Not to be too Yankee-centric, but here's a fun what-if: what if George had decided Beltran was the number one priority this offseason? Their offense would be a lot better; no issues about Womack in LF; Bernie and Giambi could split DH/1B (that's an expensive platoon); and they wouldn't have had to sign both Tino AND Sierra so could get a little more bench depth.
Money of course was an issue. But I think it could've been done with some smart decisions. Beltran would've cost $17M, plus luxury tax -- could their 2005 salary be reduced by $17M, given previous contracts? Let's see...use Andy Phillips at 2B rather than sign Woe-mack (saving $4M); say yes to Wells when he called, rather than sign Wright (saving, oh, $3.5M)...hmmm...And then cancel the dental plans of everyone in the Yankees organization, leading to a total savings of $17M.
Ha ha. Seriously, how about this: if they had been content with Beltran, and not gone after The Unit, they'd have saved $5M (in salary) and $8.5M (cash to the D-Backs), plus they'd have kept two prospects, Dioner "Dave" Navarro and Brad Halsey -- who's doing quite well in Arizona so far (2-0, 3.09 ERA, 1.14 WHIP), while making league minimum. And despite a couple shaky outings to start the season, Javier Vazquez is starting to settle in. So there you have it: Beltran in CF, with a rotation of Vazquez/Mussina/Brown/Wells/Halsey, for slightly less money than they're paying now. Of course, Brown would still suck, and Wells could still get hurt, but Wang and Henn would be available. I would argue this rotation is no worse than their real one. Only this Yankees team includes Carlos Beltran in center field.
Not that I'm complaining.
I think they could have done Beltran (as outlined) and gotten Pavano. Although Vazquez may have been to damaged to return.
ReplyDeleteRotation - Mussina, Vazquez, Pavano, Brown, Wells - they like vets and it would have been hard for them to hand the 5th starter to Halsey. Even the sox don't like to have inexperienced pitchers as number 5. We only ended up with Arroyo as our number 5 last year b/c BK sucked.
Not that I'm complaining. Amen.
Yeah, I knew I was forgetting someone. So that's like $7M more. Still, calling up Halsey would've been much more attractive than calling up Wang or Henn.
ReplyDeleteWang and Henn...I'm trying to think of a good "cock" joke here. Any ideas?
Theo really let Pedro walk because he didn't want to give the greatest player in franchise history an 11th year and a chance to end his career in Boston?
ReplyDeleteFIRE THEO!
I am not sure who anonymous is, but Pedro is NOT the greatest player in Sox history. He certainly is one of them, but letting him go was not a bad move.
ReplyDeleteI would say that Ted Williams ranks above him with Yaz and others...
Anyway, I would expect someone who is a Yankees' fan to post anonymously and take a shot at Theo...Let's see...Yankees are 11-17 with a $65MM+ pitching staff and a bunch of stars...and...Theo put together the first Sox team to win a World Championship in decades...hmmmmm...You're right we should fire him. Nice thoughtful post by the way...I guess it was too painful to go to any Yankees' blogs, right?
And a true fan would know that Cashman really very little to do with the Yankee dominance of the late 90s...
Oh, and by the way, the Sox threw boatloads of money at Pedro. Pedro said HE CHOSE not to sign with Boston because Omar Minaya visited him in the Dominican by himself and, therefore, showed "greater respect" as opposed to a group of owners visiting him in DR...makes sense. Pedro has since said that he was done with Boston.
ReplyDeleteAnd what about Cashman signing Giambi then booting the Tino Martinez who helped them get a bunch of rings? Just kicked him to the curb...Then getting Martinez back when his career is basically done to replace Giambi whose career is done...
Uh-oh. Someone woke Matt up.
ReplyDelete