Rafael Soriano Finds His Treasure
Thought to be the best closer on the market this off-season, Rafael Soriano was supposed to be a hot commodity in free agency. After weeks of waiting and watching other relievers grab inflated deals, many began to wonder whether Soriano’s lack of urgency would prevent him from receiving a lucrative contract. That all changed on Thursday, as the New York Yankees signed Soriano to a three year deal worth $35 million. The Yankees have made Soriano one of the highest paid set-up men in the league, but was it a smart decision?
For all of his talents, Soriano is a risky signing for the Yankees. As analysts, we often harp on teams for offering multi-year contracts to relief pitchers, and Soriano is no exception. Throughout his career, Soriano has missed significant time due to injuries. He missed almost all of the 2004 and 2005 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery, and elbow surgery put him on the shelf for most of 2008. Even though Soriano has posted impressive stats when he’s on the mound, he has never stayed healthy for three consecutive seasons.
While Soriano’s health will be a major factor in determining whether this was a worthwhile decision for the Yankees, it’s tough to argue with his results when healthy. Over his career, Soriano owns a 9.62 K/9 and a 2.73 ERA (3.23 FIP) in 395 innings pitched. Soriano pitched in the AL East last season, so the Yankees know he can handle the hitters in the division. Soriano, however, is coming off the best consecutive seasons of his career. Not only has Soriano remained healthy over those seasons, but he’s also thrown 137.3 innings over that stretch, the highest two-year total in his career. Perhaps the Yankees see that as a harbinger of good health in Soriano’s future.
Complicating this issue is the fact that the Yankees already have an exceptional closer. While their bullpen may have been an area of concern, did they really have to spend $35 million on Soriano when cheaper options remain on the market? For the Yankees, this deal is just as much about 2012 as it is about next season. As entertaining as he is to watch, Mariano Rivera won’t be around forever, and the Yankees view Soriano as his replacement.
Although it’s risky to pay out that much money to ensure you will have a good closer in two years, money is hardly an issue for the Yankees. With this signing, the Yankees will also have to give their 2011 1st round pick to a division rival. The Yankees aren’t getting any younger, and the loss of a draft pick in a loaded draft could come back to haunt them in the future.
It’s tough to defend any team that gives out such a large contract to a relief pitcher and this instance is no different. Soriano’s injury history, combined with the fact that pitchers struggle to remain healthy in general, makes this deal very risky for the Yankees. It’s certainly possible that Soriano stays healthy throughout the length of his deal, but history tells us that it’s unlikely. Despite the fact that Soriano had no leverage, the Yankees still managed to pay out $35 million to secure a set-up man (and future closer). Soriano also managed to obtain out clauses in his contract, meaning he might not be around to close by the time the Yankees really need him to step into that role. The Yankees took a big risk signing Soriano, and even though he should pitch effectively when healthy, his history says this could be a bumpy ride.
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I think this is a clear overreaction to the news that they have lost out on both lefty targets this winter. The silver lining would be if this allows them to but Joba in the rotation, then the deal might just work out with that added value.
Yes. Joba to the rotation! And please, just leave him there or trade him.
I don’t see how this is an overreaction, but I do agree that if this allows Chamberlain to start, it may not be so bad.
Wasn’t it just last week the Yankees said they would not give up draft picks to sign a reliever? This is a lot of money, but I can’t argue with the fact that this gives the Yankees a dynamic 8th-9th inning combo for the foreseeable future.
Saying they wouldn’t give up their 1st round pick was just a negotiating ploy. If they really didn’t want to give up their pick they wouldn’t have said anything and let the media say they’re potential suitors and drive up Soriano’s price for everyone else.
Who were these potential suitors, that the Yanks signed Soriano to a contract like that?
While it may be the Yankees, they overpaid big time.
Negotiating ploy? What do you think they gained from that? This deal seems to be the absolute ceiling for what Soriano could expect this winter (money and years), so it seems the ploy didn’t work or Cashman was deflecting the spotlight.
Cashman said they wouldn’t give up their draft pick to sign Soriano, but it seems as though he got overruled.
I’m surprised they gave him that much money given that they also gave up the pick. I don’t know if anyone else would have come close to that much money and that much player flexibility.
I never understand why teams pay top dollar AND give player options to opt out. They take all risk of player decline / injury and lose the upside of outperformance (except for the final year). ‘Hey’s, lets make a deal where we can either break even or get screwed – sounds great!”
