Frayed Knot

metsguyinmichigan wrote: My friend, the baseball researcher, once pointed out that Steinbrenner was rarely the one to break barriers and set the highest salaries. It was usually people like Hicks and the ARod deal, smaller market teams that would bust their banks to add one player, but not be able to have enough left to build a team around. In fact, George at one point had a standing rule that he didn't care where the payroll was as long as it wasn't the top. Of course he would routinely break his own rule by adding players (often over the heads of his own "baseball people") as the year went on but the MFY payroll was rarely #1 overall as the season started. His pride actually used to screw himself into bad deals. By not signing Jeter early, for instance, he wound up paying him much more than he would have just for the "honor" of saying that he didn't set the price for SSs because ARod's deal was bigger. The Yanx & Jeter had some $118mil deal on the table but by the time they finished stalling it was up to $180, but hey, it was less than $252! Steinbrenner, on the other hand, could afford a mega-star player's contract -- and five more just below that level. When he was overpaying, it wasn't for the guys at the very top, but for the guys in the middle to lower top, which is what made it so tough for the other teams. The reason for that is that the whole Jeter/Posada/Rivera/Pettitte/Bernie group was so good so quickly that they were, in effect, being under-paid for so long because of the way service time works in baseball deals that he could go over-board with deals for middling players and still keep the payroll within shouting distance of other teams -- Remember a bench consisting of Strawberry, Fielder, Raines, Girardi, Chili Davis, and Rueben Sierra? Years later, as those cheap players reached their arb/FA years and were no longer so cheap, the payroll (both in number and relatively) became so much higher even as the bench and pen got a lot worse. In 2008 - as the Yanx were going down and missing the playoffs - it became popular for YLDBs to call for the team to stop signing FAs and return to those days of only somewhat high payrolls in the mid-90s as a way to get back to those glory days - not realizing that the odds of tearing it all down and starting again depends on the remote possibility of them finding the next crop of guys who are going to go from the minors to the top of their position in a short time and all at the same time. Blinded by the success of that group, they think repeating it is simply a matter of deciding to do so.

I've always despised the "he wanted to win more" line too - even as that one is going to be the mantra from most Yanqui fans, from much of the cliche-driven mediots, and even (or maybe especially) from self-loathing Met fans like Joe Badabingo (he's probably doing so right now which is why I'm not listening). Lauding George for 'choosing to spend more' is like saying Bill Gates is choosing to live in a bigger house than me. George's Yanx have essentially had two waves of success during his tenure: one right after his purchase and the other right after his suspension. Both have come about due to a mixture of good timing, good luck, and some good business decisions. - He started by trying to buy into his hometown Cleveland Indians but, when that fell through, the Yanx were a second option and by buying into baseball in the early '70s and the Yanx in particular he hit on a true 'buy low' moment. Baseball was down in the early '70s and the AL in particular. CBS had owned the Yanx for more than a decade and had lost a bundle. But since that was only a small portion of their operation it was easy for them to swallow their buy-high/sell-low mistake. George headed a group which bought them for $10 million and his initial put-up cash was something like 100K. - By getting in just as the FA era was about to begin, Steinbrenner had the dual advantage of not being burdened by the mind-set that players weren't supposed to be able to earn free-market wages and that much of his competition still was (see: Grant, M. Donald). The Yanqui "over-spending" then wasn't really over-spending at all (at least not automatically) but rather just seemed high as compared to the artificially low wages from before. The phrase 'gotta spend it to earn it' definitely applied there and George was one of the first to realize it in a business where the others were used to having things their own way. Good job by him. After a few years, though, new owners and new thinking caught up to him at which point he was forced into actual over-spending mainly because he lacked the smarts and judgement to do anything else, a period which led to the longest NYY-less playoff stint since the pre-Ruth era. Without an advantage, his brief window of glory closed fast. - The second wave of Steinbrenner-led success came after their landmark TV deal with MSG network, one which gave the Yanx some $50mil/year in local TV money at a time when many teams were earning less than $5mil. Small differences in TV revenues were one thing in a sport where teams traditionally relied on gate receipts as their biggest source but - even though MLB does share all their national money (despite what you'll hear from many commentators on this subject in the next few days) - they never saw this coming and trying to put in a plan to more evenly split local money after the fact was viewed more akin to simply taking from one team to give to another. As a result, no plan was there to deal with it and so the Yanx were free to exploit the advantage. Again, great business decision* but that's a big step away from the cliche about him simply "wanting it" more or about how other owners with similar personal wealth are cruelly opting to pocket money while George 'puts his back into the team'. This new financial edge, coinciding with a series of good picks, good signings, and good trades (many of which - as has been pointed out - may not have been made or would have been reversed had GMSIII not been barred from running his own team at the time) put into motion the late-'90s dynasty. That, of course, further widened the financial gap, something MLB only recently started to address in its last few CBAs even as the Yanx fought it at every stage. * Doubleday, meanwhile, had himself a pretty good cable deal signed in the early '80s but, unlike Steinbrenner, opted to sign a long-term deal and was therefore locked into one with some 15 years to go on it when the NYY one came up for re-negotiation at the much higher rate. The book 'Lords of the Realm' has someone at MLB offices trying to talk Nelson out of confining himself to such as long-term contract. Doubleday, not wanting to be told how to run his business, is quoted as replying; "Go fuck yourself"

The Cano thing supposed centers on an injury*, just like the one that's preventing Mariano from playing in the ASG, which I'm sure is related to the one that kept him from playing in the last WBC, which was surprisingly similar to the one that prevented Matsui out of the last WBC, ... * One that didn't manage to keep him out of this weekend's games

Don't have to leave NYC. Think of ARod asking (demanding?) that his (and only his) name be announced that way. The guy would be skewered. Heard Jeter, btw, talking about how he listened to Shepard growing up. In Kalamazoo? Yeah I know he had NJ grandparents or something and probably visited from time to time and wanted to be the Yanqui SS since he was in the womb or whatever, but that one stretches it just a bit. The Shepard/Jeter recording will be used in the AS game tomorrow.

