Wilpon: Money Ain't A Thang

Rob Neyer quotes Will Leitch in more depth than I'm about to, but here's what Will's blog post for the New Yorker boils down to:

The Yankees are opening a new stadium and, as a result, changing the economic infrastructure of baseball with their spending. The Mets are opening a new stadium and are being outbid for their target free agents. Bernie Madoff might not to be blame. But something must be.

I'm sure there is some feeling of impending doom when the future $400M sponsor of their new digs is depending on a $20B fix from Uncle Sam. But the Mets have the same built-in advantages, perhaps to a slightly lesser extent, that the Yankees do. They are moving into a brand new ballpark, they play in a gigantic market and have public transportation piping fans right into said park. They have a share in a major regional sports network and are owned by a family whose wealth stretches far beyond their baseball team-related holdings. The $300M Fred Wilpon lost in Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme really had no effect on their offseason spending? None? Really?

Yes, they acquired K-Rod and J.J. Putz to shore up their porous bullpen. Excellent work. But both Leitch and Neyer point to a distinct lack of starting rotation depth. Let's start from the top:

1. Johan Santana - Awesome.
2. Mike Pelfrey - Great last year, but threw 50 more innings than the year before. As Neyer points out, has an alarmingly low strikeout rate.
3. John Maine - Good when healthy but had shoulder problems at the end of last year and has never thrown more than 191 innings in a single season.
4. Tim Redding? - Don't look at his (NL!) numbers if you've eaten recently. And no, I don't think he sucks because of the one inning of six run ball he "pitched" for the Yanks in 2005.
5. ????
6. Ron Darling

Were they waiting for the guy to change his name to Derek Lowez? Derek Lowe would have been a terrific stabilizing presence in the middle of their rotation. For similar money, they still could probably sign Oliver Perez who, like basically every other free agent this offseason is looking at potential deals far smaller than he expected. But Perez is the model of inconsistency, while Lowe is the exact opposite.

Perez gives up fly balls and walks while Lowe gives up neither. You can count on Lowe to put together a competent start almost every time he takes the mound, where Perez is bound to have a 5 walk, seven earned run shitshow where he gets pulled in the 2nd inning once in a while, like this one. Lowe only had 3 games where he went fewer than 4 innings last year and one was in his last appearance of the season when he had yet to give up a run.

The Mets' corner OF spots are occupied by Ryan Church, who is a pretty big question mark coming off his concussion shortened season last year, and Fernando Tatis/Nick Evans/Daniel Murphy? I would probably avoid Manny since they are in the NL, but Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu are pretty nice fits at the prices they are going to end up at, despite their marginal fielding.

If I'm a Mets fan, I don't know who I hate more: Bernie Madoff for stealing Fred Wilpon's money or Wilpon for saying that losing $300M doesn't matter, then not taking the necessary steps to improve the team after two Hindenburg-ian late season meltdowns. All I know is that Bernie Madoff didn't just steal the Wilpon's money, he stole Derek Lowez, Adam Dunnito and their graphic design budget.

Plane Crash [Breaking News] [Non-Sports]

A small plane crashed into the Hudson River about an hour ago off of Midtown Manhattan, not far from my office on 57th street. Looks like they made a safe evacuation, but when its 21 degrees outside, that's not where you want to be.

Hope everyone is okay.

[Update: 5:05PM] It appears that all 148 passengers and the crew are safe. Well done.

[Update: 6:30PM] A co-worker of Cliff's was aboard one of the first ferries to respond and took the following picture]

Fair And Balanced

There has been a lot of Boston-centric content on the site today, and I just wanted to level it out a bit.

Yup. That's better.

Dilemma

Watching the two ALDS unfold last night, I was hoping against hope that at least one of the non-AL East teams would extend the series to a decisive fifth game. After Reggie Willits (VP of the Bubba Crosby Society) got busted on the now infamous failed suicide squeeze, Yanks fans had to come to terms with this horrific scenario. One of our division rivals is going to the World Series where they'll take on a weaker National League opponent with home field advantage (won at Yankee Stadium). The question is, since you have to see one of them win, which would you rather it was?

The Rays:
If the Rays make it to, and win the World Series, it will legitimize them as a franchise. They inevitably will draw more fans and come closer to a new greater-revenue-generating ballpark. Unless they go the way of the Marlins and firebomb their franchise immediately after winning a championship (which they won’t) they will be, at the very least, a thorn in the Yankees side for years to come. They have a solid core of young players, and more developing in their farm system. Nothing breeds winning like winning, and the confidence of hoisting that World Series Trophy would ripple down throughout a franchise that has typically been an embarrassment ever since its inception.

The Red Sox:
If the Red Sox win another World Series, it would be the 3rd in 5 years, beginning to challenge the Yankees dynastic run of the late 1990's and 2000. Could you stomach seeing Jonathan Pappelsmear, Varitek, Kevin "Fack" Youkilis, Ellsbury, Pedroia and all the other fucktastic prickfaces on the Red Sox in another champagne soaked celebration? With every success, 2004 hurts more and more, wondering where these two franchises would be if the Yanks could have closed the door on one of those 4 games.


The Verdict:
Emotionally, the Rays victory would be easier to swallow. They are slightly more likeable and it would give me perverse pleasure to see The Trop’ filled with the opposing team’s fans in the World Series and read articles about how it was the lowest rated World Series of all time. I can’t root for the Red Sox, regardless of the situation.

However, thinking about the big picture, the Red Sox would be the better representative of the AL East in the Yankees eyes. Let’s face it., the Red Sox aren’t going anywhere. They are an excellent team with a solid farm system. They have a great mix of veterans and youngsters, solid pitching and a great front office. The Rays could be a fluke.

The Yankees have become comfortable with the power structure that has existed in the AL East for the past decade or so. The Yanks and Sox are king, while some other team puts up a half-assed effort and never really challenges for the Division Title. This leaves the weaker of the Big Two to back into the Wild Card and take a crack at a Postseason run. If the Rays win, this dynamic could be in serious jeopardy, with three teams having a great shot to make the Postseason. I’d bet Brain Cashman is rooting for the Red Sox.