Thursday, December 9, 2010

My thoughts on Carl Crawford's contract, Cliff Lee's demands, and Tom Brady's Uggs ad

I'm peeved. It looks like Carl Crawford is no longer an option for the Yankees, now that Boston is signing him. I'm a little taken aback at how much money the Red Sox are willing to give Crawford; he's a very good player, but is he worth seven years and $142 million? I dunno.

The Sox have reloaded with Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez (BTW, love that "we're going to pretend he hasn't signed a contract extension until Opening Day, so we can save on luxury tax." Only Boston could get away with that scheme!) Now this means the Yanks are going to have to overpay even more for Cliff Lee, and even then, I'm not sure they will get him.

An aside -- I went to the Boston Globe's site this morning to read the Crawford news and saw a big article about how Tom Brady is now doing Uggs ads. Yeah, I'm sure men will be buying those boots in droves!

But I digress. Anyhow, I wrote at the end of the season that I didn't think the Yankees getting Cliff Lee was a sure thing. When all is said and done, could I see Lee staying with the Rangers? Absolutely. Nolan Ryan asked Lee's agent to tell him what it would take for him to stay in Texas. If they match the Yankees' offer, Lee will still end up with more money, thanks to Texas' lower cost of living and lack of state income tax.

Gee, I'm glad that the Yankees front office had to spend the last month wrangling with re-signing Derek Jeter, instead of getting to spend more time to do things to, you know, actually improve the team. Thanks, dude, for being all about the pinstripes!


What do you think? Tell us about it!

17 comments:

Mark the Spark said...

I'm not concerned too much with Boston's signings. Boston always has a good offense in that bandbox. It comes down to pitching with them. When they have it, they're good. And if we sign Lee I like ours better. That being said we may have to give Lee $30 mil a year. We need him that bad. Yikes!

Uncle Mike said...

Who needs Carl Crawford? Not the Yankees, they've got Brett Gardner.

The Yankees haven't improved the team? Of course they have: They let Javier Vazquez walk away.

The Red Sox? Well, 2011 will be an odd-numbered year, which means Josh Beckett (this generation's Bret Saberhagen) will have a good year, but John Lackey has become quite average, Daisuke Matsuzaka may never pitch well again, and their bullpen remains a fright. And with the Rays cutting payroll (including letting Crawford go without lifting a finger) and the Orioles and Jays still far from contention, it looks like the Yankees are once again cruising to October.

Which means a GREAT year for A-Rod... through September 28. After that, we'll see if we get the 2009 version, or the 2004-08 and '10 version.

BrooklynGirl said...

Uncle Mike, you really need to let go of you hatred of Alex. Either its a team game or its not. I don't blame Jeter for the teams failure to win championships during his 7 year tenure as captain, because its a team game.

So why do you continue to harp on Alex not winning a championship until 2009 (a championship in which your beloved captain acknowledges that Alex was a major part of why the team got chamionship# 27? Your beloved captain would not have ring #5 without Alex in 2009, his first since 2000, and first as captain since 2003.

Alex hit 30HR and drove in over 100RBI despite missing about A MONTH of the season! What's the Captain's excuse for his weak year? In fact your beloved Captain was either an instant out leading off, a double play rally killer or striking out a lot in the postseason.

Alex has done enough in his career to be ridiculed. We all know it chapter and verse. But to selectively keep bring up the past to underscore your worship of Jeter, has run its course.

No one is perfect as your beloved Captain has demonstrated these past few weeks.

Unknown said...

Unbelievable. You're even blaming the Crawford signing on Jeter being selfish. What's next? Global warming? The Kennedy assassination?

The problem here is that while our GM was rapelling down a building, his direct competitor beat him at his own game...again. As much as I hate to say this: Theo deserves a tip of the ol' cap. His team is now very strong while ours, even with Lee, still has some holes.

Uncle Mike said...

BrooklynGirl, did you ever wonder WHY Jeter is beloved? It's because, without him, the '86 Mets would still be the last World Series winners from New York.

I continue to harp on the differences between Jeter and A-Rod because Lisa does, in the other direction, and she can't change the fact that Jeter has done more for this team, things stats alone simply cannot cover up.

You say Jeter wouldn't have Ring 5 without A-Rod? More likely, he would, if not for A-Rod's chokes in October '04, '05, '06 and '07. He might even have Ring 6, or 7 -- and that's giving fair credit to (as far as we know) non-steroided opposition like the '05 Angels and White Sox, the '07 Indians and the '08 Rays.

