Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.
So Elvis, just wondering whether you’re interested in clearing up the apparent inconsistency that i noted on the last page.
You have been criticizing the front office for not wanting to win, for not getting enough hitting, for their pre-season “bleating” about how the team was going to win with run prevention, and for putting together a team that was never (even without injuries) going to make the postseason.
And yet Boston scored the second-highest number of runs in the whole Major Leagues, you yourself back in February expressed satisfaction with their pitching and suggested that they would win a lot of 4-2 ballgames, and you also predicted back in early April that they would win the AL Wild Card and the AL Pennant.
62 was just the number Storyteller used. With 69 it more obvious that a jump to 75 wins would probably not bring much in the way of increased revenue. I don’t see a whole lot of other improvements either. The Nationals weren’t a particularly young team last year, and they lost Adam Dunn’s offense. They got a couple of solid young players, but no one who is likely to become a super star. They also don’t have a young ace phenom to ride to the rescue come July. Even with Werth, it would not surprise me at all to see them them lose more games next year than they did this year.
Tampa, Minnesota, and Cincy all might be a player or two from a world series title, so it makes sense for them to spend money. The difference in revenue between not making the playoffs and making it is huge. I certainly don’t have a problem with the Nats spending money, but by the time they are good enough to be a contender, Werth may very well a burden rather than an asset. Spend money, but do it in ways that help the long term success of the organization instead of cripple. Invest in scouting, drafting, and developing (which to be fair they have been doing). If you want free agents to make the team seem credible at least make it short term deals, so they don’t screw you up in the long term.
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Tampa not so much. They have to cut payroll to adjust to their apathetic customer base, and could not afford to keep Carl Crawford, Carlos Pena, or the bullpen. It’s time once again for another cycle: a long building period that may, with luck, be followed by a brief window of competitiveness.
Werth may be a worthwhile move for the Nats if only that it demonstrates to their fan base an ability and willingness to try to improve the team on the field, even if that doesn’t necessarily convert to wins right away. They do have the foundation there, they just don’t have the organizational strength after the Montreal fire sale and the Bowden years.
Tampa Bay won 96 games last year. Carl Crawford is a good player but he isn’t Willie Mays, and Carlos Pena batted .196 last year and so is no great loss. Even without them, with their young pitching staff, the Rays are still one of the best teams around.
Also they have a good rookie to replace him in LF.
An another young ace on the way. They aren’t going away anytime soon. Plus their fans are fine, the tv ratings were way up last year. There problem is their stadium.
The longer Cliff Lee deliberates, the more I expect he’ll stay with Texas.
Hard to tell what’s going on with any signing, amid all the secrecy and leaks and planted stories and other disinformation, from both teams and agents. Apparently the Yanks have said “Final offer”, but there’s now a third mystery team in the hunt. Or that could be bogus, too.
Makes you wonder if he’s yet another good ol’ boy who would prefer to stay out of the high-pressure markets, though.
Yeah, i’m sure that’s it. :dubious:
Or maybe he likes playing in Texas, which is just down the road from his home in Arkansas?
So? That’s far enough that he can’t live there during the season. Besides, all players know (or should) by now that taking the “hometown discount” is for suckers.
I don’t know if Texas qualifies as his hometown team since he played there for all of half a year. And we don’t really know what anybody is offering him, although presumably the Rangers are offering less money but the difference in taxes between New York and Texas would cancel out part of the gap.
Not only that but, from the teams’ perspective, the Rangers can offer him more and actually pay less, because they’re not subject to the luxury tax.
If the Yankees offer him $20m a year, that’s actually $28m a year coming out of their organization. Texas could offer $22m and actually be paying less than the Yankees. Of course, the Yankees have more money than Texas., and could more easily cope with such a big contract.
Plus Yankees fans spit on his wife.
Nobody cares about that. Least of all Cliff Lee.
I just decided he was going to sign with the Phillies. I hadn’t really considered it until this minute, but I’ve convinced myself it’s true and am kind of terrified now.
I understand Lee spits on his wife himself.
I thought it was understood that Cliff Lee is probably going to come back to Seattle. He did say he liked it here.
… What?
Cliff Lee is once again a Phillie. 5 years/100 million.
That’s quite a twist. Lucky Phils: they get to have Halladay and Lee after all.