy Young miracle flakes. So no wonder he won nearly as many games last year (15) as he had in the previous five seasons put together, stayed healthy all year and had an ERA (3.28) more than two runs lower than his lifetime American League ERA (5.50).
No matter how young those guys are or how electrifying their stuff may be, there is no reason to assume they'll march right into New York and combine for the same 33 wins and 3.13 ERA they rolled up last year. In fact, there's every reason to assume they won't.
And if they don't, who knows where Steinbrenner will want to banish them to -- the Hanshin Tigers?
4. THEY FORGOT TO SIGN CARLOS DELGADO, JEFF KENT AND CARLOS BELTRAN
We all admit that Randy Johnson is one talented human being. But he can't play first base. He can't play second base. He can't catch line drives in the gaps. He can't clone himself. And he can't perform orthopedic surgery in his spare time.
Which is one way of saying that this team did, in fact, have other issues heading into the winter besides its lack of left-handedness on that pitching mound.
What happens, for instance, if Jason Giambi shows up for work, declines all invitations to make himself invisible and spends another season in expensive, but not particularly useful, limbo?
Jason Giambi's health remains a major issue.
What happens if Tony Womack, now in charge of second-base affairs, reverts to being a .226 hitter again?
What happens if the Yankees don't sign Carlos Beltran -- and Bernie Williams continues to regress as a defensive center fielder?
What happens if Kevin Brown can't make it to the mound 30 times -- a feat he's accomplished exactly once in the last four seasons? Or what happens if, this time, the wall punches him before he punches first?
What happens if Gary Sheffield's shoulder keeps barking, or he finds some more ligaments to tear, or his BALCO testimony raises some federal prosecutor's eyebrows?
What happens if Wright turns out to be a one-year wonder, or Mike Mussina's elbow aches, or a bullpen full of 35-36-37-year-olds feels its age?
Yeah, we know what usually happens: The Yankees go out in June and trade for Jason Schmidt, Barry Zito, Ben Sheets, Juan Pierre and Paul Konerko.
But in case you hadn't caught on, the upper levels of this farm system are now thinner than Lindsey Lohan. So there's almost nobody to call up should all those old-timers get hurt -- and not much to use as trade bait to accumulate the next object of Steinbrenner's affection. Which is very dangerous for a team that essentially has been ordered to win the World Series. Then again, we said the same thing last year, too. And that didn't stop them from trading for some guy named Johnson.
5. NO $207-MILLION TEAM HAS EVER WON A WORLD SERIES
These Yankees are definitely the best team 207 million George Steinbrenner bucks can buy, all right. But in the long and glorious history of baseball, not one $207-million baseball team has ever won a single World Series. That's a fact.
OK, so it's also a fact that there has never actually been a $207-million baseball team before this one. But that's beside the point. Sort of.
If the Yankees have proved anything these last few Octobers, it's that there can be such a thing as having too many big-name, big-dollar players on one team.
The Yankees of 1996-2000 were a baseball team, not a Rotisserie team. They were about fitting all the pieces together, not fitting all the glittering 12-page bios into one 600-page media guide.
The Yankees of 2002-2004, on the other hand, have clearly been a team majoring in something other than chemistry. They kept accumulating All-Stars -- not rings.
What exactly did Mike Mussina guarantee them? How about Jason Giambi? Hideki Matsui? Gary Sheffield? Even (shudder) A-Rod?
This team committed nearly 400 million dollars just to those five guys over the last five offseasons -- and not one stinking shred of tickertape has landed on any of their heads.
So does Randy Johnson make these Yankees scarier, more imposing and (as accountants everywhere have noted) more expensive than they were before he arrived? Absolutely.
But so did A-Rod. So did Mussina. So did Giambi. So did many of the highly compensated gentlemen around them. But all the proof the Yankees need that funny stuff can still happen in October is that 6-foot-10 left-hander they just acquired -- because he has won one more World Series over the last four years than they have.

More Randy Johnson Optimism

(a) Peter Gammons pointed out that Randy Johnson has never pitched in a cold, wet April. In Seattle he pitched indoors, and Arizona is always a hundred degrees, so who knows how he'll respond to 40-degree nights in Junkee Stadium?

(b) Looking at his stats, he can be susceptible to the long ball. With the short right field porch in Yankee Stadium, who knows?

(c) He was not great in '03, so maybe '04 was a fluke, he got lucky, but he's really headed downhill. Then again, they didn't get him for April; they got him for October. So all he has to do is pitch four or five good games.

Again, I could be wrong, but I better not be.

