Texeira to Yankees for 8/$180; Brewers Compensation for CC Drops to 2nd round (plus sandwich pick)

[chrisisoutrunning]

This is a posting where I wish there was a lax in the swear filter.

I'll mark my name down second on the petition to allow swearing in this thread.

 

Back on topic, I can't say I'm surprised. I really thought he'd sign with the Red Sox. So that's $161 million for Sabathia, $170 million for Teixeira, and $82.5 million for Burnett. Add in A-Rod for $275 million and in those four players the Yankees have spent $688.5 million.

 

To put that in perspective, I looked up the Brewers team salary and found a usatoday.com page that listed the team payroll for the past 21 season. Over that time frame (1988-2008) the total Brewers player payroll was (if my adding was correct) $723,206,756.

 

If you throw in the Posada and Rivera contracts from last offseason ($52.4 million and $45 million respectively), that brings the Yankees to $785.9 million. So in six players (37 total years worth of contracts), the Yankees have more money tied up than the Brewers have paid in the past 21 years.

 

I've never been a huge proponent of a salary cap. I figured eventually the luxury tax would curb the spending of the Yankees. I will admit that I was completely wrong on this assumption. I also feel that something needs to be done about the draft compensation in regards to situations like this. The fact that the Brewers will be getting the Yankees 2nd round pick and the Blue Jays will be getting their 3rd round pick is completely wrong. The compensation system wasn't set up for situations like this.

[davego]

Maybe the Yanks should sign Sheets and Manny too. Just finish the job.

[Oldcity]

Well the Rangers paid a lot of that A-Rod contract and are still paying a lot so it's not quite that much... But that doesn't disprove the point you're making.

[hawing]

Tiny shred of silver lining (maybe): No one can say Bud's arranged things to favor "his" Brewers this time.

 

I'm going to channel my Yankee rage into shelving books.

[brwrsfan]

I'm going to try to be as board-friendly as possible in this post, as I really don't need a strike against me, but I'm feeling really, really unhappy at this moment.

 

It has nothing to do with the fact that one of the players they signed was a Brewer or the fact that we kind of got the shaft with the draft pick compensation...I'm more mad about the state of baseball in general.

 

When one team goes out and spends approximately 450 million on 3 players, which are arguably the top 3 free agents available, the system is flawed. Couple that with the facts that a. the Yankees never lose ANYONE to free agency and b. the fact that these 2 signings give the Yankees the 4 highest paid players in the entire league (ARod, Jeter, Texeria, CC, not to mention the contracts of Rivera and Posada).

 

I'm probably speaking more on emotion here than with any real rational thought, but this off-season has really started pushing me to the point that for the first time in my life, I've actually considered not paying all that much attention to baseball. The system and complete unfairness of the sport in general is completely turning me off to something that I really, truely love. There doesn't appear to be any chance at all for a salary cap of any kind, and without it, a team like the Yankees can literally go out and buy a complete roster makeover.

 

I wish I could see a solution or a salary cap on the horizon but it just appears so incredibly unlikely. The Players Union I'm sure will throw a fit and I'm not sure you could get enough owners to vote for it (I'm not sure what % would need to approve it, but the Yankees, Mets, Cubs, Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox would almost certainly vote against it as the current system favors them completely - and a couple other teams - White Sox, Braves and Astros might also be opposed.) The only possible scenario where the Players Union goes for it would be an extended lock out period, but again, I just don't think you can get enough owners to do it. It's a shame that MLB has gotten itself to the point that it's basically stuck, while the NFL and NBA were able to both get salary caps in place, giving every team a fair shot.

 

Sorry for the rant...

[sgtcluels]

Well the Rangers paid a lot of that A-Rod contract and are still paying a lot so it's not quite that much... But that doesn't disprove the point you're making.

I thought when he opted out, the Rangers were absolved for the remainder of the contract.

[FIPS133]

Obscene.

 

My son is four years old. Instead of being a Doctor, Professional Athlete or President, I'm going to tell him to become a shipping magnate.

[Oldcity]

Oh yeah sgt I'm sure you're right. Brain cramp on my part.

[ttsather]

Tiny shred of silver lining (maybe): No one can say Bud's arranged things to favor "his" Brewers this time.

 

I'm going to channel my Yankee rage into shelving books.

Another silver lining may be that this is one less team that Sheets can sign with. The Yankees are (disgustingly) maxed out on Type A free agents.

 

EDIT: Especially considering the low compensation Sheets would've brought in if the Yanks signed him.

[chrisisoutrunning]

I thought when he opted out, the Rangers were absolved for the remainder of the contract.

Yeah, the biggest winners in A-Rod opting out were the Rangers, as that meant they were off the hook because the original contract was terminated.

[cwolf2012]

Well the Rangers paid a lot of that A-Rod contract and are still paying a lot so it's not quite that much... But that doesn't disprove the point you're making.

Nope. When A-Rod opted out, he resigned a new contract that is all Yankee money.

 

EDIT: I guess I should have read the rest of the thread. Anyhow, I can't stand the Yankees and I wish them horrible deaths. How hard can it be to GM for them? "Who do you want?" "You got it."