The opt outs do not screw the Yankees… unless Soriano ends up hurt or sucking. They’ll be delighted if uses the opt outs too… no other team is going to pay him $12m even if he still looks lights out as a setup man/fill-in closer for the next two years. The Yankees had to overpay him for this year, and will be delighted to overpay him for the next two years after that, but if Soriano tries his luck, they’ll be delighted to overpay for someone else instead… and most likely do it for less.
If money isn’t an issue for the Yankees (and it isn’t) how is this risky? Losing the draft pick hurts, but if they got Soriano for $1 or $10MM, since money is irrelevant to the Yanks, what’s it matter?
For any other team, this would be crazy. For the Yankees, eh.
Thing is, if the Yankees really DID have an unlimited payroll, then they would sign everyone on the market.
Sure, the Yankees have a much higher level to cap out at, but if they could go over, say, $220MM, they would. They don’t. That tells me that there’s still resources that have to be allocated properly.
To justify this contract, Soriano basically has to pitch at his 2010 level from 2011-13. Given he’s going to a HR-friendly park, and out of 124 relievers w/ 50+ IP in 2010, had the 7th highest FB rate, and given that he’s already 31 and has had a history w/ injuries, I’m leaning on the side of him not doing that.
Right… but you are still calling this a bad deal (or not “justifying it”) because he won’t reach this threshold you have created given his stats, (which I agree with). The truth is, he will be a valuable piece to the team and will help them win games, and just because his contract was above market value doesn’t mean it wasn’t a justifiable move. The Yankees can afford to overpay by a few million here and there. No, they can’t sign EVERYONE as you astutely pointed out, but they can certainly make this deal and not think twice about it. That’s the luxury afforded to you when you run the biggest franchise in baseball.
This is an interesting off season in that the Yanks have money to spend, but no one to spend it on. Nobody’s arguing that Soriano isn’t a great pickup by the Yanks. There bullpen will be deadly. I don’t think the money is that big of a deal to the Yanks given there previous free agent signing failures. What I don’t like and can’t understand is why Cashman had to pay this much. I don’t see a big remaining market for Soriano; it appears that the Yanks were bidding against themselves. Unless there truly was another suitor that I don’t see, this may be Boras’ best work since Arod.
Its also risky in the fact that it puts all of the risk on the Yankees’ side: the years, the money and, in particular, the player opt-outs. That’s an extremely player-friendly contract. Soriano’s got his money regardless of his performance or if he suffers another big injury, and even if he plays well beyond what he’s paid, he can leave for greener pastures or leverage his opt-out clause for a better deal with the Yankees.
A team opt-out would have been the smart thing, particularly in light of injury risks.
They DO try to sign every player on the market worth signing… just because some players decide not to sign there, doesn’t make their intentions any less obvious. The Yankees had plenty of money to spend this offseason and players to spend it on, but couldn’t get it done.
but the thing is, without pettitte or lee, they really do have money to spend. they should still have about 15-20mil left to spend on the season. some of that will go a 4th outfielder and maybe another starter unless they decide to convert joba (again). and i bet some of it will be left as flexibility for an in-season trade.
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
-Red Sox Nation
Aren’t red sox nation paying 8 figures for both papelbon and jenks? I dont think they get to laugh about overpaying for anything
both the yanks and the red sox needed to massively improve their bullpens and they paid a lot to do it. good thing they are the 2 richest teams in baseball!
No they are not. Jenks is making 6 million a year. I think it is too much, but the Sox desperately needed some help in the bullpen. The market also seems to have gone a little reliever crazy this year. Still it is nothing close to the deal that Soriano just got.
The Jenks deal is not considered overpaying by most…
reactions to Red Sox signings have been generally positive, while this one is garnering negative attention. As a Red Sox fan I am smiling.
Honestly I’d rather have Soriano on a 3/$25 mil deal than Papelbon on a 1/$12 mil deal, especially considering you could trade Papelbon for a decent (not great) prospect to replace the draft pick compensation.
I meant 3/$35
Papelbon is untradeable (for significant value)- I think the RedSox have to hope a contender is in desperate need of a closer come the trade deadline.