Randy Johnson Nearly Done Deal

Let's look at the bright side of this, although I wish he'd stay a Diamondback:

(a) If the Junkees don't win it all in '05, it'll be a bigger embarrassment than had they not gotten Johnson.

(b) This will get the small market owners to push harder for a salary cap. Even though they have enough of a case as it is, once the Junkees have the top hitter (A-Schmuck) and the top starting pitcher (RJ), the Junkees will have no argument whatsoever to say that the system is fair.

(c) I read that in '04, they spent something like $85 million between revenue sharing and the luxury tax. Taking on another $16 million contract will inflate that number.

(d) If the Junkees do win it all in 2005 (please God, no!), Yankee despisers like me will be able to rationalize by saying, hey, they bought themselves a World Series title.

(e) They'll have to sign him to an extension, and chances are, he won't be any good in two years from now, so the Junkees will have another hefty contract on their hands.

When you hate the Junkees, you have to be optimistic!

But Can They Spend $200 Million?

I've heard the argument against owners like the Twins' Carl Polhad and the Tigers' Mike Ilitch many times. How can these billionaires cry poverty when they're too cheap to spend their own money on their teams? After all, Ilitch was all willing to spend his big bucks on the Red Wings (back when hockey existed), but was a cheap bastard when it came to the Tigers! But I don't blame these owners for acting the way they've been acting.

Think about it. Every free-agent signing is a risk. Aside from a few teams with crafty GM's (and the verdict is out on the A's in the post-Mulder and Hudson era), many teams are going to make mistakes. So it's not enough to ask these owners to spend an extra 10 million. Perhaps more like 25-30 million is more like it. And maybe more.

After all, the Yankees are the one team that can afford to eat a mistake, or a bunch of mistakes. Jose Contreras for 8 million? No problem, just sign someone else. Sterling Hitchock for $6 million? No problem, just get Jeff Weaver. No all-star in RF yet? Just trade (glorified salary dump) for Raul Mondesi. Mondesi turns out to be a mistake? Just sign Gary Sheffield.

But when the Pirates sign a Jason Kendall long-term and it turns out to be a mistake, they're strapped for a good few years. Only the Yankees can afford to eat their mistakes. These other teams have no margin for error. And no, they can't spend $200 million.

Besides, will the Twins be profitable by spending $200 million? In a small market? No YES network? I don't think so. So do you expect Polhad to ultimately waste millions just so his team could win? Come on.

In April, BusinessWeek wrote about how Boston has hit the limit on the amount they can spend:
The truth of the matter is that the Sox are hitting a wall. "We're maxing out on everything," [Red Sox owner] Henry admits. Every game is already sold out. Ticket prices are the highest in the majors. That means the Sox payroll has gone about as high as it can, which could have a severe impact on the team as early as next year. Four of the Sox' biggest stars -- Martinez, pitcher Derek Lowe, shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, and catcher Jason Varitek -- could become free agents at the end of the season. All are demanding huge new contracts, but "we can't afford to re-sign all of them," warns Lucchino.That's why sabermetrics has become such an important part of the Boston strategy. Henry is not a guy who goes in for half-measures. After buying the Red Sox, he first tried to sign Billy Beane. When that fell through, he did the next best thing: He hired Bill James, the writer and baseball thinker who invented sabermetrics, as senior baseball operations adviser.

The article also quotes baseball economist Andrew Zimbalist saying that the TV revenue gap between the Sox and Yankees is at least $100 million.

And if the Sox are "hitting a wall" with a $120 million payroll, what can you say for the rest of the teams!? If the Brewers tried spending as much as the Yankees, forget it! Either the owner or the team would go bankrupt. They're not getting YES network revenue. It just isn't happening.

And speaking of the Sox, in spite of their high payroll, I don't blame them for their spending. After all, with the Yankees setting the precedent by buying an All-Star at nearly every position, what do you expect the Sox to do, just sit there with their arms folded and say "forget it"? They want to win too. But in this league, if you want to win, you've gotta play by the Yankees' rules. And after the Yankees started putting their payroll on steroids, the Sox have done the best they can trying to compete.

And even if you'll tell me that the Yankees are just playing by the rules, and it's not the Yankees that are the problem, it's the system that's an issue, I think it's fair to say that the Yankees are the perfect poster boy for all that is wrong with the system.

Twins Owner Speaks the Truth

Although I have not been able to dig up quotes, I heard on ESPN-Radio that Twins owner Carl Pohlad complained about the state of baseball. He said that his team cannot compete because they keep losing too many players. Over the past two offseasons, his team lost LeTroy Hawkins, Eddie Guardado, Christian Guzman, and Corie Coskie to free agency, had to trade Eric Milton in a salary dump, same with A. J. Pierzynski.

