Congratulations Sox!

eddo31 · #1 11-09-04, 03:51 AM

i think that this strategy is for the most part ridiculously inefficient, and the only thing that it accomplishes is the need for 11 man pitching staffs. the platoon splits of some batters makes it a winning situation to make the pitching change at times, but for the most part the differences are unimportant, and all they do is burn through the bullpen.

look at a bullpen like the yankees this year. did anyone but yankees fans really fear felix heredia coming into the game? and yet he has a major league job only because he is a lefthander reliever. the same goes for john franco, mike myers, jesse orosco, etc. sometimes they are valuable to a team, but they are really only valuable to the very best teams, and even then their value is only maximized in the post season, where the short series give greater importance to every out.

Kidd7138 · #2 11-09-04, 06:08 PM

The matchups are beneficial if you have a lefty who is actually really tough on LHB. Mike Myers is pretty good, as was Scott Sauerbeck before he got injured, Eddie Guardado is another. But more often than not managers just throw the lefty out there because they want a lefty/lefty match up. Not all left handed pitchers are abnormally tough on lefties, just from watching the Red Sox I can tell you Alan Embree is equally as tough against lefties and righties. Felix Heredia is just plain bad, he's a terrible example of a LOOGY, the only reason he was in the majors this year was because he was under contract and knows how to throw a baseball in the general direction at home plate, which was enough to earn you a spot in the Yankee bullpen this year.

jimmytheg · #3 11-09-04, 06:49 PM

Side note: I am still giddy about winning the series...and I also think we will have an edge over the Yankees for the next few years. The Yanks did a wonderful job of depleting their farm system, while ours is one of the best in the game. The Yanks couldnt get Randy Johnson by trade because they had nothing to offer.

Steinbrenner's only option to really strengthen his team is through free angency, and while i would never put some imaginary cap on what he would spend, he certainly does have a lot of money already tied up....jeter arod vasquez and mussina together make over 75 million each per year.

I love the Red Sox players, the front office, everything about the organization....maybe 40 years from now we'll be talking about the curse of AROD as the Red Sox win yet again

eddo31 · #4 11-09-04, 10:07 PM

the yankees have something like 170 million tied up in 16 players under contract next year, and then 130 for about ten players in 2006.

dont forget giambis monster contract. arod, jeter, mussina and giambi are all making about 20 mill for the next couple of years, bernie is over 12 mill, sheffield is over 10, vazquez makes good money, etc. they will actually have to bump their payroll well over 200 mill in order to make their team significantly better, just because their system is so bare. their onyl good prospects are essentially still in A-ball.

jimmytheg · #5 11-09-04, 11:05 PM

yes, that does make me feel good inside. I wonder if that is a by-product of George taking over more control....because Cashman did a great job building that system over the years

eddo31 · #6 11-10-04, 12:50 AM

i dont think that it was really cashman that built the system. he came in after newman built up the system. they really have dried up in the minors, with their most recent good player coming up in 2000 (soriano).

steinbrenner clearly makes a number of moves based solely on emotion. some of those moves work out ok (signing sheffield in the offseason, instead of making a run at guerrero, which is essentially a push performance wise, but guerrero cost much more). of course signing guys like jeter to 20 mil a year deals, and giambi, kevin brown, etc. is what has killed the yanks. i am not sure that they have some number that they have to stay under, but i would not be surprised at all if they go way over the 200 mil mark next season.

junYUN · #7 11-10-04, 02:12 AM

i would HARDLY call the red sox farm system one of the best in the game, in fact it's somewhere in the middle of the pack at best.

GeoffM · #8 11-10-04, 09:11 AM

Actually, I think the Yankees and Red Sox have the best farm systems of all-time. What better than to have somewhere around 20 other teams groom players, and then have them play for them. The Yankees use MLB as a farm system for their team, as do the Red Sox. Who needs to develop players when someone will do it for you

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junYUN · #9 11-10-04, 06:41 PM

haha, great point.

Chutups · #10 11-10-04, 07:15 PM

LOL, I completely agree. But I think it's catching up to the yanks they can only pick up free agents now, because they have no prospects to trade and the players they do have to trade are payed way too much.

jimmytheg · #11 11-10-04, 08:08 PM

Exactly. There is only so much out there on the free agent market every year. And they can't get em all. They cant get better through trades.

It adds up to a team of high priced talent, that isnt really a team. Paper champions. I bet most yankee fans wish they still had guys like scott brosius and paul o'neil and tino martinez. These guys weren't superstars like giambi and arod and sheffield, but they played balls-out, and were team first guys. Same goes for Wells and Pettite over Brown and Vasquez.

This new Yankees team is just a bunch of paper champions, and the only way for them to improve is to go out and sign more high priced alleged superstars.

The Red Sox dynasty is upon us