Merry Effin’ Christmas
Our long national nightmare is over: Mark Teixeira finally signed with a team. Except, given that he signed with the Yankees, the nightmare may just be beginning.
In what is now clearly become the patented Yankee-Boras “Swoop” Method (see, e.g. Rodriguez, Alex and Damon, Johnny), the Yankees let Theo and the Red Sox waste loads of time haggling over a Boras client, setting his price and locking down the market… only to swoop in at the last minute and sign him. The Yankees also showed their clear commitment to the “sign everyone in baseball” philosophy, spending $400 million on THREE players. Three! That luxury tax bill is gonna leave a mark.
So that leaves the Sox with: dead weight at catcher, a questionably healthy corner man at third and an aging and not-very-healthy DH with no power bat to anchor him – while their division rivals acquired two stud pitchers (ok, one sandwich-lovin’ stud and one could-be-a-stud-if-he’s-healthy) and the solid power bat. Don’t worry, though – the Sox signed Ramon Ramirez!
If you stick your head out the window, you can probably hear all the Chicken Littles hollering right now. They would probably be leaping off the Tobin Bridge if it wasn’t so darned cold out.
Good news is: the Sox-Yanks rivalry just got interesting again… The AL East is gonna be a helluva beast in 2009. Poor Orioles. Bonus fun: anything less than a World Series victory will guarantee the Steiny brothers and Cashman an EPIC FAIL.
Your move, Theo.
I’m looking forward to when CC’s arm falls off mid-April.
Whose arm falls off faster: CC’s or AJ’s? It’ll be the battle of the Initials… CC or AJ to DL. And all of America wins!
Reading those two comments made me feel a little happier.
me, too, twinkie.
i know i should be surprised by the antics that boras pulls, but he still baffles me everytime.
i just hope this year can turn out the same for the yankees- lots of injuries lol
If the Yankees don’t win 100+ games and walk away with a ring in 2009 after spending that kind of money in free agency, they will be confirmed as the biggest fools in the universe.
dead weight at catcher
We don’t even have a catcher right now, do we?
Hah! Well, yeah – we have Dusty Brown and George Kotteras on the roster. WHEEEEEEEEE
Well, this all is going to be quite…interesting, for lack of a better word to describe it.
Well, why are we panicking then? George and Dusty will be unstoppable! (Haha, losing my mind again. Miss Cashie too much already. Don’t mind me.)
FUUUCCCKKKK!
I didn’t care if Tex didn’t sign with the Sox, as long as he didn’t sign with the Yanks or the Angels. Dammit.
For my understanding, the new stadium keeps the Yankees safe from the luxury tax. So not only do they ruin Christmas, but they don’t have to worry about being punished. They are like the perfect Grinch. :[
Why do I get the feeling that Teixeira wanted the Yanks all along?
How the hell do the Yanks have the nerve to ask for more tax payer $$$ for their stadium while obscene amounts of $$$ on three players?
I sure hope that Theo & Co. thought about Plan B while spending all this time pursuing Teixeira.
Just damn.
I just want Tek for Christmas.
Texas Gal has it right–this is the biggest “double down” in sports history. Anything less than a World Series will amount to a failure on par with the 2004 ALCS choke job.
It’s also clear that the Sox and Yankees have two very different approaches. I think the best analogy is “Tortoise versus Hare.” While the Yankees have unquestionably “won” this offseason, it doesn’t translate into a World Series victory, and it doesn’t necessarily make them a better club years down the line. If anything, they’ll be in exactly the same position in five or six years that they are now–dealing with overbloated contracts for underperforming players. I certainly don’t envy the Sox’s task in 2009, but I also wouldn’t want to be responsible for managing the Yankees in 2013 and beyond, either.
FUCK. I’ve been flying high all day waiting for the headline “Tex signs with Sox.” Instead I check ESPN while I’m at a party and find the fuckin greedy Skanks have signed him. I went into a slight depression for about half an hour.
One the other hand, I was almost hoping he wouldn’t sign with us (but w/ the Nats). Lowell has been nothing but classy and he accepted less years and money to stay in Boston. It would’ve been very ungracious to cast him away because he had one season of with injuries.
Texeria was overrated from get go imo. I’d be afraid more of the Yankees when they sign Manny tomorrow.
It’s not the end of the world but it does suck. Think about this for a second. Is Teixeira really a 20 million dollar player, I don’t think he is.
Texy’s right, if they don’t win it, they’ll look like fools.
I left this in a comment on my site. The Red Sox have two things the Yankees don’t. That’s heart and chemistry. I’d rather have that any day of the week.
Fucking Yankees. When I first heard the news on ESPN I sat on the floor in the fetal position for a good 20 minutes thinking oh god, oh god we’re so screwed.
But now that I read your comments it’s the Yankees that are screwed. If they don’t win it all they look like failures. And who wants a player for 8 years anyway? They either start to age and can’t play well anymore or don’t want to be with the team after a while.
So Theo, what do we do now?
And the Yankees just keep going – they have apparently just signed Kevin Cash. Why must they ruin a good kid like Cash?
We really need to get a catcher signed soon. Any guesses on who will be catching Wakefield next season? I’m already preparing myself for a good amount of passed balls.
