Yanks Give Themselves an Early Christmas Gift

The big news yesterday is that the New York Yankees have given themselves and early Christmas gift by signing switch-hitting first baseman Mark Teixiera to a massive 8 year, $180 million deal. This move, as reported throughout the sports world, now gives the Yankees the four highest-paid players in the entire league. Tex, along with recent signing CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter hold the four largest contracts in Major League Baseball.

So here's the question: is this bad for the sport? In about 2001, the Yankess began to shift from a semi-big spending team that had just won four titles in five years, largely with homegrown players like Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera, to a super-big spending club. The result: just two World Series appearances since then, with losses to the big-spending Arizona Diamondbacks (who promptly blew up their own roster to save money) and the small-market Florida Marlins (who blew up their roster of the next several years, despite it not being an expensive group).

Despite the Yankees signing every big name free agent under the sun, the success just hasn't been there. One explanation is that the Yanks teams that were winning didn't have all of the ego issues that we see today, Because they had some lower paid role players, the group functioned more as a team than as a collection of stars. Meanwhile, teams like the Red Sox, although they spend a lot, still have quality players coming up through their systems and spending a lot of time learning their place within the organization. Thus when they reach the Big League, they are ready to contribute in whatever way the team sees fit.

The Yankees have had minimal success with their prospects. Pitcher Chein Ming Wang has been very good, but guys like Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera have been only decent, not stars. Others, like Nick Johnson and Drew Henson, never panned out at the pro level. The jury is still out on pitcher Phil Hughes, among other recent Yankee call-ups. So while the Yankees had all-stars at most positions, they lacked depth on the bench and in the rotation, and haven't good role-player guys, i.e. bench players that can make an impact both in the game and in the lockerroom.

So should the other teams around the league and their fans be outraged at the money the Yankees are throwing around? Well as the Rays last year and the Rockies in 2007 and the Marlins back in 2002 have all proven, a well-run organization with strong player development can still reach the promised land. And while they may not always win, they can be plenty competitive with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox. Until their players leave for the big money, that is.

No post tomorrow. Merry Christmas and I will be back on Friday. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.

Top Five Hitters in Baseball

Last night I went to the Houston Astros-Texas Rangers game at the horribly cramped and poorly air-conditioned Minute Maid Park, and witnessed Lance Berkman go 2-3 with a walk, double, home run, 2 runs and 2 RBI in the Astros 4-3 victory over their in-state rival. This impressive hitting performance got me to thinking: where does The Big Puma rank among MLB hitters? (By the way, isn't that the best nickname in sports right now, only slightly ahead of Jared "The Round Mound of Touchdown"/"The Hefty Lefty"/"J-Load" Lorenzen, now-former QB for the NY football Giants? But that's another list entirely.) Here we go, in classic drama-building reverse order:

Honorable Mention: Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves - On the strength of this year alone (still batting .395 as of this morning), Jones deserves to make this list. And he's not just a one-year wonder; Jones has been a great hitter virtually his entire career in the majors. He's a rare number 1 overall draft pick that truly lived up to his potential, hitting not just for average but for consistent power over the years. Unfortunately, the guys ahead of him are just too good for him to sneak in.

5. Lance Berkman, Houston Astros - Based on this year alone, The Puma probably deserves to be higher than this, but his career numbers don't quite stack up to the others on here. Berkman is having a career year in both average and power numbers and it doesn't look like he'll be slowing down any time soon. If his careers stats were only a little better, he'd be a spot or two higher.

4. Matt Holliday, Colorado Rockies - As a Rockies fan, I'd love to put Holliday higher on this list but I simply can't because of his home/road splits that imply there may still be something to the Coors Field magic (although, honestly, who doesn't hit better at home?). Holliday is one of the most potent hitters in baseball nonetheless, and he hits for average and power and has shown himself capable of hitting very well in the clutch as he helped lead the Rockies to the World Series last year. Amazing how this guy is on the trading block.

3. Manny Ramirez, Boston Red Sox - His power numbers are spectacular and have been his entire career. In the clutch, he and teammate David Ortiz may be the two most feared hitters in baseball. He can also hit for average, but as is often the case with the big swingers, his average isn't always consistently high and he's prone to slumps.

2. Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals - It is oh so tempting to put A-Pu at #1, not only because of his phenomenal regular season accomplishments but for his postseason resume as well. Unfortunately, the man who may be the best hitter of this era has been plagued by injuries, many of which seem like just pure bad luck, and these have prevented him from dominating enough to win more than one MVP award. That said, he is the MLB's active batting average leader and is second in home runs, RBI and runs since he entered the league in 2001. Of course, he's second to...

1. Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees - A-Rod has been a model of consistency and dominance in the regular season since he broke in with the Seattle Mariners in 1995 at age 18. The knock on him of lacking that "clutch" ability or "killer instinct" aside, Rodriguez has been the best player in baseball for many years and has put up absolutely staggering numbers, even when playing for the woeful Texas Rangers (although their park is commonly considered among the best hitters parks in baseball). A-Rod is a 3-time AL MVP and is likely to surpass the career home run totals of Hank Aaron and He Who Shall Not Be Named as long as he is able to stay even moderately healthy. No hitters in the game have to ability to hit for power and average at such a consistent clip which gives him the top spot in this list.