A-Rod traded to the Yankees?

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

. I mean for teams like Boston and the Yankees there isn't even a point in playing the regular season at all,

Funny that you would pick that Example.

 

You know, the one where there are two teams who need to play regular season because they are both vying for the same spot.

oh stop, you're smarter than that. The Sox and Yankees will go head to head in the playoffs regardless of anything and everything that happens in the regular season. If they don't I'll go David Blaine and eat my own head.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Gotta agree that the cap is a bad idea, hell many Patriots players would need to slash money to just stay with the team because of the cap. If that happened in baseball you'd no longer see the Cal Ripken Jr.'s and Tony Gwynn's sticking with one team which is what IMO makes baseball so great, that players can be identified with being loyal to one team.

 

That doesn't happen now. I barely know who's on what team any more. At least with football I can be fairly certain that Brett Favre will retire a Packer. The true stars don't move much in the NFL, unless they refuse to give it up and teams no longer think it is worth keeping them (ex. Emmitt Smith, Jerry Rice). For every Cal Ripken you have a Dan Marino who spends his entire career with one team. Free agency causes player movements, nothing else. You don't see the majority of guys spending their entire careers with one team in the NFL, NHL, NBA or MLB. The cap has little impact on player movement. What it does to is spread it out amoung more teams. Rather than the Yankees & Red Sox bidding for every player, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, etc can also be involved.

 

MLB needs a hard cap to survive. Either that or severe contraction like in the CFL where you are down to about 8 teams. It is being killed in the majority of markets because of this horseshit and it gets worse every year.

[Guest Anglesault]

There's this thing called 'local markets', that the teams depend upon for revenue. In some markets, there's not enough revenue to maintain having a high payroll.

Ah.

 

Well, that makes some sense.

 

Not enough to make me care, mind you. But at least some teams get a little leeway.

 

Now, if we get teams (like your Yankees) to agree to some revenue sharing, some teams might be able to pull off paying more.

 

Now, this is a concept I need explained to me.

 

I've always understood it as successful owners giving up the money they earned to help less successful teams become competitive.

 

The thought of that makes my head hurt, so I must be misinterpreting this.

[MrRant 0]

KC can never make as much money on NY just based on population alone.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Kahran's post in a way also shows why Football is slowly becoming the new American Past Time if it hasn't solidified itself as that already.

[Bored 0]

You know who the happiest guy in baseball is right now? NOMAH! Now the Red Sox definently can't get A-Rod and he now holds all the power in negotiations for a new deal. The Red Sox are gonna have to take it up the ass on this one and like it.

[Guest Wildbomb 4:20]

AS,

 

The basic concept of Revenue Sharing is to share the collective profit of Major League Baseball, and divide it proportionally amongst the teams. It would allow for the creation of both a salary cap and a salary floor. The teams who live in currently non-viable markets would be able to put a more attractive team out on the field, with the hope of being able to recoup lost profit. When two-thirds of the teams are becoming profitable, revenue sharing would slowly be phased out, until only the completely unviable teams are left.

 

At which point, contraction would be a pretty good idea.

 

Not saying that it's the world's greatest idea, but it could work.

 

My personal preference is a hard floor and a soft cap: you MUST spend more than a specific amount, but if you choose to go over the limit, you must pay into a revenue-sharing fund, allowing small-market franchises the same opportunity at gaining top-caliber players.

 

I figure that the floor should be set down at around $55 million, with the cap put about at around $125 million. Right now, Steinbrenner would be the only one paying up, but rest-assured: the Sox, Dodgers, and at the rate they are going, Orioles, we'll all be chipping in.

 

The problem with some smaller-market team owners is that they are businessmen, not owners. They are looking for the team to be profitable, not a winner. The best way to net a profit? Send out a ragged roster, keep ticket prices average, and have the team net around 70-84 wins. Enough to keep some fans satisfied that the team doesn't completely suck, but not too many to have your players asking for substantial raises.

 

I'm a Sox fan, and I didn't want A-Rod. Go ahead. Take him. I don't care. It just perpetuates the hatred of the Bronx Bombers. Anyways...

 

I still take the Sox over the Yankees. Better pitching, and the offense isn't exactly shabby either.

[Guest Anglesault]

ESPN just showed the actual projected line up for the Yankees, and well, damn.