Pohlad said that the system stinks (which everything agrees with, except Yankee fans), and Torii Hunter shared similar sentiments.

So we'll see what happens when the CBA expires in 2006. If owners like Pohlad can convince the others that they need to make drastic changes in the system (i.e. salary cap), who knows - maybe something happens. Then we can see the Junkees return to the AL East basement.

Looking Ahead: Hudson in '06

Anyone who knows anything about baseball knows that come 2006, Tim Hudson will be donning pinstripes.

The Yankees will offer him a huge amount of money, and no other team will come close; they won't be able to. Then the Yankee despisers will have to pray that his health deteriorates, or that he is the next Mike Mussina - okay, but not worth the big bucks.

The Crybabies are at It Again

What can you expect from a team that cries for a forfeit when the Devil Rays show up a few hours late after a hurricane? Well, team president Randy Levine had this to say about the Dodgers after the Randy Johnson deal fell through:

Last Friday a deal was agreed to with the only contingencies being [contract] extensions and physicals. [L.A.] got cold feet. As early as [yesterday morning] they wanted to go through with it. Their actions said something different. It's very disappointing. We will take a long, hard look before doing business with them again.

I'm sure the Dodgers are shaking in their boots by this dumb threat. How will they win without Eric Duncan and that guy Navarro?

I hope Arizona comes to their senses and decides to keep him. There's no dominant team in the NL West, so with Johnson, Ortiz, and a healthy Glaus, they may be able to squeak out a division title.

But Yankee despisers get to breathe for another few days.

Jeter, Rivera Welcome Back Giambi

I know, I know, it's a slow news day, and the beat writers have to come up with something, but how dumb is this? Hey Jeter, who died and made you God? Since when do you decide who's welcome and who's not? Same with Rivera. I thought it was dumb when the Mets used to ask Al Leiter and John Franco who they should keep and who they should get rid of, and now the Junkees are acting the same way.

What is Jeter supposed to say - "we want him off the team"? So that when Giambi comes back they'll hate each other? There's just no logic here. Just shut up, and everyone will be better off.

Yankees Starting Five: $67 Million

I saw this on Mike'd Up on Sunday night - when the Yankees get Randy Johnson, their five starters (Johnson, Mussina, Pavano, Wright, Brown) will all make $67 million in 2005, which is more than 18 teams' entire payrolls. But there's no problem with disparity, right Junkee fans?

By the way, check out http://yankeeschoke.blogspot.com - another great Yankee despiser site.

Wait and See; Renteria = Jeter?

Been busy lately, so not much time to blog, but a quickie here.

a) I'll admit. As a Sox fan, I was hoping for them to get Pavano. And yes, the Yanks will probably end up getting Johnson and Beltran. But remember last winter: After getting Brown, Vazquez, Gordon, and especially A-Schmuck, the Yanks looked like the team to beat. And what memorable moments did those guys provide? Brown, punching the wall and breaking his hand? Vazquez morphing into Jeff Weaver? Gordon barfing in the bullpen during game 6? A-Schmuck flailing at the ball in Bronson Arroyo's hand like a 2-year old during the ALCS?

Look, a lot of deals look good at the time. If you would've told me 3 years ago after Giambi signed with the Junkees that 3 years later they couldn't get rid of him fast enough, you would've looked at me like I was from Mars. Ask Schmet fans about Roberto Alomar and Mo Vaughn. And I remember my Yankee-fan friend telling me how Weaver was gonna win 20 games in pinstripes, and how the Vazquez deal will be viewed as one of the best trades in Yankee history.

Basically, a lot can happen. Let's see what happens come next October.

b) I may offend a bunch of Yankee fans and 16-year old girls with this one, but new Red Sox SS Edgar Renteria is as good (ok, arguably a drop worse) than Derek Jeter. Let's compare their numbers from '02-'04:

Renteria:

AVG .308
OBP .362
OPS .802
HR 34 (11.33 per year)
SB 73

Jeter:

AVG: .302
OBP: .371
OPS: .818
HR 51 (17 per year)
SB 66

Aside from the power numbers (a 6 HR difference per year for Jeter) and a slight edge for Jeter in OBP and OPS, the two are basically the same. Both are gold-glovers, too (Renteria 2, Jeter 1), although Renteria is probably the better fielder.

The major difference here? Salary. Renteria's getting about $10 mil a year from Boston, and Jeter about $19 mil. Is Jeter worth nearly double the price, Mr. Ca$hman? Maybe they pay him to be the first to high-five everyone. Or to pull off the tired "Mr. Torre" shtick. That's right. An extra $9 million for Jeter's priceless "intangibles." Too bad he can't rub Zim's head anymore.