R.Waters: No, the Red Sox are not nearly as strong as you think. Crawford will be exposed as a Tropicana Field player at Fenway, and their pitching makes ours look like the '63 Dodgers'. If anything, the team we might most have to watch is Buck Showalter's booster-shot Orioles.

BklynSoxFan said...

"Only Boston could get away with that scheme!"

No, it's called being smart and knowing the rules.

Lisa Swan said...

Mike,

Ahem. For the, oh, I don't know, about the gazillionth time, the Yankees would never have made the playoffs in either 2005 or 2007 without A-Rod's MVP seasons, something you never want to acknowledge, because it would point out that A-Rod has three MVPs, while Jeter has zero.

And you cannot prove in any way, shape, or form that Jeter is a better player than A-Rod, those the nonsense about "things stats alone simply cannot cover up." Spare me.

Lisa Swan said...

One other thing, Mike,

Let's review the 2004 and 2007 postseasons:

2004 ALCS:

A-Rod: .258/.318./576
Jeter: .200/.333/.233

2007:
A-Rod: .267/.353.467
Jeter: .176/.176/.176

Only in your bizarro world are both series' losses A-Rod's fault more than Jeter's.

Lisa Swan said...

R.waters81 -- That's a fair point on Cashman rappelling. I thought it was a dumb idea myself.

BrooklynGirl said...

Mike: The 2004 collapse was Alex's fault, sorry in that one the blame starts and ends with fault decison-making by Joe Torre, starting first with no retailation for Pedro knocking down Matsui and his boneheaded decisions with Mo and refusing to have the players bunt against Schilling and his "bloody" red sock. As Lisa said without Alex in '05 they would even been in the playoffs and in the '06 playoffs the whole team didn't hit at all(much like this past season). I guess it was Alex's fault that Joba had to keep pitching with the bugs flying all over him in Cleveland in 07 (again Torre sleepwalking.In 2008 plans for Joba, Hughes and Kennedy to be in the rotation along with Wang's mid season injury and Girardi's rough first year doomed that team (but I'm sure Alex was the main culprit there too in your version of recent Yankee history). It's laughable.

The Emperor said...

It's Alex's fault for the recession. It's Alex's fault for the government bailouts. It's Alex's fault for the earthquake in Haiti. It's Alex's fault for Hurricase Katrina. It's Alex's fault for Keith Richards shooting heroin. It's Alex's fault for George Steinbrenner passing away. It's Alex's fault for the drug cartel crisis in Mexico. It's Alex's fault for Proposition 19. It's Alex's fault for the eurodollar. It's Alex's fault for the double-digit unemployment in America. It's Alex's fault for the death of Bruce Lee (even though Alex wasn't born yet). It's Alex's fault for Watergate (still not born yet). It's Alex's fault for terrorism. It's Alex's fault for communism. It's Alex's fault for the Illumanati.

Got constipation? A-Rod's fault. Got a cold? A-Rod again. Flu? Herpes? Down's Symdrome? A-Rod's A-go.

SiscoVanilla said...

I have to say Lisa, you have some of the best comments to a blog that I have seen in a long time. You seem to bring out the best and worst (sometimes at the same time) in people. On to Crawford.

What I found interesting about the signing is that Crawford is the first player to sign a deal of $100 million or more with never having a season of over 20 homers. Which leads me to believe that if (God forbid, don't want to wish any ill on anyone) Crawford were to hurt a knee or an ankle and it diminishes his speed then Boston is stuck with an expensive and powerless Jim Rice. At least if Adrian Gonzalez post extension gets hurt he can still play first base and DH and be productive at the plate. I don't begrudge anyone making money, but I think the Bosox are taking a huge risk with giving him seven years.

Uncle Mike said...

Okay, Lisa, let’s review… and in each of these cases I’m counting a walk or a hit-by-pitch as both an at-bat and a hit, to give fair treatment for simply getting on base:

2004 ALCS, Games 1-3: Yankees won all 3. Only needed to win 1 more. Game 4: Jeter 2-for-5, A-Rod 2-for-6 with 2 RBIs. Can’t blame either man for that loss.