[paul253]

At this point is a salary cap even possible? Signing guys for 8 years means you cant really hold there salaries against a cap until they all expire. This is just a joke. Yeah Bud...we don't need a salary cap, everything is just fine. Why don't you grow a set and actually take the players union for once over something other than steroids.

 

So who gets the first pick now? Another team with a top five payroll and resources out the wazoo....can you say rich get richer?

[splitterpfj]

I wish the Brewers were getting first round pick - of course, but I'm not as bothered by that as some are. If you could convince me that the 9th pick in the draft always turns out to be a better player than the 17th pick, etc, I'm sure I'd be much more upset. I don't like it, but that's about it.

 

What I really don't like is the ridiculous system that will now send a first round pick to the Angels, a very wealthy team in a huge market. It's a good move by the Angels, they got to take their shot with Teixeira, and now they'll get the higher pick - and it's a good move by the Yankees, if the system allows it, they might as well spend to win.

 

Time to fix the system - again, still - the issue in the end is not about draft picks, it is about teams in a "league" having an equal opportunity to compete. Whatever top dollar is - that's fine - but only if every team has the ability to offer it.

[RyDogg66]

I dont think the 24th pick will be THAT different than the 65th pick of wherever this new pick ends up. Im bummed, and annoyed more than anything else.

[milwaukeesportsfan]

How does a lock out work exactly? Do a certain percentage of owners have to agree? If that's the case, I could see this being the proverbial straw that puts enough owners over the edge.

[Oldcity]

Yeah it's probably not a huge difference, but it is still fairly substantial. And as most everyone is saying, it's more the system that is bothering people.

[twibnotes]

Nothing will change until a team (or teams) go under or file for bankruptcy. The players union won't do anything until some of it's members checks start bouncing.

[craigharmann]

At least Prince won't be going to the Yankees when he hits free agency!

[Invader3K]

It's time for Bud Selig to step in. Despite baseball's relative prosperity, garbage like this turns fans off and is not good for the sport as a whole. There's probably never going to be a salary cap in baseball, but there have to be some measures in place to prevent one team from buying up all the top talent in one off season.

[bjkrautk]

I think the Yankees' revenue sharing / luxury tax payment is going to be higher than some teams payrolls for the next few seasons.

 

 

While I would love to have had the Yankees' first round pick instead of the second, I'm more concerned about getting a good player with that pick (which is certainly possible).

[brewmann04]

CAN YOU SAY SALARY CAP NOW

I CANT BELIEVE THE YANKESS GET CC AND WE GET ROBBED

[danzig6767]

I know few will agree with me because you're overall bigger fans of baseball than me, but beyond dropping to a 2nd round pick for CC, i don't care much that Texeria and Sabathia went to the Yankees. I care a lot about the Brewers and thus the NL, don't care much what happens in the AL and rarely ever watch AL games.

 

I sure would prefer seeing both of those guys in the AL than the NL where during a future season either guy could say potentially block the Brewers from a Wild Card or beat us in the playoffs if we made it and had to face either guy. If we hadn't lost the first round pick, i wouldn't care who the Yankees sign. Plus, even though i don't care much about the AL, i hate the Red Sox.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Bud tried to get a salary cap and couldn't get the union or the big market owners to go along. He got the luxury tax, but that was as much as he could. Even in the lockout they beat him in court. It's just the way it is and it will never change. It's a flwed system and there are too many vested interests in the status quo. Baseball will never be a level playing field and teams like the Brewers or Rays need to be that much better to even have a slight chance of winning in a narrow window. Baseball will always revolve around the Yankees, Red Sox and the other big/upper mid-market teams. Their TV revenues alone dwarf the Brewers total revenue stream. It's not hopeless...but it's close.

 

It's also a big reason that football is now more popular than baseball.

[bucks2281]

I don't see how anybody who loves this sport could possibly cheer for the Yankees. I've never been a proponent of a salary cap, but this signing is starting to change my feelings. Let's take solace in the fact that the Yankees play in the toughest division in the game -- they can try to buy a championship(s), but it's never a sure thing.

 

If Cashman really wanted the Brewers to throw in some cash to pay for Mike Cameron, he can go pound sand, for lack of stronger language. I hope their new Taj Mahal is cursed.

[paul253]

The players union won't do anything until some of it's members checks start bouncing.

 

I dont think thats true, especially right now. With this economy, there is not chance in you know where that the public would support the unions anti-cap stance. If MLB handles it properly and makes their stance public saying things like "ticket prices and parking prices are skyrocketing because the only way we can compete is to overpay for players, and the only way to get that money is to raise prices". The union would have no legs to stand on because you cant convince the public, who are in the middle of a recession, losing jobs and not getting raises, that its unfair to limit a 25 man roster to making $140 million dollars a season. This is the perfect time to take up this fight. Every other professional sports league can do it, so why cant MLB? When does the current labor contract expire? I would gladly, glady give up a season of baseball to gain a salary cap and salary bottom. Hey, and while you're at it, fix the draft and make it world wide!