The free agency compensation for him is also a double edged sword – a small market team probably cannot risk offering him arbitration so his trade value might be further minimized (unless a team had a handshake deal that he would turn down arbitration). The Red Sox can afford to offer him arbitration to get the pick(s), because worse comes to worse they can eat another 1 year contract and they can also make it know he won’t be closing (which will make him less likely to accept arb)
That is ridiculous. They are not that different and having a reliever locked up for one year is way way better than 3 years. Especially for an injury prone setup man.
Well, the Yankees had been left out of contract-a-palooza in 2011, and decided to appease the media.
To think they could’ve let Jeter walk, signed someone else, used the savings on Carl Crawford, and still had a supplemental 1st rounder. Instead they now have an overpaid SS, overpaid 3B, soon to be overpaid 1B, overpaid setup guy, and seems to have no desire to do a thing with their stash of catchers in the minors.
Yeah, the team sure is in a deep hole as the second or third best team in baseball next year and the resources to deal with overpaying veterans for years to come. The Yanks are such a laughing stock for sure.
Still, these last two offseasons have not been kind to the team. This one in particular has been brutal, this move is not defensible from any POV. And its not the Red Sox that win anything, I can’t see this hurting the Yankees more then it WILL help the Rays. That team is the winner, after Soriano.
2nd or 3rd? How do you figure?
The Phillies have to be considered a superior team, for one. Likely the Rangers as well. Red Sox, despite all their issues in 2010, finished 6 games back of the Yankees, and a healthy Youkilis/Pedroia/Crawford instead of the random assembly of replacement level in LF effectively bridges that gap, without even factoring in declines that have to be expected for much of the roster, like Jeter, A-Rod, Posada, etc.
I actually think the 2011 Yankees could miss the playoffs.
nope they should cruise into the wildcard petty easily. but the division is for boston.
You don’t think the Twins would provide competition?
Or…the Rays? I think a lot of people are overstating their losses this offseason, I think this is still an 85+ win team and a breakout or two away from still challenging NY.
not if the twins win the division. honestly, i think that the rays will win 85-90. the red sox will win 95+ and the yankees will probably fall between 90 and 95. i can see the central being won by 90-95 games and the west as the same. so the runner up in the either one will be beneath that threshold. i think the yankees should be preliminarily the favorites for the WC. a freak injury for an incredible break out can change that, but that’s always the case every year.
They are likely to prove to be a better club over 162 games than everybody except maybe the Phillies, Red Sox, Twins and Rays (latter two are reeeeal stretches, and the Phillies might be, too), and will be for the foreseeable future. There’s not a lot to get down on in my opinion. They had money and they spent it.
I just threw up in my mouth a little thinking about having to watch a Twins vs. Yankees playoff series again. Another opportunity to see the Twins run off with their proverbial tail between their legs.
Generally it is safe to say, that is why they play the games, but not when it is the Yanks vs. Twins in the playoffs.
they offered montero for lee, its hardly their fault that zurendick (or however the fuck you spell it) went with smoak instead
I was thinking more along the lines of a Greinke trade this time around.
You seem to be really focusing on the black and white here, which tends to happen on a site focused on statistics… but let’s have a little more perspective. Letting Jeter walk and signing Greinke? You’d last about 30 seconds as the GM of the Yankees.
Rumor has it they offered Montero for the Mexicutioner, as well. Although that would have been a bigger overpay than this deal.
i HATE this deal as a yankees fan. fuck.
hey they had money to spend and they dont have a deep rotation, so a shut down bullpen goes a long way towards pitching some quality innings. now the starter only need to get 6 innings because joba (if he doesnt start) or robertson can pitch the 7th, soriano 8th, mo 9th. instead of joba/robertson in the 8th and mo in the 9th and needing the starter to go 7 innings. basically, they have the money to spend without andy or lee and they have some pitching need. and maybe joba can start again at some point too.
Maybe they intend to let Joba start?
In the article it states that Soriano is now one of the highest paid setup men, who has a setup man that is even close to this? I cannot think of anyone. Only five teams have closers making that much money: the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Twins, and Phillies. Soriano has been worth 2 and 1.6 WAR the last two years, which does not provide enough value to justify the deal. The one positive I see here is that any additional wins are worth more to the Yankees than most teams on the market because they have to fight the Red Sox and Rays. So this signing may make it worth it by putting them over the edge and into the playoffs or closer to it.
