Frighteningly to the rest of the AL, Yankees still have more to spend
Merry Christmas, Yankees fans.
As if most baseball fans needed a reason to hate the New York Yankees just a little bit more more, they've come to an agreement with Mark Teixeira on the fourth-largest contract in baseball history.
There's these salary nuggets:
- The Yankees now hold the four largest contracts in baseball - to Alex Rodriguez ($27.5 million), CC Sabathia ($23 million), Teixeira ($22.5 million) and Derek Jeter ($18.9 million). The number in parentheses is the average salary based on their contracts.
- The Yankees received a luxury tax bill for 2008 of $26.9 million for 2008. That total was just $141,000 less than the payroll for the Florida Marlins' entire 40-man roster. (They qualified for just as many postseason games, by the way.)
- To sign three players, the Yankees have now spent $423.5 million in guaranteed deals.
And even more startling, the Yankees still project a lower payroll in 2009 than last season, further proof that money can't buy championships (especially when that money purchases Carl Pavano and Jason Giambi). So in other words, the Yankees are not done yet. Manny Ramirez, perhaps? He's not going to the Angels. Heck, at this point, we almost expect the Steinbrenners to reel him in.
As the financial district crumbles in lower Manhattan, they're spending money in the Bronx. This is one company that certainly doesn't need a bailout.
"Man, that's crazy," Angels center fielder Torii Hunter told the Los Angeles Times upon hearing the news about the Teixeira signing. "Those damn Yankees! They don't play around. When they're trying to win, they're trying to win. It's crazy. They just paid $27 million in luxury tax. That's like 27 dollars to them. They don't even care."
Comments
I’m all for the Yankees getting Ramirez. I figure he could alternate playing RF and DH with Matsui, that way getting both into the lineup and not wearing either one out. Imagine a lineup of:
1. Damon …………..LF………Lefty
2. Jeter …………..SS………Righty
3. Teixeira…………1B………Switch L/R
4. ARod…………….3B………Righty
5. Manny……………RF/DH……Righty
6. Matsui…………..DH/RF……Lefty
7. Posada…………..C……….Switch L/R
8. Cano…………….2B………Lefty
9. Gardner………….CF………Lefty
That would be a pitcher’s nightmare to face that lineup. It wouldn’t matter how well Gardner hit in the 9 slot because we’d have his excellent defense in CF. The fly in the ointment is that we’d have to trade away 2 out of 3 of: Swisher, Nady and Cabrera.
I wouldn’t mind them signing Rocco Baldelli as well since his prognosis by the Cleveland Clinic looks much better than before. Don’t sleep on this.