…And Everything’s Back to Normal
Teixeira to NY. 8 years, something like $180 million. A no trade clause, and God knows what else.
All you can do is laugh.
Over $400 million dollars committed to three free agents this winter. Hey, I can’t really fault anyone here. I’m basically a free market advocate when it comes to baseball and everything else, and thus whenever the Red Sox bludgeon poorer teams with their wallet, I kick my feet up onto my desk, light up my cigar and crack a Mr. Potter-esque grin. Bemoaning these tactics (even if they are conducted on a much larger scale) would be the ultimate hypocrisy.
In a way, I am suddenly overcome with this feeling of comfort. Last year’s Boston/NY season series, while entertaining, was missing a certain type of electricity they once had in years past. The Sox were clearly the better team, and the game outcomes reflected that for the most part. People often say that Red Sox fans are happiest when they are underdogs, and sometimes I think that might be the case. It’s certainly a familiar feeling.
This feels just like the offseason before 2004, when New York acquired Alex Rodriguez, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, and Javier Vasquez. They tried playing fantasy baseball back then, and lost in a historically embarrassing fashion. While the Vegas bookmakers will certainly be favoring the Bronx Bombers to reclaim an AL East crown, it will be an entertaining show at the very least.
It is refreshing to see Yankees finally dispense with the whole “The Steinbrenners are no longer in control / Cashman has autonomy / We have a fixed budget / We are the Oakland A’s with money” charade. I prefer to see them behaving like this: furiously spending as much money as they can with absolutely zero regard for the median. They are easier to hate, and more fun to root against. Most importantly, there will loads of good baseball played in the AL East this season.
Welcome back, old friends.
“In a way, I am suddenly overcome with this feeling of comfort. Last year’s Boston/NY season series, while entertaining, was missing a certain type of electricity they once had in years past. The Sox were clearly the better team, and the game outcomes reflected that for the most part.”
The Red Sox and Yankees split the season series 9-9 in 2008, The Yankees scored 93 runs and gave up 93 runs.
Your numbers are skewed by the last series of the year, which was meaningless for Boston, where the Yankees outscored them 28-14.
I stand by my assertion.
For example: David Pauley started one of those games and they gave up 19 runs, ect…