Farmer Ted wrote: Who selects the players from each team? I would have thought someone with a bit more seasoning in the minors would have been selected. I believe each org nominates several of its players and someone(s) from MLB winnows that list down to a 25 & 25 (American/Int'l) number. Part of the goal is not only to have each org represented but each one of the (full seasons) minor leagues as well - each of the levels and each regional league within those levels. And finally, the ones picked are not just supposed to be AS material in that they're having a good season but also be a true "prospect", one that's deemed to have a good shot at a ML career. IOW, there's going to be a mix of ages and guys with little or lots of minor league time under their belts.

Nick Swisher agrees to join the HR-hitting contest and MFY mgmt doesn't forbid him to go. Do you suppose Nick should see that as a way of them telling him that they don't give a shit about him, that only "True Yanquis" need to be protected?

As opposed to now the raking he's doing now when he supposedly has his timing & rhythm?!?

What is his contract status again? Signed just for this year. He'll still be short of FA at the end of the season and therefore NYM property if they want him. But the almost automatic raise (currently making $5mil) that comes via increased service time and the arbitration process means they may just let him walk at the end of the year.

Dealt to the Mets a year ago yesterday (7/10/09) his hitting line looked at as one full season doesn't look too bad: .285/.324/.450 in 571 ABs That's a good BA, above average slugging (.165 IsoP), and a walk rate that, while not good, isn't nearly as horrible expected (.049 -- .070 about avg) Problem, of course, is that the trend is headed in the wrong direction. The two halves are almost identical in PAs, with the 2nd half of last season (.311/.338/.498) looking a helluva lot better than the 1st half of this year (.259/.310/.401) Walks are actually the only thing that's up this year (19 v 11) but the hits (73 v 90) and especially power (Total Bases = 113 v 144) are taking a beating. The defense has been good (a lot better than last year IMO - something which might be attributable to getting used to RF in CF) and that arm is definitely a weapon - but he's got to be the guy seeing the most bench on account of Beltran's return. Even the bad version of Bay is better plus JB has the better recent track record and the team's got a lot bigger investment in him for a longer time. So grab a seat Jeff. You'll see ABs in games vs LHPs, to give the others the occasional day off, and maybe in some late game double-switches. And, hey, a RH/LH punch off the bench of Francoeur & Carter might actually be able to make the opposing mgr soil his shorts every once in a while late in a game. No more needing three straight hits off the bench in order to score a run.

- Phils sweep a 4-game w/Cincy while only out-scoring them by 5 runs. - Orioles sweep a 4-game [u:3p7gxux8]in Texas[/u:3p7gxux8] - including Lee's first game w/the Rangers - ChiSox, losers of one game in July, take over 1st place in AL Central

Nationally televised game today via TBS

Phils break up the no-no in the 9th then go on to win their 3rd straight extra-inning walk-off This one was a Rollins single in the 11th Yesterday was a Howard 2R HR Day before was a Brian Schneider HR Cliff Lee (9 IP, 6 R, 9 H) gets out-pitched vs Baltimore and Chris Tillman (1 R, 2 H, 7 IP)

Pagan - 2.5 Takahashi - 1.0

Hey I got a good idea, let's put the leadoff guy on again!! This game is shaping up just like yesterday's: low-scoring and long

Braves haven't hit a ball hard yet and they've got, what, about 17 baserunners already?

Mike Vaccaro, like me, focuses on the Thole bunt last night. "Jerry Manuel is a good baseball man. But there comes a time in almost every game the Mets play � because almost every game they play seems to be tied in the fifth inning or later � when he needs to make a key decision: a bullpen call, a pinch hitter, any of the things that separate managers from caretakers. And more often than is recommended by law, Manuel leaves you scratching your head." Jerry does say - as Keith & Ron speculated - that Thole had the option of swinging away if he sees the SS breaking for 3rd (and Escobar made no attempt to disguise it) but that's not easy for a young player to pull off. Me, I have him swing away.

Dickey - 3.5 Pagan - 1.0 Reyes - 0.5 Wright - 0.5 Davis - 0.5 Thole - 0.5

Niese - 3.5 Dessens - 0.5 Pagan - 1.5 Thole - 1.0

The bunt I didn't like was the Thole one - although both Keith & Ronnie were OK with it. Bunting a compromised Reyes to set up Wright & Davis makes more sense than bunting into Francoeur & Tejada. And in case no one has noticed, Tejada is like 1 for his last 20-something, is striking out in about 1/3 of his ABs, and is barely getting the ball out of the infield when he does make contact.

Not just the Howard's HR in the 10th, but Cody Freakin' Ransom HR'd in the 9th inning comeback, as did Dobbs. Hell, I think O'Rourke and Agarn might have hit one too.

Phils have a 6-run 9th to tie up the Reds and send it to extras ... and now Howard HRs to win it

I remember Gene Brabender because he was in the cast of characters from 'Ball Four' -- aka, a Seattle Pilot