With that said, it still seems like a big overpay to me. Giving player options and paying that much for 3 years, who else would come close to that? The Angels are the only team really in need with the money to spend and they never really seemed that interested. The signing may be worth it because it adds a couple wins to the Yankees season and puts them into the playoffs, but it most likely could have been done more cheaply if they would have been patient. I am not even going to get into the fact they are giving up another high draft pick(to a division rival no less) when their team keeps getting older.
yes but you can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 2 more years of mo (has yet to decline), one more of posada and 3 more of jeter. ok arod has no end in sight, but tex is not that old yet and will still be good for a number of years. they have in house options at catcher and SS (nunez), and their outfield is pretty young. they have a great OF prospect in laird to replace swisher (the oldest of the bunch). cc is still a horse and the rotation… well it’s pretty young after cc and burnett. at least they don’t have the DH logjam the twins angels have with tons of offense only outfielders.
Well, Carlos Zambrano was for a little while last year…
LOL that is true. That was not what he was signed as however.
“least they don’t have the DH logjam the twins angels have with tons of offense only outfielders.”
Instead they have a DH logjam with tons of offense only infielders. So much more palateable.
Exactly Johnathan. They have the worst DH logjam and it will only get worse. Posada already has to DH, ARod will have to soon, so will Jeter, and Montero will need to play there most likely too. That is 4 guys with no position and first base is already taken by Tex.
i say posada is out after this year, jeter moves to third where his good arm is a plus and he doesn’t need as much range as playing SS. Arod can DH. montero should be traded for a good pitcher (preferably elite if they can make a nice enough package) and then romine can be the actual catcher of the future. sounds like the logjam is gone after this year.
Well, now that this has happened, eff it all and sign Grant Balfour.
Hmmm, that’s actually an interesting point. The Yankees sacrificed their first-round pick, so by signing Balfour, they don’t lose anything additional. It actually will hurt the Rays since it would be better for Tampa if some other team other than the Yankees actually sign Balfour.
They could sign Balfour, which makes it even easier to move Joba back into the rotation.
Doing that would mean the Yankees’ highest pick in next year’s draft would be somewhere in the seventies or eighties. Not exactly an ideal position in the best draft in a decade. Additionally, it’s highly unlikely the Rays will do better for Balfour. The Yankees were the only team willing to offer Soriano a good contract with Type A status and Balfour isn’t close to the pitcher Soriano is. Getting a second rounder and a sandwich pick from the Yankees for Balfour is probably better for the Rays than the alternative (Which is basically wait him out and resign him when no one bites).
How many first round picks does Tampa have now?
yikes.
Not as many as the Jays.
I count two.
Tampa has three, the Jays have one. The only Type A the Jays lost was Downs (since Frasor accepted arbitration, perhaps wisely), and the Angels’ first round pick is protected. Still, the Jays have seven of the first 72 picks, which is pretty sweet.
The Rays are up to nine total picks:
Their own first rounder to go with the Red Sox and Yankees first rounders (Crawford and Soriano, respectively). Then supplemental picks for Qualls, Hawpe, Crawford, Soriano, Benoit, Choate with another two possible picks out there for Balfour. They nasty, keep buying free agents, please.
Make that 12 in the top 90 now with Balfour signing they get Oakland’s 2nd (plus our own) and another supplemental pick
Couldn’t wait for a reply…so I searched the internets.
Tampa has NINE draft picks before the second round starts. They’ll have nine players in their minor league system before some teams have one.
In the (announcer voice on) Deepest Draft In Years (announcer voice off) both the Rays and the Jays are loaded with picks. If this Deepest Draft In Years actually does pan out then I’d hate to be an Orioles fan and watch the Rays and Jays fighting the top two spenders for second place in the division each year.
Seriously… these two teams have 16 of the top 72 picks… or 22% of the top 72 draftees… yeesh.
Amusingly enough, despite their spending spree, the Red Sox could also end up with five of those top 72 picks (They have four already, it depends on what Feliz does).
That would be 22 of the top 72 all coming to an already strong AL East (When we cound Baltimore’s first rounder).
Is WAR the correct measurement for relievers? In the recent Hoffman HoF discussion, someone brought up using WPA instead of WAR. This would seem to make sense for relievers, especially closers. Soriano has 2.21, 2.28, 0.13, 1.48, 4.06 WPA over the last 5 years. He was hurt in 2008, and 2010 he was exclusively a closer. That leaves 2006, 2007 providing over 2 WPA and 2009 providing <2 WPA as a part-time closer. Valuing a win at $6mm which seems to be the going rate in this market, I could easily see Soriano providing 2 WPA as a setup man.
