Jonesin' for A Yankee Budget

Here's my problem with baseball. Here it is. My one problem. When GM's like that one in Milwaukee get all upset at the Yankees for spending too much money. Sure everyone's cool with it when they're sinking buckets of cash into Carl Pavano and Jason Giambi, but when its guys you had on your radar.. surefire superstars like CC and Tex... then we get all upset. Then the Yankees are ruining baseball for the rest of us. Not true. Not true at all, and you're a fool if you think otherwise. Now I hate the Yankees. Hate them. But not because they spend money. I spend money because I have money. So do they, it makes sense. Lets actually look at the numbers and see how the Yankees are saving money this year, really haven't improved that much, and how the rest of the league (coughAtlantacough) needs to step up the aggressiveness to play with the big boys.

Look. As of today, the Yankees have a lower payroll than they did last year. Lower.
2008 Yankees Payroll: $218M Total. Subtract the expiring contracts of Jason Giambi ($23.4M), Bobby Abreu ($16M), Andy Pettitte ($16M), Johnny Damon ($13M), Mike Mussina ($11.1M), Carl Pavano ($11M), and Kyle Farnsworth ($5.9M)... and we're back down to $121.6M. Add back CC Sabathia ($20M), AJ Burnett ($15M) and Mark Teixeira ($22.5M) and we end up at just about $180M. So with all this crazy Yankee spending, they're actually coming in at about $30M under their payroll from last year. So what's that mean? They're gonna spend more? Well it shouldn't shock anyone if Andy Pettitte returns, or if Pat Burrell ends up in left field. Don't start screaming if they do, because the Yankees still have money. Honestly I don't see any huge names landing in the Bronx, but there are still moves to be made for Brian Cashman.

Enough with the money, let's compare their current roster to last year's, which you may remember failed to advance to the playoffs. With Damon and Abreu gone, the Yankees still have a big hole in their outfield (and in their leadoff spot). They traded for Nick Swisher, who will probably play center, and have held onto Melky Cabrera and Xavier Nady who could play the corners. And let's not forget the suspect health of left-fielder Hideki Matsui, who has basically become a DH at this point. So the entire outfield remains a bit of a question mark. However, the infield does not. Tex, Cano, Jeter, A-Rod. That's an incredible infield, besting the Phillies and their lack of a stud at the hot corner.

Okay so their outfield is holey and their infield could start the All-Star game, so what about the starting rotation then? Mussina had a career year in 2008, going 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA. He was their ace. The new ace, CC Sabathia, went a combined 17-10 with a 2.70 ERA with Cleveland and Milwaukee. Hmm. What about Pettitte: 14-14 with a 4.54. Burnett? 18-10, 4.07. Do some math and you see that the Yankees in fact bought one more win than they had last year with the two veterans. They did get younger, sure, but this is the Yankees. They expect to wake up in the ALCS next season. Not one win better.

Well surely adding Teixeira should propel them into the playoffs right? He'll tack on his 35HR, 130RBI... but remember, again, how much the Yankees lost this offseason:
Damon: 95 R, 71 RBI, 17 HR, .303 AVG
Abreu: 100 R, 100 RBI, 20 HR, .296 AVG
Giambi: 68 R, 96 RBI, 32 HR, .247 AVG
Did anyone else know Abreu had 100 R/100 RBI? Wow. Anyway thats nearly 70 HR, 270 RBI, and 260 R the Yankees have to replace. Hmm.

Look, the Yanks still have some work to do if they want to best their 89 wins from last year, good enough for third in the AL East. They replaced two veteran studs with two young studs. They let Abreu and Giambi walk, and popped in Teixeira. Damon out, Swisher in. Its a different looking team, not sure who will lead off, or who will fill out the back of the rotation, so they're just like any other team.. they have holes! Yes they have money. Yes they're angering other GMs by spending freely and rounding up the richest contracts in baseball history.. but they still have holes. They're still not better than the Sox or the Rays, and they still haven't spent as much as they did last year. Bring it on Yankees. See if you can buy a team again. And see how that's fared for you the last nine years.

Oh right, here's the deal. The Yankees were mad. Very mad. They missed the playoffs for the first time in forever. So they kicked out the old guys, opened the checkbook and are on the path to being in the playoffs in a couple years. The Braves have now spent the last three seasons watching the playoffs at home like the rest of us bums. And what have we done about it? We traded for Tex in the middle of a season, and traded for (read: stole) Jurrjens. And that's the difference between a franchise that just wants to win every single year regardless of the payroll and who's on the roster. If the Braves front office actually wants to get back into playoff contention, don't stalk marginal talents like Burnett and Furcal and think they like you because you talk to them more than anyone. Frank Wren: this is about sealing the deal. This isn't about being friends! Don't do their homework, don't make them mix tapes, just ignore them while all the other boys try and take them home, understand the market, and jump in with the just right.. "yo, here's our offer, but i mean.. i dont really care if you take it or whatever, i mean we dont really need you so whatever its cool" and walk away. Just walk away. Let them come to you.