AJ to New York done deal according to ESPN

[Guest rochester]

I'm kinda happy for him - wish he could have come home and see his wife and kids more but how could he turn it down? The injury concerns? Isn't there concerns with every pitcher (yes, I know the history)?

He is a big pick-up (with CC) for a team with seemingly no budget. With a new stadium anyone that thought they weren't going to go crazy this offseason...

[Brady9Fan]

AJ for 5 years is risky, but it's not like the O's were wasting money.

Even for Yankee standards, these two moves were a total waste. I can see this backfiring on the Yanks, especially if they finish 2009 in 3rd place or lower. Who would take the blame then?

[Mike B]

Lot's more teams could have done it, including the O's. They simply chose not to.

You look at the list of biggest contracts in ML history and there are a lot of teams on that list other than the three you mention. ARod to Texas, Schmidt to LA and Zito to SF come to mind, but there are lots of others.

The O's and Nats are offering Tex 160 - 180 million, which is proof enough that they are capable of these kinds of contracts.

What Frobby & SG and others have said is more accurate - most teams can handle one or two of these kinds of contracts, but very few teams other than the Yanks, Mets and Red Sox can give them out on a regular basis and still survive if they go wrong.

I disagree. Not many can take on 40 million a year on 2 pitchers on top of the exixting payroll. They have 90 million tied up on 4 players. Jeter, AROD, CC and AJ. My point was not many can dump 240 million for 2 pitchers.

[Believer]

The Yanks dropped $60M from contracts ending in 08 (Mussina, Giambi, Abreu, etc..) and so far have only added $38M or so. They still have another $22M to spend just to get back to 08 levels - not to mention the additional revenue from the new stadium.

The Yankees spend for glitz. They are the #1 media market in the U.S. and have to create a reason for New Yorkers and visitors to spend big bucks to go to a game. I know several long term Yankee fans who miss the teams w/o Arod and others.

I don't think this signing or any others they make this offseason guarantees the Yankees anything other than they will be competitive. It's still a long road to the World Series and they need luck along with a competitive team.

For the O's, the Yankees (and Red Sox) spending just guarantees that when we eventually do get back to the playoffs, we will certainly have earned it.

[mweb]

Exactly. For at least 28 other teams, if this blew up it would be a crippling disaster. For the Yankees, if it blows up its an inconvenience.

Yep. I don't think it makes sense for anyone who wanted AJ for a more reasonable contract to be happy about the Yanks overpaying him. If you were ok with the O's signing him for 4/54 or so, well guess what, this contract to the Yanks is no more a financial burden for them than 4/54 would be to us.

The injury history with AJ is also overblown as I've said many times. Yes, this is too much money for us or most teams to spend on AJ, just like 7/170 is too much for CC, but to the Yanks, it's not a problem.

[bluedog]

I disagree. Not many can take on 40 million a year on 2 pitchers on top of the exixting payroll. They have 90 million tied up on 4 players. Jeter, AROD, CC and AJ. My point was not many can dump 240 million for 2 pitchers.

Many can - they choose not to. They spend the money on other things. It's a choice.

There is a difference between can't and won't. I'll agree that many won't because of the risk or that many won't because they are unwilling to spend that kind of money on pitchers or that many won't because they want to be fiscally responsible.

But that's not the same as can't.

[Fla_O'sfan]

What irks me is that with all the holes the Orioles currently have, you'd think that the FO would be looking at other free agents besides Burnett and Teixeira. There doesn't seem to be much of an effort to negotiate with anyone else. . Once neither signs here, you'd like to think that they might go after Dunn or Sheets, for example,but that doesnt seem to be the case. I guess they're saving up $$ for next year's crop. Which available star will O's fans be unrealistically be speculating about all summer next year

[mikezpen]

Burnett wasn't coming here once they started him 5-year contracts-if he was ever coming here at all.

The rich get richer...

[mikezpen]

Burnett wasn't coming here once they started him 5-year contracts-if he was ever coming here at all.

The rich get richer...

[Malike]

You watch, Sheets will be a Yankee next.