Perhaps, but as volatile as WAR is for a reliever, WPA is even more so. Also, WAR does take into consideration game-scenario and situational leverage for pitchers, FWIW.
No, WAR is context neutral, which is why WPA was brought up for relievers, and especially closers, whose value is derived almost entirely from pitching well in high pressure situations — by this argument, WAR undersells them, and I tend to agree. Even Rivera, the consensus greatest closer ever, has only topped 4 fWAR once, while he’s topped 4 WPA four times, and had 3.99 one year as well.
Also, I’m pretty sure a win is worth more around $4-5MM, not $6MM.
I thought wins had settled in around $6mm per this offseason.
Rays have like 10 first rd picks this yr … is this a record?
Oh yeah…I think they get two out of Soriano. Most are sandwich picks though. Looks like they have the 24th, but that’s all in the top 30! Then they have nine of the next 21…or something like that.
thats how they got where they are now. excellent drafting and development. their minor league system is awesome.
You know, if the Rays could actually draw people to the ballpark so they could increase their revenue, they’d easily be the best organization in baseball, based on how they draft. I hope they figure out their park situation, because right now it sucks that they can’t keep any of their players, even when they need them.
I like their strategy with the draft as well. They have missed on a lot of picks, but they have had so many of them that a blind monkey would hit on a few.
The Yankees have said the Joba will remain in the pen, but I’m don’t believe it. They need to add another starter, and they have one sitting out in the pen who right now is slotted in as a 7th inning guy.
The signing of Soriano, while expensive, gives them a solid bridge to Rivera. The Yankees were fifth in blown saves last year from the 7th inning on. Those blown saves weren’t Rivera. It was the bridge to Rivera. This will help. More importantly, it will allow them to move Joba back into the rotation, which will probably gives them the most upside, at the lowest cost, of any arm they could get on the open market.
I don’t expect the Yankees will announce the return of Joba to the rotation until it’s a done deal at some point in spring training, since it will create a media circus. But current course and speed suggesta Joba is going back to the rotation, which is where he should be.
Boras seriously has the Steinbrenners and Illitch in his pocket. Who did they honestly have to bid against to pay THAT much? If this was any other team it would be a comical contract. I like cashman…he seems like a down to earth guy…..but his job requires such little creativity compared to other GM’s not named upstein it’s ridiculous.
But, he’s made some excellent pickups that show he knows what he’s doing. The Swisher trade was an absolute joke. Every team should have tried to pull that trade, but the Yanks were the only team to do so.
On the one hand the author worries about Sorianos injury risk, and then worries that Soriano opts out after 1 year (which he would only do if he had a great year). Don’t worry, of Soriano opts out and Rivera gets hurt, the Yankees can overpay Papelbon (if he has a great 2011)
Unless something changes in the next CBA, the Yankees may get 2 picks when Soriano leaves as a FA or opts out. And 28th picks are not always a sure thing, even in a loaded draft. Last time I checked only 30% or so of 1st rounders became at least average ball players at the MLB level, and any pick is several years away from helping the Yankees. The Yankees need to win every year, and 2011 is more important than 2014.
Soriano is great insurance for a team that has a 41 yo closer and who looked pretty hittable in September. It also replaces kerry Wood who was responsible for the turnaround in the bullpen by allowing Joba, Logan and Roberstson to slip down to 6th and 7th inning work.
With the weakness in the starting rotation, having a great bullpen is a MUST for the Yankees. They may have 20 million more to spend, but won’t be able to strengthen the rotation until the trading deadline in July by picking up some salary dumps on teams who have fallen out of the race.
The Yankees have double the revenue of a league average team. What a league average team values and can afford to pay Soriano is not close to what the Yankees can pay. A win is probably worth double to the Yankees in terms of revenue generation than a league average team, and they can pay accordingly and it still will make good business sense. The cost of losing Soriano to the Rangers and perhaps a lost season could dwarf what Soriano gets paid.
agreed. they can overpay, and it is an overpay, but it’s worth it because of the revenue it generates when they have a good year. also, because of their weak rotation, a strong bullpen is even more important, especially when mo is getting older and could be an injury risk.
i sincerely doubt papelbon would sign with the new york yankees of his own accord
Then they’ll sign someone else or trade for Soria, etc. If Soriano is dumb enough to opt out, he’ll just end up making less money somewhere else for the chance to close. I’m interested in seeing what kind of escalator clauses and incentives are in the deal too.
