Day 66

Nobody said life was fair, or even sports for that matter. But here we are again, on Dec 21, and the Yankees have again snagged the prize of the free agent market, CF Johnny Damon. Damon signed a 4 year, $52 million deal with the Yanks last night, leaving the rival Red Sox for greener pastures and more green. The Yankees starting lineup now features eight players who make over $10 million a year. Their starting rotation's payroll for the third consecutive year will be more than the entire payroll of the Indians. Does the sport of baseball, the national pastime, have an even playing field?

Lets take a look at something. It is an easy and convenient excuse for Tribe fans or A's fans or Twins fans to throw up their hands and say "well, season's already over, the Yankees got Damon in CF to go with A-Rod at third, Jeter at short, Sheffield in right, and horses like Randy Johnson and Mariano Rivera anchoring their pitching staff. How are we supposed to compete?" But how many World Series titles have the Yankees won since they have gone to the "lets go out and buy the best free agent in the market every year" plan? That would be zero. They don't have the intangible guys like a Paul O'Neill, a Scott Brosius, a Tino Martinez in his prime. They may knock the crap out of the ball and have no holes in their lineup, but pitching wins championships, as the White Sox showed us last year. Look at the Yankees bullpen situation. From year to year, they scramble to find good set up men to get the ball to Mariano Rivera, and their lack of quality in the pen has cost them dearly. Last year they signed Felix Rodriguez away from the Giants and he was a bust. They brought back Mike Stanton, he was a huge bust. Paul Quantrill? bust. Things were so bad for them that by season's end, they were fighting for their lives with essentially a 3 man bullpen of Tom Gordon, Tanyon Sturtze, and Rivera. And how did they do in the playoffs? Loser in round 1. This year they are going to try hothead Kyle Farnsworth and Octavio Dotel who is coming off of Tommy John surgery and wont be ready until July. Having the head to play under the bright lights of the New York media and fans in something that must be taken into account. Not everyone can handle it. Just ask Jeff Weaver, Javier Vazquez, and Ed Whitson.

Now take a look at the White Sox last year. Their lineup didn't overwhelm anyone. They had their big bopper in Paul Konerko who seemed to get the big hit everytime he needed to. But more importantly, their lineup was not loaded with guys who try to hit the ball out of the ballpark everytime. They knew how to move runners, they could bunt, they could hit and run, they hit sacrifice flies. The Yankees far too often rely on the three run homer. That is the trap the Tribe fell into down the stretch last year. Compare the pitching and you see why the Sox did what they did last year. Their rotation was the best in the league and their bullpen was deep and rock solid from both sides. They had Dustin Hermanson and Bobby Jenks both capable of finishing games, Cliff Pollite and Luis Vizcaino from the right side, Neil Cotts and Damaso Marte from the left side. Ozzie Guillen had 6 guys (5 really, Marte was in the doghouse) he knew he could count on and didn't need to burn anyone out, unlike Joe Torre who caused Tom Gordon's arm to nearly fall off. Their payroll last season was in the $75 million range, which is less than half of the Yankees.

The Tribe won 93 games with a $42 million payroll, good enough to make the playoffs in any other year since baseball went to the three division format in 1994 except one. The A's, if not for Bobby Crosby's broken hand, probably win the AL West with a payroll in the $50 million range. Its all about developing young talent, having depth in your pitching staff, staying injury free and having some calculated risks work out for you. The Tribe doesn't win 93 games without the signings of Bob Howry and Scott Sauerbeck in the bullpen. Both guys were signed the year before when nobody else wanted them after they had arm problems. They don't win without Juan Gonzalez getting hurt and therefore thrusting stud prospect CF Grady Sizemore into the everyday lineup. They don't win if all 5 starters hadn't stayed relatively healthy all year long. We will never again see a season where all 5 guys make 30 starts. Never again.

So the question remains, is it an even playing field? The answer is somewhere between yes and no. If you are a big market team, you have a bigger margin for error because you can sign over your past mistakes. If you are a small market team, you have to have a strong farm system, good young talent that doesn't take up a lot of payroll, and you cannot afford to make a big mistake in free agency. The Matt Lawton signing was a blessing in disguise for Tribe GM Mark Shapiro. Because Lawton was such a huge bust after signing a 4 year $28 million deal, Shapiro makes the smart moves going after guys he knows are proven commodities. He knows a good bargain and knows good young talent. Would I rather have the Yankees payroll? Of course I would. But can the Indians win under this current economic structure? Yes, but the odds aren't in our favor.

Song of the Day: "Funky Dividends" by Three Times Dope