Yankees sign Texiera

[Son of a Badger]

This is getting ridiculous :mad:

How are teams like the Twins supposed to compete when a team gives 420 million to 3 players?

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3790141

[coolhandgopher]

Seems like they're expected to sign Man Ram too. Utterly ridiculous. There's competitive unbalance and then there's two teams willing & able to spend ridiculous sums of money (Yanks and Red Sox). Nothing is guaranteed come post-season, but one starts to wonder if MLB will be the first pro sport to eat its way to starvation-I would guess tough economic times, more expensive seats, and a team lavishly spending money might not sell well with fan bases across the landscape, you begin to wonder how willing corporations will be able to sponsor teams/afford box seats. Of course, it could just be business as usual for MLB-this is the sport that canceled its own postseason because of a strike, ignored the plague of steroids on the sport, and continues to draw record numbers of fans.

[parkinglotgopher]

Is being the general manager of the New York Yankees officially the easiest job in America now? Give me a checkbook with about a billion dollars in it and I'll put together a great baseball team too.

[Son of a Badger]

But of course have the tax-payers pay for your new stadium. Baseball needs to start thinking salary cap or I can see some teams going bankrupt.

[Jike Spingleton]

The Yankees haven't won anything in going on nine years now.

I still prefer this to the "parity" that has ruined the NFL.

[Roy Christensen]

I would have loved to see a spending cap for baseball tams which included all portions of a baseball team's on field operations ie player salaries, scouting, coaches, minor leagues and such. Had this been done "back in the day" super skin flint Cal Griffith would have had a dynasty to rival the old Yankees. That guy could squeeze a dollar.

[BleedGopher]

The Yanks have spent more than $400M this year on free agents...we've signed Nick Punto.

Can you imagine what the M&M boys will be offered in a couple of years? They are younger than Texiera and both have better all around games.

Go Gophers!!

[coolhandgopher]

It´s columns like this that drive me nuts. . .admire them for what, exactly? Having no conscience with their checkbook? Driving the price of salaries towards astronomical ends, while all other teams are paring back? That´s admirable? I´ll choose to save my admiration for teams that build through their farm system while supplementing that talent with the occassional big free agent signing.

And I guarantee, if the Yankees are struggling this season because of poor middle relief or young players not delivering or inadequate defense, someone will write a column saying how difficult a job it is to be the Yankees´GM and/or manager because expectations are so high.

http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/story/11189249

[Gopher4Life]

cool,

>>I´ll choose to save my admiration for teams that build through their farm system while supplementing that talent with the occasional big free agent signing.<<

Agreed. And for it to actually be called sport, some degree of competitive balance must be maintained. Because it allows 9and promotes) such uneven playing fields, MLB has become a joke.

Jike,

>>I still prefer this to the "parity" that has ruined the NFL.<<

That's either a poor use of sarcasm or one of the most short-sighted comments I've ever read around here.

[GophersInIowa]

The Yankees haven't won anything in going on nine years now.

I still prefer this to the "parity" that has ruined the NFL.

Why has it ruined the NFL? Just about every team feels like they have a legitimate shot at winning the super bowl every year. The NFL is most popular now than it's ever been so I don't know how it's "ruined."

The problem for me isn't so much about winning the world series. Once a team gets to the playoffs, anything can happen. The problem is now, teams like the Yankees and Red Sox will probably get to the playoffs virtually every year. The only thing really stopping either of those teams is that they're in the same division. Sure teams like the Twins, Rays, and Marlins can have their success too but teams like that rely heavily on their farm system. If a few players don't "pan out" like they're expect to, then success can be hard to come by. What if Santana and Mauer developed into just average players instead of superstars? I'm guessing the Twins would not have been as successful as they have been. Possibly, even no division titles. When a player or two doesn't pan out for the Yankees, no big deal. They just go out and get someone else the next year. The Twins can't do that.

I'm hoping the Yankees sign Manny too just so hopefully MLB realizes how ridiculous this is getting.

[Gopher4Life]

>>...hopefully MLB realizes how ridiculous this is getting.<<

On this Christmas Eve, my wish for MLB is that it will soon crash and burn so that baseball can go bankrupt and wiser heads can then begin anew and do it right this time. On the other hand, the feds would probably just use taxpayer revenue to bail out Selig and the foolish owners.

[Jike Spingleton]

Why has it ruined the NFL? Just about every team feels like they have a legitimate shot at winning the super bowl every year.

To me, that's precisely the problem. Greatness in the NFL (are we still allowed to refer to it as such, or must it always be called "the National Football League" now?) has always been defined by "Team of the Decade" designations: the Packers of the 60's, the Steelers of the 70's, the 49ers of the 80's, the Cowboys of the 90's. That the Patriots have won three Super Bowls in the current climate is a testament to just how good they've been, because the NFL makes it almost impossible for a team to remain good for very long. That's a bad thing, IMO - it's more interesting when we can hate that bully who likes to think they own the place, i.e. the Yankees in baseball, or G4L on GopherHole.

The Vikings could not only stumble into the playoffs at 9-7, they could get the #3 seed in the NFC. We could see a pair of 8-8 division champions out west. The NFC South has never had a division champion that DIDN'T finish in LAST place the year before (just think about that one). The Dolphins going from 1-15 to 10-5 might be a feel-good story to some, but to me it's just an example of what's wrong with the NFL. It pales in comparison to what the Rays pulled off in the AL East this year, taking years of developing their minor league talent, some shrewd trades (thanks, Twins!) and vaulting to the top.

Like Coolhand said, that's admirable. The Twins could do it too, but they're too cheap to add the occasional free agent who isn't five years past his prime. If they maintain their current business practices when they move into that shiny new stadium, hopefully the anger gets directed their way rather toward the Yankees, who are merely taking the money they bring in and putting it back into the on-field product (uh oh, starting to sound like a Republican here, better correct myself...."We need socialism in sports, but nowhere else!")