Does money buy the best team???

Let's look at the playoffs....

NY Yankees $189,639,045 vs Indians $61,673,267
Prediction Indians win it. Torre retires

Cubs $99,670,332 vs Diamond Backs $52,067,546
DB's got the broom out.

Philly $89,428,213 vs Rockies $54,424,000
Went to the same cleaning class as D-backs

Boston $143,026,214 vs Angels $109,251,333
Soxs may have something

Your choice $$$$ or heart.

 

Well it sure doesn't hurt.

 

Not Money --- Not Heart

Money and Heart are good things. Buy TALENT is the reason these young teams are successful. The D'Backs and Rockies are out of the spotlight and have the freedom to "give a young player a chance."

Football is much more discriminating than Baseball. Because of the way contracts are written in the NFL, here today gone tomorrow is common in Football, Here today and hang on until it's ugly is our MLB approach.

I can't believe I'm going to say this but I doubt #22 could have been a .500 Pitcher in AAA this year. 45 years old with a 90 FB and a splitter that big league hitters aren't even sniffing? It was a foolish experiment. Why not "experiement" with Justin Verlander or Andrew Miller? I like those odds a lot better.

John Smoltz is still getting it up to the plate with something on it. If he wants to keep playing then fine. But the MLB is way too conservative when it comes to "new blood" and always have been. So are the Japanese! They only allow a maximum of 75 new players in their league each year no matter what! They have other reasons too but that's another story.

The young guys like Halliday are pretty good (and hungry). I know Manny is just being Manny but when is the last time he shagged 100 fly balls? When guys like that run a bad route and miss a key fly ball you just have to grin. Andrew Jones. I'm not a Braves fan but if I was I'd be ready for someone else (almost anyone else). Did he work hard to stay at the top of his game? I think you know the answer. There are 15+ CF's who can out play him today. If he was in the NFL he'd have been selling cars or exercise equipment 3 years ago.

These rants make me tired and it's time to go to work.

 

aguyyouknow I totally agree

He's hit the nail on the head. It's amazing how different each major league sport is because of their Union Agreements.

 

D'Backs Doesn't Like it

Yanks,
Thanks for the support to my already huge ego.......but you'll be hearing from D'Backs for sure. He hates it when people feed the 800 pound gorilla.

 

You can't blame the players.....

All valid points....but look at Clemens. He would've missed out on all that loot doing the dropped call/cellular commercial if George hadn't given him a second...ugh...third....er, uh...FOURTH chance to underwhelm us again this year!

All kidding aside, what would you do? Most of the GM's don't appear to be accomplished ballplayers. Instead, they look like businessmen trying to re-live their youth. Does Epstein or Cashman really look like they have ever swung a bat? Shagged a fly? Why do THEY get to pick the teams and control the purse-strings? Like "ALL" CEO's....they throw MONEY at a problem to fix it and they sleep very well at night. Most of the time, it proves to be an insufficient fix.

Hate to be a kiss-a$$, but I'd rather have Dbacks or Braves running my favorite team. They at least have a feel for the game, a respect for the tradition, and a fundamental knowledge of the prospects.

The bloated payrolls are an immature result of the "chiefs" not being able to recognize talented "indians." (no pun intended for Cleveland fans!) All this being said, you can't blame the players for goofing off and making millions. Heck, I'd do it myself if somebody would let me....wouldn't you?????

 

Right or wrong, baseball has become big business, as have all sports. Some franchises are worth over 1 billion and many in the 4-500 million range. I doubt many owners are going to turn their team/investment over to a former player who did not finish college or turned pro out of HS. The game has advanced beyond that. The key is finding a GM that hires a good staff and trusts their baseball knowledge. Billy Beane in Oakland is unusual. He has intelligence in both baseball and business. Epstein of the Red Sox has done an excellent job. Has he spent a lot? Sure. But the value of the franchise has almost doubled since he has been there. Not a bad return if your looking just at the numbers.

 

Interesting comments. Thanks for sharing.

 

Nope. Go Tribe.

 

My guess

WS will be the smallest payroll. Why? Duh no......