[alskor]

What irks me is that with all the holes the Orioles currently have' date=' you'd think that the FO would be looking at other free agents besides Burnett and Teixeira. There doesn't seem to be much of an effort to negotiate with anyone else. . Once neither signs here, you'd like to think that they might go after Dunn or Sheets, for example,but that doesnt seem to be the case. I guess they're saving up $$ for next year's crop. Which available star will O's fans be unrealistically be speculating about all summer next year[/quote']

There's no point in marshaling your resources to sign a non-premium free agent if youre not completely in contention/go for it now mode. By signing free agents you are by definition overpaying to acquire a piece. That's the first major problem with free agency: you are forced to pay more for what youre getting that it is worth. The second major problem is risk. Overly aggressive free agent signings come back to bite teams that are still building. You end up tying up dollars and a decent portion of your payroll in a dud - and the end result is you lowered your ceiling by the time youre finally competing for titles. No move should be made right now that has the potential to take anything away (in terms of $$ or opportunity cost) from the 2010, 20011+ teams.

You dont sign free agents just to sign them. If you can add premium resources you otherwise dont have access to then that makes sense to do it. Teixeira is in that category. Im not sure Burnett is even in that category, to tell you the truth. I dont know who else you would like them to go after but guys like Raul Ibanez, Pat Burrell, Rafael Furcal, Milton Bradley, Jon Garland - these guys dont make sense to pursue. They only make sense if they are cheap - which they wont be until late in the offseason. There is really no other free agent available left that is worth the O's heavily pursuing right now and having to outbid other teams for. Theyre better off waiting to see what guys are left without dance partners come January and see if they can find a bargain. It appears that there might be a decent number of guys that fit that description this offseason. Its time to be value shoppers. The problem is the Red Sox and Rays and perhaps other teams all seem to be of that same mind.

[Trinidad]

How Great would it be if Sheets and Tex went to the Red Sox and Manny and Lowe went to the Skanks??? Let's add Dunn to the Mets with K-Rod and the O's will be left fight the Royals for Braden Looper!!!!!!!!

[bluedog]

There's no point in marshaling your resources to sign a non-premium free agent if youre not completely in contention/go for it now mode. By signing free agents you are by definition overpaying to acquire a piece. That's the first major problem with free agency: you are forced to pay more for what youre getting that it is worth. The second major problem is risk. Overly aggressive free agent signings come back to bite teams that are still building. You end up tying up dollars and a decent portion of your payroll in a dud - and the end result is you lowered your ceiling by the time youre finally competing for titles. No move should be made right now that has the potential to take anything away (in terms of $$ or opportunity cost) from the 2010, 20011+ teams.

You dont sign free agents just to sign them. If you can add premium resources you otherwise dont have access to then that makes sense to do it. Teixeira is in that category. Im not sure Burnett is even in that category, to tell you the truth. I dont know who else you would like them to go after but guys like Raul Ibanez, Pat Burrell, Rafael Furcal, Milton Bradley, Jon Garland - these guys dont make sense to pursue. They only make sense if they are cheap - which they wont be until late in the offseason. There is really no other free agent available left that is worth the O's heavily pursuing right now and having to outbid other teams for. Theyre better off waiting to see what guys are left without dance partners come January and see if they can find a bargain. It appears that there might be a decent number of guys that fit that description this offseason. Its time to be value shoppers. The problem is the Red Sox and Rays and perhaps other teams all seem to be of that same mind.

Spot on analysis - rep to you.

[joeyc]

I honestly think this may be the worst contract in the history of baseball, in terms of looking awful at the time the contract was signed.

You guys act as if the Yankees care whether this is a good contract or not. They have play money. If this doesn't work out, they'll just spend more to fix that problem. They don't care if they have a bust or two.

They needed help at pitching, they got the 2 best available pitchers. They'll probably add Lowe too. They don't care iuf it doesn't work out. They have a ton of money coming in. Just like the Orioles. The difference is, the Yankees put alot of money back into their team. The Orioles had a small payroll, that is now smaller, after getting rid of Hernandez.

Angelos is making a mint on that MASN deal, when is he going to spend some of that money on some players that will give us a reason to go to the park, this year?

[alskor]

For all of you who are saying this is such a bad contract, check this out.

For those who don't want to read it, there's this sentence:

Also note that this post was written November 18.

That article ignores his injury risk. It assumes he's going to remain healthy and asks the question "what would his production be worth if he stays healthy?"