 

Lofton

Jeter

A-Rod

Giambi

Sheff

Williams

Matsui

Posada

Wilson (eh, what can you do)

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Just did Range Factors for every starting player for all 30 teams. I didn't realize that the loss of Boone will be HUGE for the Yankees defense. He ranked 5th among all major league 3B in range factor. Posada came in at #5 among catchers, Giambi came in at #22 among 1B, Soriano came in at #23 among 2B, Jeter came in at #30 among SS, Matsui came in at #21 among LF, Bernie came in at #14 among CF's and Mondesi came in at #17 among RF's although they went DOWN defensively as Sheffield came in at #20. Another thing that astounded me was how truly good Detroit's defense was in terms of RF with every position placing in the top 10 except catcher(#30), 3B(#25) and CF(#14).

[Guest Anglesault]

n/m.

Edited February 15, 2004 by Anglesault

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Lofton came in at #21 among CF's and Mondesi started in RF for 97 games for the Yankees thus my including him with them.

[Rob E Dangerously 0]

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/o...4-oconnor_x.htm

 

Vent away

[The Czech Republic 0]

actual projected

and literally figurative?

[Guest OctoberBlood]

Some notes.

 

1. Lan O' Connor is a total moron.

 

2. Yeah Quinn, that is the biggest reason why Reds fans loved Boone. He was a great defender, and very underrated at 3rd base. He's a streaky hitter, and great to the fans.

 

3. Baseball does not need a cap to survive - it'll survive no matter what, but it wouldn't hurt.

 

4. Spot the trend:

 

92,938,260

85,247,999

61,721,667

48,050,000

[Fuzzy Dunlop 0]

I heard there's a new trade in the works already. Jeter and A-Rod to Boston to get married.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

MLB needs a hard cap to survive. Either that or severe contraction like in the CFL where you are down to about 8 teams. It is being killed in the majority of markets because of this horseshit and it gets worse every year.

 

Bullshit. Baseball is not in dire financial straits. It is highly profitable, and EASILY the second most popular sport in the nation. Not one franchise drew under a million fans last season.

 

Now, this is a concept I need explained to me.

 

I've always understood it as successful owners giving up the money they earned to help less successful teams become competitive.

 

The thought of that makes my head hurt, so I must be misinterpreting this.

 

The best argument I heard is that visiting teams deserve a portion of the revenue.

[HarleyQuinn 0]

Ironically here's the best defensive team that could be fielded last year according to RF. Also the formula for Range Factor if anybody's interested is as follows: (Putouts + Assists) (X 9) / Defensive Innings Played

 

C: Damian Miller(Chicago Cubs) at 9.81

Backup: Paul Lo Duca(Los Angeles Dodgers) at 9.28

 

1B: Lyle Overbay(Arizona Diamondbacks) at 10.46

Backup: Robert Fick(Atlanta Braves) at 10.38

 

2B: Orlando Hudson(Toronto Bluejays) at 5.84

Backup: Jeff Reboulet(Pittsburgh Pirates) at 5.56

 

3B: Jamey Carroll(Montreal Expos) at 3.38

Backup: Eric Chavez(Oakland Athletics) at 3.16

 

SS: Juan Uribe(Colorado Rockies) at 5.79

Backup: Adam Everett(Houston Astros) at 4.96

 

LF: Carl Crawford(Tampa Bay Devil Rays) at 2.55

Backup: Garret Anderson(Anaheim Angels) at 2.47

 

CF: Mike Cameron(Seattle Mariners) at 3.42

Backup: Jeff Duncan(New York Mets) at 3.34

 

RF: Dustan Mohr(Minnesota Twins) at 2.54

Backup: Jose Cruz Jr.(San Francisco Giants) at 2.39

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I think it needs to be noted that Range Factor has its limitations. For example, a lot of it depends on balls in play, the pitcher's style, where the ball is hit, and so on. There's no single solid statistic to judge fielders.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Believe it or not, the Orioles payroll will be significantly lower this year than last year even with all the moves that they've made, primarily because they finally were able to get Belle off their roster and they lost a couple other free agents. They would have gone over their payroll from last year had they signed Vlad, but they didn't and so the plan is now to focus on spending more money next year on free agents, and they will have more money next year when they are able to finally get rid of players like Cordova,Segui and Daal ($15 million right there..)

who suck and get hurt a lot.

Os Payroll for 2004):

Miguel Tejada SS $7,000,000 Includes signing bonus

David Segui 1B $7,000,000 Final year of contract

Javy Lopez C $6,000,000 Includes signing bonus

Sidney Ponson RHP $5,000,000 Part of $22.5 million deal

Omar Daal LHP $4,500,000 Final year of contract

Rafael Palmeiro 1B $4,500,000 Also $1 million incentive

Marty Cordova OF $3,500,000 Final year of contract (DL/???)

