EVIL~! alkeiper

The Braves drew 2.4 million last season. That's hardly a cause for a mass salary dumping.

Not true. The Yankees spending has not exceeded most teams on individual players. They just have alot of them.

Where does that come from? A-Rod hit 314/407/621 at Arlington last season. His OBP and slugging are still very good. A-Rod didn't fall on his face on the road, by any measure. You can check these numbers yourself by checking out Yahoo's player page, or the one at ESPN. I actually prefer Yahoo's because they have splits from 1987 on.

Could you elaborate on that point? You don't list home/away splits.

A-Rod will wear #13 for the Yankees.

Sure there is. People make more money in NYC than in other places. Go talk to KC and see how much the locals make there. Then the owners have to adjust ticket prices to suit the people who live around their team. You really don't know much of sports economics if you think every team can openly throw $200mill out to players and not go bankrupt. Of course I don't think every team could spend $200 million. Frankly, I do think the Yankees will collapse in a few years, because it just doesn't make sense. No good business lets their costs spiral out of control like this. Really, the Yankees have to spend, because they've built an empire based on winning. If they lose out on the playoffs, people stop going to games, buying marchandise, and watching the YES Network. If the Yankees revenue stream dries up, then they are really screwed.

They didn't mix in 77 or 78. Clubhouse chemestry has always been a load of crap. Tell that to Yankee teams from 1996-2001. They weren't a team full of superstars yet they won 4 titles in 6 years. Team chemistry had nothing to do with that? *faints* WOW I'm so impressed to see someone else here with a brain. Weren't a team full of superstars? Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Alfonso Soriano, Roger Clemens, Mariano Rivera, Wade Boggs, Darryl Strawberry (yeah he's GREAT for team chemistry), Tim Raines, Jimmy Key, Dwight Gooden, John Wetteland, Tino Martinez, David Cone, David Wells, David Justice, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina aren't superstars? The Yankees won because they had a great team with little or no weaknesses. Not because of some mythical force that suddenly makes you win ballgames when everyone gets along.

Its not east coast bias, just the cold hard truth. All three contending teams in the Central had their best records within their own division. The Texas Rangers had a winning record against the central, as did the Toronto Blue Jays. Even the Detroit Tigers fared better when facing AL Central teams.

Larry Rocca is a newspaper writer, and brother of Daily Show alumni Mo Rocca.

Give me a break. This is called the open market. You can earn as much money as you can, and spend as much as you want. There is nothing preventing the other 29 teams from doing what the Yankees have done. NOTHING. The Yankees have built this team fair and square. I hate them, but I applaud them.

Its silly to write off the season yet. The Yankees are good, but FAR from a sure thing. Their season really depends on injuries. In the meantime, I've got 162 games (maybe more) of Phillies baseball to look forward to. No team plays the Yankees more than 18 times. So really, the only time the Yankees can kill your enjoyment is in the playoffs. Go out and enjoy the games.

They didn't mix in 77 or 78. Clubhouse chemestry has always been a load of crap.

I'm not mocking you with that. I just found it interesting. I've been searching for something I said about Maddux earlier, which I found here. Yes, Maddux WILL play in the American League if that's where the offer comes from.

Wow. Check out this post from FrigidSoul, on November the 29th..... Anglesault, DePaula is a minor league prospect.

I beg to differ. The Yankees actually did need him, for reasons stated above. If they didn't make a move, their 6th starter would be Jorge DePaula. Now they have some breathing room.

Houston isn't worth what he's paid.

The problem is they have is that the quality falls off a cliff after the first five. If they suffer a couple injuries in that staff, they'll have real problems.

Is that really all due to injuries, or managerial choice?

I had the Astros #1 in the league in my rankings. If they win its no surprise at all.

A lot of teams would win, if it weren't for that IF word.

The only good way to do that is to increase the number of starters, in my view. Let each team start eight guys or so.

There might actually be a good team in the AL Central again.

The Indians have a TON of minor league talent, and analysts are excited about their chances down the road. Not this year, but soon they will compete once again.

Regarding Pokey Reese, its generally more constructive to look at career averages. 251/310/357. As for win shares, my numbers come from the creator himself, courtesy of the 2004 Bill James Handbook (a terrific reference book, by the way). In lew of that book, check out baseballgraphs.com. They have win shares for every player in 2003. In 2003, A-Rod had 32 WS, and Soriano had 27.

I still don't understand that logic. Stars are valuable no matter what stats you use. A system that brings the value of stars down isn't very good. A player's real value should roughly match their fantasy value.