(Of course the Hot Stove League is what some pundits call "The Silly Season," and NESN isn't much better than CHB with this article either. Don't these people know that the Red Sox have no interest in Captain Intangibles and are sitting back and enjoying watching the Yankees and Jeter slug it out in the press like most of Red Sox Nation is right now? Memo to NESN and the Curly Haired Bastard: Tange is staying in New York. Period. Full stop. It's just a matter of how many years of the contract they can agree on. As far as I am concerned, the more that Jeter can get, the better. The MFY will have a statue playing SS by the time it ends.)
My friend Adam refutes this stupid nonsense (CHB's quotes are in italics):
CHB's article solidifies his place as the biggest moron currently writing about baseball. His article really belongs in The Onion. Here are some "highlights":
Dissing Jeter is not a winning strategy, but the Yankees can get away with it because they know that no team is going to make a serious offer for the iconic shortstop.
How have the MFY "dissed" Tange? A 3-year/$45 million for a rapidly decomposing player, who can't play defense at a premium position, is more than fair. It's charity. The MFY are willing to overpay Jeter because of the past--even though they've already paid a premium for his services.
Which brings us back to John Henry. Suppose the Red Sox step up and shock the world? There is simply no downside to making Jeter a massive offer. In the worst-case scenario he calls your bluff and you get the Yankees captain.
No downside? What is CHB drinking? Any contract of more than $5-7 million is all downside. Jeter was an adequate SS last year. Imagine what he'll be over the next 3-4 years? He isn't getting any younger. CHB's worst-case scenario would be a disaster for the Sox, who already have a SS as good as Jeter: Marco Scutaro. Scoot makes $5 million. Why pay $15+ million for roughly the same player?
I don’t care if Jeter is way past his prime or if the Sox would have to wildly overpay a player of his diminished skills.
I say offer him the world. Forget about Jayson Werth. Blow Jeter away with dollars and years. At worst this would just mean the Sox would jack up the final price the Yankees must pay. It could be sort of like Mark Teixeira-in-reverse.
And if Jeter actually signed with Boston, the damage to the Yankees’ psyche would be inestimable.
I have trouble believing that CHB is dumb enough to actually believe that losing Jeter would damage the MFY.
Jeter finishing his career in a Red Sox uniform would be the 2004 American League Championship Series all over again for the hated New Yorkers. Think of how you’d have felt if the Knicks had signed Larry Bird at the end of his career.
Actually it'd be more like Babe Ruth finishing is career with the Boston Braves.
What’s the harm in offering Jeter $20 million a year over three years? If you can pay J.D. Drew $14 million per year . . . if you can pay a Japanese team $50 million just for the right to speak with Daisuke Matsuzaka . . . if you can buy a futbol club for $476 million, why not spend $60 million to bust pinstripe chops for all the ages?
Jeter is closing in on 3,000 hits. Imagine if he gets his 3,000th hit as a Red Sox . . . at Fenway . . . against Mariano Rivera?
Why pay Jeter $6 million more than JD Drew? The posting money for Dice-K doesn't count against the Luxury Tax. All that matters from an operational standpoint is the annual value of Matsuzaka's 6-year/$52 million contract. In other words, the Sox are on the hook each year for $8.67 million for a pitcher worth 2.5 WAR last year. Jeter was also a 2.5 WAR player last year. Tange will be 37 years old next year, so the chances are slim that he'll get better--and CHB wants to pay him $20 million!
Dice K is 6 years younger than Jeter. When Matsuzaka pitches 150+ innings, he has been a 2.5 to 3.9 WAR player. That's as good or better than what can be expected of the aging Jetes. What are the odds that Jeter is worth a combined 10 WAR over the next three years? $20 million a year is a lot to pay for 3 wins max. When you factor in Scutaro/Lowrie, CHB's idea is even dumber. At SS, Scutaro and Lowrie were worth 1.4 more wins than Jeter last year.
Since we are pretty certain Adrian Beltre is gone, the Red Sox have a big hole at third base. Jeter could play third. Or you could trade Marco Scutaro and put Jeter at short.
Jeter has a huge ego. If he wouldn't move to 3B to accomodate A-Rod a better SS, what makes CHB think he'll move to 3B for Scoot or Lowrie?
This certainly would make the Sox less boring. In an era in which NESN ratings are routinely beaten by reruns of “Everybody Loves Raymond,’’ Derek Jeter could make the network more interesting.
Yep, making the team worse would be exciting. Who wants to watch winning baseball!
No comments:
Post a Comment