Buddy Groom LHP $3,000,000 Final year of contract

Melvin Mora 3B $3,000,000 Part of $10.5 million deal

Jay Gibbons RF $2,600,000 1 year contract to avoid arbitration

Jerry Hairston 2B $1,650,000 1 year contract to avoid arbitration

Mike DeJean RHP $1,500,000 Also $425,000 incentives

B.J. Ryan LHP $1,275,000 1 year contract to avoid arbitration

Luis Matos CF $975,000 1 year contract to avoid arbitatration

B.J. Surhoff UT $800,000 Non-guaranteed minor league contract

Kurt Ainsworth RHP $300,000 Under team's control

Rick Bauer RHP $300,000 Under team's control

Jose Bautista 3B $300,000 Rule 5 pick, under control

Larry Bigbie LF $300,000 Under team's control

Jack Cust OF $300,000 Under team's control

Eric DuBose LHP $300,000 Under team's control

Geronimo Gil C $300,000 Under team's control

Jorge Julio RHP $300,000 Under team's control

Rodrigo Lopez RHP $300,000 Under team's control

John Parrish LHP $300,000 Under team's control

Matt Riley LHP $300,000 Under team's control

Brian Roberts 2B $300,000 Under team's control

 

 

 

Total 2004 Payroll - $55,900,000

Final 2003 Payroll - $73,877,500

 

After this season when the O's get rid of Cordova, Daal and Segui's contracts as well as Groom's (who probably will be traded at the deadline) contract, their payroll will only be about $37 million, allthough Im not factoring in the higher salaries that some players will make next year, but it will still be in the $40-50 million range which means they'll have money to spend next year as well, probably/hopefully on pitching.

[Bored 0]

Adding to Al's point, range factor is not a good statistic for comparing first basemen and catchers.

 

Harley your list for the range factor leaders from last year has players who were non-qualifyers. Here are the qualifying leaders, leaving out catcher and first base. These are taken from The Bill James Handbook 2004:

 

2B: Orlando Hudson 5.84

Marcus Giles 5.56

 

3B: Eric Chavez 3.15

Damian Rolls 3.10

 

SS: Adam Everett 4.94

Ramon Santiago 4.84

 

LF: Carl Crawford 2.54

Garret Anderson 2.46

 

CF: Mike Cameron 3.41

Alex Sanchez 3.07

 

RF: Jose Cruz Jr. 2.40

Aaron Guiel 2.32

[Guest FrigidSoul]

The funny thing about this deal is the Yankees traded away to gain 9 homers and 20 more RBI. Soriano got his stats from the leadoff spot so in Texas where the balls just fly out I could see him doing 40-40 from the 3rd spot where he'll most likely bat and get those 20 extra RBIs. The Yankees spent an extra $21mill for those 9 homers and 20 RBI all the while diminishing A-Rod's value since he's a better SS than Jeter yet he'll be playing a foreign position to him. From the Red Sox side of it here's why I don't really care

 

 

Opposing pitcher AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS

Tim Wakefield 32 9 0 0 1 1 1 10 .281 .324 .375 .699

Pedro Martinez 30 4 1 0 1 1 4 13 .133 .235 .267 .502

Keith Foulke 20 3 0 0 1 1 1 4 .150 .227 .300 .527

Derek Lowe 13 1 0 0 0 0 5 3 .077 .368 .077 .445

 

I wanted him on the Red Sox because he destroys the Yankees starters, but since he really does nothing against our pitching staff(I bet he does nothing against Schilling as well when they finally meet up) I could careless. It just kills their inability to trade for something mid-season if somebody gets hurt since Soriano was their final chip.

[MrRant 0]

Trade has union approval, needs commissioner's

 

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez was one step from playing for the New York Yankees.

 

New York and Texas finalized the terms of a trade Sunday, and the players' association gave its approval. The last hurdle was for commissioner Bud Selig to sign off on a deal, a high-ranking baseball official told The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

 

The Rangers will pay $67 million of the $179 million left on the AL MVP's record contract. Texas will get All-Star second baseman Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named.

 

Yankees captain Derek Jeter would remain the team's shortstop, meaning Rodriguez would be moved from short to third base to fill the hole created when Aaron Boone hurt a knee last month in a pickup basketball game.

 

 

The framework of the deal, which the two teams reportedly had in place Saturday night, included the agreement that the Yankees would take on much of the $179 million remaining on Rodriguez's landmark $252 million contract.

 

 

The Yankees would pay Rodriguez an average of about $16 million a year, which translates to Texas assuming $67 million of the $179 million left on Rodriguez's contract. Two sources told The Associated Press that Texas has agreed to those terms.