Game 5: Jeter 1-for-7 with 3 RBIs (his only time on base a bases-loaded double), A-Rod 3-for-7 (2 walks & a HBP) but no RBIs. Miguel Cairo doubled leading off the 8th, Jeter sacrificed him to 3rd with just 1 out, then A-Rod struck out. He struck out again in the 10th.

Game 6: Jeter 1-for-4 with an RBI, A-Rod 1-for-4 with no RBIs. Jeter had just singled home Cairo in the 8th when A-Rod followed it up with The Slap; if he’d just taken his groundout like a man, Jeter would’ve been allowed to keep 2nd base. Not that Gary Sheffield would’ve gotten him home, as he was another Yankee who tended to disappear in October. But if this doesn’t sum up my side of the argument, it’s not my fault.

Game 7: Jeter 1-for-4 with an RBI, A-Rod 0-for-4. Although this was all the fault of the pitchers, Kevin Brown and Javy Vazquez. If Brown had done his job, A-Rod’s collar might not have mattered. Then, of course, there was the Sox steroid issue… but if the A-Rod you see had shown up in Game 5 or 6 there probably wouldn’t have been a Game 7.

2005 ALDS: Jeter 8-for-22 (again, counting a walk as a hit + at-bat) 1 with 2 homers and 5 RBIs; A-Rod 8-for-22 (although 6 of those were walks) and a double but no RBIs. Yanks lost. MVP? Most Vacant Player.

2006 ALDS: Jeter 9-for-17 with a solo homer (his only RBI), A-Rod 2-for-15 (a single and an HBP), no RBIs. Gee, I wonder why Joe Torre batted him 8th in Game 4?

2007 ALDS: Jeter 3-for-17 with 1 RBI, A-Rod 6-for-17 with a solo homer his only RBI… and that homer hit in Game 4 after the Yankees were already down 6-3 and had nobody on, after Game 2 when he’d struck out with Jeter on 2nd with 1 out in the 4th, struck out with Abreu on 1st with none out in the 7th, and struck out with Abreu on 2nd with 2 out in the 9th. If he’d gotten a hit in those cases, the bugs wouldn’t have mattered (BrooklynGirl’s point). MVP? Mike Visibly Peeved.

And even taking into account the Yankees probably would have lost the AL East to the Red Sox and the Wild Card to the Indians in 2005, A-Rod canceled it out with his ALDS performance – as I’ve said before, we are not the Braves, Division Titles are but a stepping-stone to the true prize. And the Yankees were still 6 games ahead of the Tigers and Mariners for the ’07 Wild Card, so A-Rod was not much of a difference-maker there.

Maybe you wouldn’t think “my world” was so “bizarro” if A-Rod were actually Superman. October is his Kryptonite.

Lisa Swan said...

Mike,

You say, "And even taking into account the Yankees probably would have lost the AL East to the Red Sox and the Wild Card to the Indians in 2005, A-Rod canceled it out with his ALDS performance – as I’ve said before, we are not the Braves, Division Titles are but a stepping-stone to the true prize."

Then what does that say about the Yankee captain? Ten years, $189 million, one ring. What a winner!

Lisa Swan said...

"2007 ALDS: Jeter 3-for-17 with 1 RBI, A-Rod 6-for-17 with a solo homer his only RBI… and that homer hit in Game 4 after the Yankees were already down 6-3 and had nobody on, after Game 2 when he’d struck out with Jeter on 2nd with 1 out in the 4th, struck out with Abreu on 1st with none out in the 7th, and struck out with Abreu on 2nd with 2 out in the 9th. If he’d gotten a hit in those cases, the bugs wouldn’t have mattered (BrooklynGirl’s point). MVP? Mike Visibly Peeved."

Funny how you forgot all the double plays Jeter hit into (and for that matter, Posada.) Even in a series where Jeter hit .176, it's still all A-Rod's fault. The Emperor is right!

Lisa Swan said...

One other point: "Maybe you wouldn’t think “my world” was so “bizarro” if A-Rod were actually Superman. October is his Kryptonite."

OY! I CANNOT LISTEN TO IT ANYMORE! ENOUGH ALREADY!

Good grief. How many times did you say on this board, Mike, that if A-Rod did in October, all would be forgiven? Then he only had one of the greatest postseasons of all times, and helps lead the Yankees to No. 28, and you're still dredging up ancient history. You talk about 2004 more than Red Sox fans do!

Lisa Swan said...

FHPromos,

That's a really fascinating stat about Crawford! Thanks for letting me know about it.

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