NoMaas did a post this morning about Boston’s “little engine that could” attitude and their 2010 payroll, which is slated to be about 170 million dollars. When I first saw that number, I thought that it was mistaken, and that it was simply the luxury tax number, which is based upon average annual value rather than actual salaries. However, Mike Axisa of RAB pointed me towards a Cot’s Contracts spreadsheet that puts Boston at about 166 million before pre-arb contracts are set, meaning they should finish at about 170M. They will almost certainly be paying the luxury tax, and will be forced to consider that when making moves during the season.
With the Yankees coming in at 212M at this point, that makes for a fairly sizable gap of 46 million dollars. However, the Red Sox have closed on the Yankees significantly this offseason, as the 2009 difference was 85 million (207 vs. 122). The Red Sox have attempted to paint themselves as the underdog for a while now, and a gap in payroll of 85 million allowed them to do so, despite the fact that they have been consistently among the most expensive teams in the sport. However, as they inch towards 200M themselves, it might be prudent for Larry Lucchino and John Henry to stop pushing the old poorhouse routine. To suggest that they need to “make the best of what they have,” as if they were a small market team that needed to make every dollar count, seems fairly ridiculous when they can afford to field a contender for 30 million more in salaries than the 2nd most expensive club in 2009 (the Mets, of course). The Red Sox are not an underdog. They are the second most expensive club in the sport, and it is time for them to stop the “little engine that could” charade.
Late last week, I brought up Buster Olney’s article on A-Rod’s struggles and the possible link to steroids. In the comments, I noted the following:
There is no reason to assume Alex just went off steroids. Either he went off in 2003, or he is still on some undetectable stuff. Why not treat a slump like a slump? They had no such questions when he started off with three hot weeks. Did he go off steroids 3 weeks ago?
In his chat earlier today, Buster was called out on his story and tried to defend himself:
Alfredo (New York City): You wrote a recent article citing scouts that claimed A-Rod was declining rapidly. Shortly afterward, he got two days of rest and has been on a tear ever since. Perhaps reports of his long-term decline are premature?
Buster Olney: Alfredo: I did not write that he was declining rapidly. What I wrote was that as A-Rod struggled, a question that was being asked increasingly was whether he is going to be a lesser player since he presumably doesn’t use steroids any more. As I wrote in the piece, his struggles might have been based on his hip surgery, or it might be a combination of all of the above; nobody can know the answer to that. He has looked much better over the last five days, no question about it — but that doesn’t change the fact that the question of how much steroids aided him as a player is not going to go away during the last 8 1/2 years of his contract.
All I wanted to note here is the classic media deflection technique that Buster uses. Instead of asking the question himself, he pushes these doubts and thoughts onto nameless scouts and sources, so as not to besmirch his own reputation should his story prove groundless. Writers do this all the time, so as to maintain distance from any sort of critical opinion. They do so because they need deniability when the player accuses them of a hatchet job and is loathe to work with them on a subsequent story. A perfect example was the Raul Ibanez situation that blew up a few weeks ago. A blogger mentioned that you cannot rule out steroids as the source of a surge in performance in this era. A newspaper writer picked up on the story, and used the blogger’s words to bring the issue into the limelight. Predictably, the blogger received the brunt of the criticism while the writer escaped with only minimal damage. The writer was able to bring up steroids regarding Ibanez without actually voicing that opinion, leaving his relationship with Raul intact. It is a dirty trick, and hopefully most readers can see right through it.
Another interesting issue brought up in Buster’s chat:
Anthony (NYC): Larry Lucchino at a apperance in a baseball musuem commented that all the yankee gear on display was from so long ago obviously taking a shot at the yanks not winning it all since 2000 and couple that with John Henry twitter updates taking shot at tex and co are the red sox getting a little too confident in your opinion? i guess they have confidence now that Big Stein is out of commision.
Buster Olney: Anthony — personally, I think all that stuff was cheesy and classless. I thought it was when Steinbrenner was doing it, and I think it is now when the Red Sox are doing it.
I totally agree. I wonder what the reaction would be like if Hank did the kind of stuff Henry has been doing lately?
Once upon a time, there was a scrappy baseball team from a little, hardworking town called Boston. They did their best to scrape by, piecing together a team with a payroll of under 150 million dollars. Although they desperately needed a new first baseman to replace the All-Star they had at the position for the previous season, they could only offer a meager 170M, no match for the evil corporation who came in and snatched the player from their grasp. The team president, little Larry Lucchino, was disappointed, but realized that he still had to push his little gutty team to contend. What was his plan for doing so, you ask? He spoke to the MetroWest Daily News and boldly proclaimed:
“We’re going to outwork and outsmart them,” but he conceded that with New York’s deep pockets, “It won’t be easy.”
Wow, what moxie!!! Little Larry has vowed that his little engine that could will defeat their corporate oppressors by outworking and outsmarting them. They will continue to field a team of gamers and gritsters (yes, I made up a word, but they are just that gritty. Have you seen Youkilis’ beard? Pedroia’s eye black? J.D. Drew’s effeminate saunter? I mean, how gritty are those!). They will extend their younger players to keep them off the market and poach other teams’ injury risks because they can cope with the risk better. They will persist in offering fragile players and wife beaters plenty of dollars, because that is what being the 29th poorest team in the sport entails. They will endure, and when the going gets tough, little Larry will just roll up his sleeves, set his gaze forward, and say “I think I can, I think I can.”
(h/t Was Watching)