Of course. Overpaying is part of the Yankee way.

Johnson and Beltran: Yankees in '05

Buster Olney, among others, are willing to bet the farm that both Randy Johnson and Carlos Beltran will wear pinstripes in 2005. Just another example of how the system stinks. The Astros want Beltran back in the worst way, but will not be able to compete in terms of salary, so they'll lose him. How can any Yankee fan with half a brain tell me that that's totally fair? Sure, they're not breaking any rules; they're taking advantage of a lousy system. Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Yankees are buying themselves another championship for 2005. Their payroll will be in the $200 millions, at least $50 million higher than the next team, so how a Yankee fan can get excited when their team buys World Series is beyond me.

As far as Randy Johnson, again, the other 29 teams know he's good, but they can't afford him, so the Yankees will get him. I guess the Yankee despisers will have to pray that this is the year he breaks down. I know, he was good in '04, but consider that Johnson has never pitched for a high-pressure team. Montreal, Seattle, Houston, and Arizona are places where the teams are happy just to make the playoffs. He seems like a sensitive fellow, so who knows - maybe he gets bombed in his first start, gets booed, and it's all downhill from there. One can only dream....

Pedro to Mets: Rubs Yankee Fans the Wrong Way

Yankee fans are probably upset that Pedro is going to New York. Sure, the Mets are nutjobs for giving this guy a 4-year deal, but with George, you know it's as much about being on the back page of the newspaper as it is about winning. And Pedro does that. He puts the Mets on the back page of the papers.

When Pedro made his "call the Yankees my daddy" statement, he wanted George to sign him. He thought that George was going to shell out the big bucks, but even George wasn't that stupid. Still, George must have assumed that he was going back to the Red Sox, so he didn't bother pursuing Pedro. So the question remains - had George known he'd become a Met, would he have pushed harder?

When the Mets dominated the papers in the mid to late '80s, it ate George up. New York has been Yankee Town since '96, and now the Mets are trying to grab some headlines.

But you can't tell me that George wasn't interested at all; why then would he meet with Pedro? Don't tell me to drive up Boston's price, because that doesn't work with the Red Sox. George had lukewarm interest, but didn't blow Pedro out of the water, so Pedro's a Met, and the Mets gain some points in the PR war.

Pavano: Another One-Year Wonder

Going back to the theme of George loving guys who had beaten the Yankees, here you go: Pavano in the 2003 World Series.

Now there's no doubt that he had a great season in '04 - 18 wins, 3.00 ERA. But two points:

(a) His lifetime record is 57-58. So we're not talking Tim Hudson here. For the first five years of his career he did nothing. He was 12-13 in '03, and last year he was his breakout year, so granted, as a Yankee despiser you hate seeing him picking up the pace, but at the same time, let's take it easy.

(b) You might say that unlike Vazquez, he has postseason experience. True, but you have to admit that pitching for the Marlins isn't exactly pressure. It's not like being a Junkee, where you have to win. They knew that even had they got knocked out of the first round, the Florida fans would have been happy that at least they made it that far. And after the '03 ALCS (Aaron Freakin' Boone), there was a letdown by the time the Series rolled around. Nobody was paying attention. So let's be fair.

Now to be honest, I would not have thought of him as a one-year wonder, but Harold Reynolds of Baseball Tonight made the point. "They're giving him four years $39 million because he had one good year?" So I'll take it.

Looking at Other Teams' Pockets

When the Yankees thought they had the Randy Johnson deal worked out, the only thing preventing Arizona from taking Vazquez was the money. Johnson is owed $16 million for one year; Vazquez is owed $35.5 million over the next three years (great job, Ca$hman). The D'Backs asked for the $19.5 million difference. The Yankees were only willing to give $12-13 mil. Now that the D'Backs have signed Troy Glaus and are on the cusp of signing Russ Ortiz, the Junkees are saying that, hey, Arizona doesn't need the money, so how dare they ask us for millions.

Hey idiots, what do you care how much money they have? They asked you for money - either you make the deal or you don't. Whether they have money or not has nothing to do with anything. This is not charity, where you want to make sure the recipient really needs it. This is a business. If you don't want to give them the money, then it shouldn't matter what their situation is. So they pleaded poverty to you? Who cares?

That's just dumb. I guess this was the Yankee way of covering themselves in case Johnson ended up being a bomb - "Hey, we did Arizona a favor. They really needed the money."

I'm telling you, being a Yankee despiser becomes more fun by the day.