The Yankees did seem to be on that playoff bubble where adding an extra 1 or 2 WAR can be the difference between making the postseason and going home. There weren’t any other options out there that would’ve been a true upgrade. Even the marginal starters like Francis and uh… er…. aren’t necessarily better than Mitre, Noesi or whoever will man the 5th spot.
But damn.
The Rays, Jays, and Red Sox are going to really stock up this draft:
Rays: 3 firsts, 5 supplemental (plus a supplemental for Qualls and a supplemental and 1st/2nd for Balfour)
Jays: 1 first, 3 supplemental, 2 second
Red Sox: 2 first, 2 supplemental (plus a supplemental for Felipe Lopez)
So if Balfour, Qualls, and Lopez sign major league deals with other teams then the Rays, Jays, and Sox will have 20 of the first 61 picks.
The Jays count is off by one.
It should be four supplemental picks.
1 for Buck (Marlins)
1 for Olivo (Mariners)
1 for Downs (Angels)
1 for Gregg (Orioles)
Toronto will get a total of 7 picks in the first 72 (or something like that.)
The Rays already get a pick as Qualls has signed with the Padres.
ridiculous…
What will the Orioles have?
Buck Showalter to thank for an inspiring finish that took them out of the top-3?
I would love to see Cashman work under a salary cap system. That would be interesting. Hard salary caps are vital for all sports. The NHL has it. The NFL will once again have it. And the NBA is moving towards it too.
The MLB players union is very strong. If the owners would just stay united they could negotiate a hard salary cap in the next CBA. It might entail another missed year of baseball, but it would be well worth it.
Then you will really find out who the best GM’s are.
Right…that lack of parity explains why there were 9 different World Series champs in the last 10 years, while the Lakers & Spurs & the Patriots and Steelers dominated their respective sports.
This is always the response when people say that a salary cap would be good for the sport, but I would make the argument that it isn’t parity we are after, but an even playing field. The results don’t matter, only the fairness of the rules. The Rays HAVE to be the smartest and best run franchise just to have a chance at competing. The Yankees can be one of the worst run franchises and still be better than the Rays. Just because the World Series champ has been different every year (a result of small samples in play-offs more than anything) doesn’t mean that the current system is fair.
If the Patriots and Steelers can dominate in a sport with an even playing field, they deserve it. They are outsmarting their competiton and being rewarded for it. No one complains of a lack of parity in the NFL, because the best teams win due to their superiority, not due to their huge inherent advantages.
The NBA’s salary cap is a joke. Your NFL examples don’t hold up. The NFL has 4 team divisions with two wild cards and yet the Steelers and Patriots have missed the playoffs multiple times this decade. If MLB had two wild cards, the Yanks would not have missed the playoffs at all this decade. So, while you can’t buy championships in MLB, you can buy sustained success. That being said, I don’t think a salary cap is the solution. Player salaries account for something like 40% of MLB revenue. Most teams play in government funded stadiums. The owners are cleaning up. I like the idea of adding more teams to the the NY metro area. I think the limited revenue sharing works ok, but there should be controls over how the money is spent.
There is a direct correlation between payroll and making the playoffs period. Winning the whole thing is always a crap shoot. Citing who won the final trophy is useless.
What was the last NBA trade that didn’t involve dumping a contract or acquiring an expiring contract? (this consitutes what 90% of NBA trades?)
And the NFL cap works (though there was no cap this year) – because contracts aren’t actually contracts – they are ‘guidelines’. GM’s can cut a player whenever they feel like it, and only guaranteed $ matters. Players like Zambrano, Arod, eventually Howard could be cut when their value no longer matches their contract if the NFL system was used The other issue with the NFL is that the league is tweaked to favor last place teams as teams within a division don’t even play the same schedule – how is that fair and “a level playing field” when the last place team gets a softer schedule than other teams in it’s own division?
I find these comparisons between sports amusing and shallow as it makes it sound like the only difference is a salary cap
the NFL schedule isn’t really as imbalanced as you think. There’s only two games per year that are different than those of your division opponents. For example, the Panthers will get to play the Cardinals and Redskins next year, while the Falcons will play the Eagles and Seahawks. Of course, the Panthers also have to play the Falcons twice, while the Falcons get the lowly Panthers twice, so that pretty much balances itself out.
