I will say, though, that with the Dodgers being at the top of the division (assuming they can stay in that area through July) and with new ownership claiming they’ve got money to spend, I’m very curious to see what the trade deadline brings this season.
So what’s the deal with the Yankees drafting shortstops that can’t field? First Jeter, now Rivera. Maybe one of these days they’ll get lucky…
But seriously, I’m a Royals fan and truly hate the Yankees, but this injury saddens me. We’re unlikely to ever see anything like the dominance that Mo has been able to display for so long. I’ve never thought much about closers and saves and whatnot, but when #42 took the mound, the game was over.
I just happened to be at Dodger Stadium the other day and overheard a tour guide quiz guests about who the last player in the majors who is allowed to wear #42. Looks like that may come to an end, as well.
And end in the same city it began. Jackie Robinson began his pro career in Kansas City.
Im in 2 fantasy leagues
League 1: Picked Second in Draft. Last place
League 2: Last pick of draft: First Place.
LOL
#cantpredictbaseball
I forgot the draft in an AL-only league. It’s been a VERY rough year so far.
The Blue Jays have pitched two straight complete game shutouts against the Angels, by Brandon Morrow and Henderson Alvarez. That’s the first time the team has done that since 1993.
The interesting person to watch is Albert Pujols, who isn’t exactly doing a lot to earn his eleventy-hillion dollar contract. To be honest I can’t see what he’s doing wrong; he hit the ball hard a few times. But the results just aren’t there.
Jayson Stark assembled an All Immovable Contract Team. I can’t believe ARod still has 6 years, $143 million left on his deal. Are these huge contracts ever worth it?
I can’t disagree with any pick on that list, though Zito could be moved with a suitcase of money much like AJ Burnett was.
Every time I look at the AL East standings, I think they’ve accidentally printed them backwards.
I know. Isn’t it awesome?
The Orioles beat the Red Sox in 13 innings last night. Over the last six or seven years, there have been a few seasons where Baltimore had some pretty strong hitting, but they always gave up way too many runs. This year, the pitching is really working for them so far; the starters are doing much better than i expected, and the bullpen (a real achilles’ heel over the past few seasons) has the best ERA of any bullpen in the league right now.
Most of their hitters are doing well, but they could use some production from J.J. Hardy and Mark Reynolds, both of whom are down below the Mendoza Line. You expect a low average from Reynolds, but he hasn’t shown the power this year, with only one home run. That’s one more than Albert Pujols, though.
It’s not clear to me if this is another flash-in-the-pan run that will implode in June or July, like 2005, but i’m hoping they can keep it up.
I’m being very cautious to not get too excited. When they’ve had a hot start before and I’ve started to get back into the game, they immediately fall apart. I’ll keep watching and hopefully they can stay healthy and keep performing at a consistent level. Save for 2005, it’s been a long long time since they’ve been this high in the standings this far into the season, and it’s still VERY early, which says a lot about how bad they’ve been, but look at where they Rays were just a few years ago (in the cellar keeping the O’s company) and how they just came on in 2008. Got my fingers crossed that this is the year the O’s get it back together.
The first A-Rod supercontract might have been, I guess.
It depends, really, on what your value proposition is. If the Tigers’ intent was “win the World Series now and the hell with it,” and Fielder gets them into the playoffs this year or next and they win the World Series, then it was worth it, by definition. They may not CARE that he’ll blow up by 2017. They might well be expecting it; I know players like that almost never play well into their mid-30s, and I’m just an idiot, so it’s hard to believe the Detroit Tigers don’t know it. But they may have made a business decision that the risk of that was worth winning the World Series in the next two or three years, and if that works out, who am I to say that what the Tigers wanted to spend their money on wasn’t worth it? It’s not my money. If they were looking for nine years of production the deal’s crazy; if they were looking for the push to win between now and 2014, well, it makes a lot of sense.
But… yeah, these contracts are usually disasters, especially when showered on big first basemen. That is a class of player that simply does not play well into their mid-thirties unless they’re unusually athletic for the position. They always flame out around 32. The contract extension for Ryan Howard is especially stunning; even if you assume the Phillies could not have anticipated the injury, Howard was a gigantic, lumbering, one-dimensional player who BEFORE the injury was (a) obviously declining and (b) really, really needed to be a DH.
But are they unmoveable? Well, let me point this out; one of those contracts, the Vernon Wells contract, WAS moved last year. The Angels actually voluntarily said “we’ll take him.” Wells then rewarded them with the worst on base percentage put up by an outfielder since 1920, I believe; it was basically equivalent to piling up $70 million and setting it on fire. P.T. Barnum was right.
Both Mussina and Jeter had huge contracts (at least for the time) and both worked out great. The Giambi deal however was the more typical fail.
I think Boston was mostly happy with the Ramirez deal though the bad breakup at the end probably left a bad taste.
So far Miguel Cabrera is working well for the Tigers. They have 4 of the 8 years done. I figure if they get 2 more good seasons they will consider it money spent well.
But most have been fails.
Was Winfield’s back in the 80s a success or a fail? I look back on it as a mix bag that was mostly good and the bad was largely caused by Steinbrenner. If George wasn’t an idiot that would have been a success.
Todd Helton might be considered worth it. I would vote yes overall.
If we’re going back to the 80s, the Barry Bonds and Greg Maddux contracts in the early 90s were both obviously worth it.
I pretty much agree with this. The extra years at the end of the contract, when the player will almost certainly be in decline, is really just a deal sweetener; the team isn’t really counting on top performance, as distasteful as that seems to me, Joe Fan. On the other hand, Baseball Reference, in explaining the concept behind WAR and the replacement player, makes a good point: an “average” baseball player is actually going to be quite valuable, as he’ll likely be an everyday player or starting pitcher. So if these guys are merely average at the end of their contracts, that’s not actually a disaster (even though they’re getting paid a lot).
But if they can’t play at an above average level for most of the length of the contract or significantly contribute to a title, then it doesn’t seem worth it. It boggles my mind that ARod has what amounts to a blockbuster deal remaining on his contract, but he’s at the point where it’s practically looked at as just a remainder. And I still can’t get over Jayson Werth’s deal (which even casual fans knew was a bad deal the moment it was signed) and the Angels willingly trading for Vernon Wells’ corpse.
Were any of Bonds’ Contract for 7+ years? I admit to not knowing but I didn’t think they were. I’m sure Maddux never had more then a 5 year.
Sort of. He had Tommy John before he even reached the majors.
As much as I’d like to see Rivera keep going, I think this is the end. Robertson is damn good and unless he fails, will the Yankees want pay Rivera another 15 million without a clear need?