Brewers really got hosed. The loss of Sabathia got them the Yankees first round pick. But Teixeira is higher ranked on the Type A free agent list than Sabathia so the Angels now get the Yankees first round pick. The Brewers get their second round pick which will wind up being about 50 picks lower with all the sandwich picks between the 1st and 2nd rounds. And if the Brewers were to go out and sign a Type A of their own like Juan Cruz they will lose their own first round pick. Real fair system where losing Sabathia and signing Cruz knocks you completely out of the first round.

And the Blue Jays now get bumped down to the Yankees third round pick for losing Burnett, a guy they thought they'd get a first rounder for losing. At this point it actually makes sense for the Yankees to sign more Type A free agents since at this point they would only lose a 4th round pick.

Brewers deserved to get screwed in the first place for hiring the fat hired gun for a half season for their playoff push.

Much the same situation for the Angels and Tex.

If you get a bigtimer for a half season or less you should make a commitment to hang for the long term.

No doubt baseball economics really sucks! But look at our real life economic situation.......

This is the dumbest statement I have seen this year. And I have seen some real winners...

Though all the teams that lose type A's do get a sandwich pick between the first and second rounds for each type A they lose.

True but it's just a silly system where the Yanks could go out and sign Oliver Perez and the Mets get a 4th round pick for it while the Red Sox could sign him and the Mets get a 1st rounder. At least add an extra sandwich pick for a team instead of moving the picks down to the 2nd to 4th rounds.

Or give them the option of getting the teams 1st rd pick the next year

Then the Blue Jays would be choosing whether to take the Yankees third round pick this year or their first rounder in 2057.

Love it... I'm borrowing this





F*CK the Yankees. Enough is enough. I hope they get buried again by the Rays and Sox. Spending inflated prices on moderate players is a sure way to ruin the sport. What the hell has Texiera done that merits an all-time type contract? I can name 50 first basemen that are better than him, easily, in the last 25 years. Come on... Now it's going to be $800 for a family of 4 to sit in the upper deck at the "new" Yankee Stadium. I don't understand the fervor in buying a championship. Nobody will consider it legitimate.

The Phillies won theirs this year the right way. A good mix of homegrown talent sprinkled with some decent free agent pickups to fill the gaps. Not some ridiuclous buying spree of every aging free agent out there.

The dumbest statement?
 

Dumbest? I still think wise franchises know that it is not so smart picking up a player for a pennant run when said player will soon be a free agent.

I really think the DUMBEST STATEMENT HAS TO BE THIS EXCHANGE:

"We still gunna wager on whether Andruw Jones hits 31 or more home runs this year?" -Scudsbrother

"Sure, what do you want to bet?"
- Cannon Shell

You should change your name to Shell Shocked!

Andrew Jones hit 31 HRs in 2008?!?! Now that is a real winner!

yeah teams should be criticized for TRYING TO WIN!!! That is a real winner. I would rather my team just keep turning a profit and never taking a risk to WIN THE WORLD SERIES!!! Yeah lets make it so that only the Yankees and Red Sox ever make a move. You are obviously have no understanding of baseball and should stick to something a little less mentally challenging like figuring out who could possibly be contenders for horse of the year.

Phil the truth of the matter is it is going to be ridiclously expensive to go the Yankee games regardless of what they spend on payroll. The real enemy of the fan in cities like NY are the Corporations that buy up seating at inflated pricing. If people stopped coming they would adjust prices. But even at high levels they still get 4 million people a year. The true culprit for the Yabkees spending ability is MLB and the players union that refuses to incorporate a realistic salary cap and revenue sharing plan like the other sports have. While a free market is often used in the Yankees defense it really isnt a free market as the other teams are at a huge competitive disadvantage and if they decided that they would rather not play the Yankees any more then the Yankees would suddenly be fairly worthless. It is an extreme example but they need the other teams to compete against and there has to be a competitive balance. The reality regardless of what you hear is that the Yankees have done a terrible job at constructing teams this decade which is why they have lost. If they start to do a better job which in my opinion they have this off season they will make baseball a lot less interesting which it cant afford to do. Though I agree that having the Yankees/Red Sox/Mets/Cubs as foils to root against makes baseball more appealing, if they start to become the only teams to win (except obviously the Cubs) the sport will be hurting. And I would be hard pressed to find 5 or 6 1st baseman better than Texiera the last 25 years. He is the 2nd best 1st baseman in baseball (Pujols a clear number ), in his prime and hits from both sides. The pitchers are far greater risks than him.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I am taking a break as the kiddies are finally asleep.

The Yankees have put themselves in a "no win" situation. With that type of payroll, its world series title or utter failure even if they get there and lose. And even if they win it, the title was "bought". I dont think that there are too many real Yankee fans that see this and are pleased.

Im not piling on Stickhorse but I loved that Milwuakee went for the gusto this year when they had the chance to rent sabbathia for half the season. Opportunities for small market teams like the Brewers to actually contend don't come around too often and its great for baseball when they do.

Much like what happened in the eighties, economics and age will catch up with the Yankees and they will be forced to start over...eventually.

Very hard to cheer for this team. I do think they make the playoffs though. If midseason comes and its close, they will rent a couple of more players. They do have a couple of more prospects on the farm than Chuck wants to admit.

Who are these prospects that I have missed?

First of all, amen to this great post and i will address it in another post. But...5-6 first baseman in the last 25 years? Can i give it a shot?

Melancon and motero to start with.

Sure as soon as you tell me about these hidden, major league ready gems in the farm system

add brackman

When can Montero play? Not soon at the major league level behind the plate though he can suddenly really hit he is still in the lower levels. Melancon is not highly rated, most likely will be a middle reliver.

Brackman is a ways away too

Okay, you win there. Here are my first baseman better than TEX in the last 25 years. This should be fun to chew on:

1. Don Mattingly
2. Jeff Bagwell
3. Eddie Murray
4. Rod Carew
5. Will Clark