I would not want to miss an entire season of baseball just to find out how good Brian Cashman is at his job.
He’s better than people give him credit for.
A salary cap is an artificial correction of market inequities.
Rather than an artificial solution, why not opt for the real solution… cut into the bigger market. Expansion into the NY market is the real solution to cutting down the inequity the Yankees have forged.
Or just split up the dollars from the TV deals, Boston was on pace to have a higher payroll than the Yanks and I’ve never heard a good argument for moving another team into their region.
Just to correct the record: Boston has never been on pace to have a higher payroll than the Yankees. Just because Buster Olney had two anonymous sources who said so doesn’t make it true. At no point this offseason did the Baseball-Reference front page show the Sox with a higher projected 2011 payroll than the Yankees, even though the Sox consistently had more players under contract for next season than the Yankees did.
the mlb system is the way it is partially as a systemic reaction to the players being unbelievably screwed over by owners for the sport’s first century (first professional league was 1881, right?)
at least it’s better than european soccer where players are quite literally owned by their organizations and their is nothing approaching a free agent system
The Angels lose again. I bet they were the ones bidding against the Yankees (or playing the role in Boras’ charade.) This one’s not as valuable as Crawford or Beltre would’ve been, but still. Oh-fer. At this price though, I guess you could call it a win. Maybe now they’ll go into rebuilding mode (or “younger & cheaper” if you’re into euphemisms.)
I think Scott Boras is better at his job than Albert Pujols. He gets better contracts, more money, better incentives, etc. for his clients on a consistent basis, and leaves the world saying “wow, i can’t believe HE got THAT” all the time. And obviously the teams signing the players know this, and yet he still pulls it off. Seriously, not sure if he is eligible as an agent or not, but he should get into the HOF. We are watching Babe Ruth.
He plays hardball, but he’s never been accused of doing anything dishonest. I remember a couple of years ago when Furcal’s agent pretended to be getting a contract for Furcal sign only to turn around and use it gain leverage with the Dodgers. Boras has never been accused of doing something like this. I haven’t liked it in the past when he’s caused a player on my team to sign elsewhere for big money, but the blame for this should fall on the players. Boras is just doing the job he’s hired to do. He’s clearly very good at it.
Huh? Sure he’s been accused of dishonesty and unethical practices. Google a bit from other agents and some gms. And it ain’t just jealousy. His practices with poor foreign players are another thing. No he’s been accused of stuff. And no way in hell do I want him in the Hall of Fame.
Yeah, he’s been accused of dishonesty plenty of times. He was accused of dishonesty in both the Johnny Damon and the Mark Teixeira negotiations, and given that’s just one team and two players off the top of my head…
Of course, an accusation is not the same as proof. But the idea that Boras is seen as nothing more a clean fighter has no basis in reality.
the thing is, he is not always consistent. he gets either ridiculously good contracts like arod, soriano or holliday, and then waits for one that never comes and screws the player like damon last season. he also has like a thousand clients so he leverages against each other a lot, so it helps some A LOT but it hurts a couple guys too. all in all though, he is an amazing agent and gets such good contracts. the opt out clauses for soriano are a freakin joke! how the hell did he get the dollars, years AND opt out clauses! so now if the yankees do manage to get as much as they paid for, soriano can opt out for a chance to close somewhere else! just genius…
ridiculoussss
why would he want to go from being one of the top closers in the league to being a set up man?
money talks i guess.
a) if rivera breaks hoffman’s record this year and they win a series, he’ll probably retire
b) rivera’s 41, if he gets hurt, guess who gets the 9th inning?
c) if rivera comes back for 2012 and retires that offseason, then soriano will get to close in 2013
…not that the money didnt hurt
…and good luck if Soriano thinks he’ll get anywhere near $12m/yr if he opts out, even if he has a completely healthy 2011.
I’m not sure how far they will get with the best bullpen in MLB and one #1 starter (C.C.) and a #5 (Hughs), they need statrters.
so glad the sox didnt go after him
http://ducksonthepondkid.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/breaking-soriano-signs-with-yankees/
…what was the purpose of that link, we know he signed , in fact that’s what’s being discussed here…
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