 

Rodriguez also has agreed to defer some money by five more years -- pushing the last payment back to 2025 -- and at a reduced interest rate, one of the sources said.

 

According to ESPN's Peter Gammons, the Rangers would pay $40 million of the $179 million in salary that Rodriguez is owed over the final seven years of his contract and would pick up $27 million of the deferred amount of that contract, which they do not have to pay for 10-12 years. With those moves, Texas gains about $120 million in flexibility. As for the Yankees, their already hefty payroll would continue to expand.

 

 

In addition to the salary owed Rodriguez, he is due $4 million from his signing bonus and $12 million deferred at 3 percent annual interest from salaries during his first three years with Texas.

 

The New York Post reported that the Yankees would likely have to include Jose Contreras as well as minor-league catcher Dioner Navarro in the trade.

 

Soriano, 26, will make $5.4 million this year and has two more years of salary arbitration eligibility remaining. The two-time All-Star can become a free agent after the 2006 season.

 

Thus, the Yankees would take on an extra $183.6 million guaranteed.

 

The Yankees' payroll currently stands at $170.3 million, not including left-hander Gabe White, who remains in arbitration and will earn at least $1,825,000. A swap of Soriano for Rodriguez leaves New York's payroll at about $190 million.

 

Rodriguez hit .298 last season with 47 homers, 118 RBI and 17 stolen bases, and Soriano batted .290 with 38 homers, 91 RBI and 35 steals.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1735937

[Guest FrigidSoul]

I'll laugh if Selig says no

[The Czech Republic 0]

I'll laugh if Selig says no

Do the right thing, Bud

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

Bullshit. Baseball is not in dire financial straits. It is highly profitable, and EASILY the second most popular sport in the nation. Not one franchise drew under a million fans last season.

81 Home games makes that a much easier task to accomplish. Number of sellouts/game would be a interesting statistic, or even average attendance versus capacity.

 

29. Toronto 27,523,500

 

*Sigh*

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

Bud Selig won't say no.

 

And Orioles fans are taking consolation in the fact that the Os now have the 2nd Best SS in the game statistically (Tejada) behind Nomar with A-Rod moving to 3rd.

 

Of course, A Rod at 3rd is about 50x better than Melvin Mora, but the good news for the Orioles is that the Yankees can't go after Eric Chavez next year so the Os might be able to land Chavez next offseason if Mora doesn't pan out at 3rd.

[Bored 0]

Here is Baseball Primer's Transaction Oracle assesment of the trade.

New York Yankees

 

Acquired SS Alex Rodriguez from the New York Yankees for 2B Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named.

 

Oracle Says:

 

Hell with it - if I wait for an announcement, everyone will be tired of it by then.

Highway robbery by the Yankees even considering that Team Captain's apparent unwillingness to do what's best for the team is preventing the Yanks from getting the full benefits of the trade.

 

The current plan seems to be to move A-Rod to 3B but that can always change. And should, too, since the Yankees acquired a bunch of 3B options that won't be able to be moved to 2B. Houston or Lamb can fill a 3B hole without being too wretched, but neither will do the same at 2B. The best thing for the Yanks to do now is to leave A-Rod at short, tell Derek Jeter that being a leader isn't just a pretty label, and move him to 2nd and eventually center.

 

What the Rangers get out of this? A much bleaker future than before the A-Rod trade. They pay the Yankees roughly a *third* of what A-Rod's owed for the privilege of making the team significantly worse. Soriano's a much better player than a lot of people, including myself, thought he would be, but he's not A-Rod.

 

If the Rangers are able to keep Soriano long-term, they'll have to give him a deal not too far from the 12-18 a year the Yanks are paying A-Rod, which'll eat into any savings and payroll flexibility.

 

If the Rangers are not able to keep Soriano long-term, then they've lost 10 wins a year. They had enough problems *with* the wins A-Rod brought and would be that much further from making a dent in the West.

 

Mike Young returns to short and should handle it pretty nicely.

 

Really, there's not much of a way the Rangers get any advantage in this. This wasn't a world-class offense - it was a mediocre offense in 2003 *with* the 2nd-best SS in history.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I don't even think its a good trade for the Yankees. They're paying about $15 million MORE to gain about two wins in the standings. That's just bad business sense. Sure, the Yankees pay out the ass for players, but at the end of the day, baseball is a business. You can't sustain an optimum business if your payroll is skyrocketing like this.

[MrRant 0]

I think you are forgetting also the MERCH~! Al.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'm sure the merchandise will console Anglesault.

 

Seriously, what good can A-Rod do? He's a marketable name, but the Yankees themselves have built a brand every bit as marketable. Rodriguez's contribution in that department is marginable at best.