Teixeira signs with the yankees

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: ThePresence
I'm a diehard Yankees fan, and I find it troubling when the Yankees do this kind of thing, it takes away from the sport. The greatness of sports is playing competitively, not outspending everyone else. That said, the Yankees would be stupid not to sign these huge free agent contracts within the current guidelines of the game. If they don't, someone else will. They should not be hesitant to make the move because they are willing to spend more than other teams. I also find it slightly amusing how all the Sox fans gloated after '04 and other fans after this past season how you see that you can't buy championships, it's all bout heart, not payroll. Maybe. But those same people are now complaining how the Yankees are buying a championship again.

Truth be told, the Yankees put enormous pressure on themselves to win. If they win the WS now, nobody will be impressed, if they dont win, everyone will be laughing. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

As a Yankee fan, there will never be another 1996. That team won with grit, guts and heart and were not free agents with insane contracts. Kinda like the NY Giants last year. they overcame adversity and won when they needed to with mostly unheralded players. This team does not have the ability to generate that kind of excitement.

I'm a diehard Sox fan and I agree that when the Yankees go out and spend $400+ million dollars, it hurts the sport. That being said, you're 100% right -- the Yankees are using their greatest asset to its fullest extent. I don't fault them for CC, AJ, or Tex. ANY team would grab these guys if they had the resources.

I don't think the Yankees are buying a championship. That's downright impossible. If anything, they've just tightened the AL East race. The Sox are a very solid team top-to-bottom, especially considering that Lowell and Ortiz seem to be getting healthy again. The Rays have great pitching and if they had a slugger, could be a really scary team.

I'm not ready to crown the Yankees AL East champs, no less WS champs. There's 162 games to play, and it's going to be an awesome season.

Just to be clear -- At this point I think the Yankees are the best team in baseball on paper, but injuries, slumps, and luck could make all that talent null.

 

[SP33Demon]

Makes it even more impressive that the Rays and Phils took it to the limit last season.

Not having a salary cap makes baseball play backseat to the NFL, it's stupid when two teams can buy their way to an All Star team almost every year. I stopped watching until the D.Rays and Phils kicked ass. And I won't watch if it's just NY and/or Boston in the playoffs, parity please Selig you moron.

 

[BeauJangles]

Originally posted by: SP33Demon
Makes it even more impressive that the Rays and Phils took it to the limit last season.

Not having a salary cap makes baseball play backseat to the NFL, it's stupid when two teams can buy their way to an All Star team almost every year. I stopped watching until the D.Rays and Phils kicked ass. And I won't watch if it's just NY and/or Boston in the playoffs, parity please Selig you moron.

This coming season should be interesting simply because the Yankees, Red Sox, and Rays should beat the shit out of each other. Because of that, it seems pretty unlikely to me that the AL Wild Card will come from the AL East.

 

[venkman]

Originally posted by: Shlong
So they had about 80 million come off the books and now spent around 70 million, Merry Christmas.

Free Agency isn't over yet.


Manny, Smoltz, and Fuentes to the Yanks? :Q

The Tigers will send them Gary Sheffield back for a bag of balls as long as they pay his salary for one season.

I do give them credit for one thing do. Instead of going just for the big FA hitters, like they did in the early part of the decade. They are going for the big FA Pitchers and, as any Tiger fan will tell you, the best lineup in baseball doesn't mean squat if you can't get people out.

PS. CC is going to crash and BURN in NY. How can people just COMPLETELY forget how TERRIBLE the guy was in Cleveland before the trade. Anyone remember the previous post season when he was LIT UP by the Red Sox?

Once he starts to slump in NY, the fans and the media will ride him hard and I doubt he will ever recover. He is the type of player that needs to play in a low pressure, small market to succeed.