Jessi – I just read that on MLBTR. I liked Cash, dammit! :-(
Forgot to add:
My guess is Dusty Brown could be catching Wake next season. I think he caught Zink down in Pawtucket last season.
So ok i got over Texiera but i will miss Cash a lot. I don’t care that he was the back up catcher. You could actually try to talk to him because he wasn’t as famous and he acted human because he wasn’t paid hundreds of millions of dollars. It was nice seeing him in the dug out and now he got stolen by the Yankees!
Personally, I’m thrilled the Yanks signed him. I don’t think we should ever sign someone for 8 years…it’s just ridiculous.
I’m relieved. It’s curiously similar to how I felt 5 years ago when the Yankees signed A-Rod. Well…except I already detested A-Rod (was I the only one?), and I don’t have anything against Teixeira. Until now, since he’s a Yankee =)
Well, let’s not forget that there is still pitching on the market…
Has anyone signed Carl Pavano yet?
The Steinbrenner who stole Christmas.
Well, if you can’t win a ring, you might as well try and buy one.
GRRRRRRR.
The luxury tax on players’ salaries is independent of taxes on the new Yankee Stadium. The Yankees just got hit yesterday with their luxury tax bill for 2008 ($26.9 million), and they’ll get another one for 2009. They got $250 million in tax-exempt bonds to build that new monstrous stadium, all at taxpayer expense. I wonder how NYC taxpayers feel now, after giving them that free money, to see them spend $400 million so cavalierly?
Honestly, the only reason I was concerned about Tex coming here was the rumor that the Spawn of Satan was looking to make a package deal out of Tex and Tek. I’m upset about Cash going but my god I’m going to die if they don’t resign Tek soon.
I know it’s not the popular opinion right now and mine is mostly based on sentimentality, but I would give anything to see Tek retire as a Red Sox.
I can’t believe the evil Yankees stole Cash. I’m gonna miss him. I don’t think I’ll hold any resentment toward like Johnny Damon. I don’t know why. Maybe cause he was such a nice guy. Hope he doesn’t stay long enought to be corrupted.
I’m all for sentimentality, but not if it costs us games. Bringing Tek back + signing another starting catcher is great… standing Tek’s corpse up behind the plate as a starter for another year is not. And definitely not if we have to pay millions of dollars for the privilege of a definite out at his spot in the lineup.
Crap they got Cash too? Somebody make them stop!
I always liked him, even though he didn’t really do much.
“So that leaves the Sox with: dead weight at catcher, a questionably healthy corner man at third and an aging and not-very-healthy DH with no power bat to anchor him”
Wow, you have a TON of faith. Please, you shouldn’t worry about. The Red Sox always pull through. But, you should know that, right?
Hint: turn the sarcasm meter on.
Although, every single one of those things is true.
In Theo we trust???? I gotta believe our organization planned for this eventuality and have something up their sleeves.
Please have something up the sleeves, and not just new uniforms.
This is officially the worst Christmas ever.
I’m also really hoping last season was just a fluke for Tek and he’s not completely gone.
(I’d also be completely happy with Tek retiring right now. I just don’t want to see him with another team.)
Merry Christmas y’all…
I wanted Tex, but honestly…only so that Yanks couldn’t land him. I always thought they were more interested than they were saying. Giambi was gone, so they needed a 1B…we were preparing to make room for one.
Even though I LOVE LOVE LOVE Tek…most of me would LOVE the Sox to say that from now on out, they are no longer dealing with Boras and any of his clients. Sorry Tek…Sorry Lowe….Sorry Ells….Sorry JD…Sorry Dice-K. If you wanna play with the Sox, get a new agent. That man is shady and well beyond evil…and I would love the Sox to delete his number from their Blackberrys.
I wonder, Shelley – after being burned yet AGAIN by Boras, especially after the front office guys flew down to Texas on his word for nothing, if the Tex deal might finally have ruined what little goodwill the Sox front office had for Boras. Many teams won’t deal with him, the Sox were one of the few who at least tolerated him. After being epically jerked around by him (AGAIN), I wouldn’t be at all surprised to learn that Boras clients get a slightly chillier reception. (are you listening, Jacoby?)
RED SOX SUCK!
Oh, John – your wit and originality are truly a credit to the Yankees fanbase.
Coming in a little late to the party, but as a Yankees fan I can tell you that I’m not happy with the Teixiera signing. As has been pointed out by others this guy is good, sure, but not $180 million good. He’s only made All-Star once (2005) and he’s two years removed from a Gold Glove. He’s never even come in the top five of ANY offensive category. And I should also point out that the Yankees already had a serviceable 1B in Nick Swisher, who can also play the outfield. Swisher did have an off-year offensively last year and obviously did something to piss Ozzie Guillen off hence his one-and-done in Chicago, but he can hit for power, gets on base a lot and costs about $155 million less than Teixiera. Now it looks like all he’ll be is trade bait.
Also I really wish Red Sox fans wouldn’t get on their high horses about “buying championships.” You guys are always in the mix whenever a high-priced free agent comes into view so don’t act like Theo wouldn’t do it too if he could.
I see precisely one comment about buying a ring. No need to tilt at windmills, or throw out blanket “you guys” statements and tell us how to act.
As for Tex, he was a Silver Slugger twice, in the top 5 for slugging, home runs and RBI in 2005. He was top 10 in several other offensive categories from 04-06 as well. He’s no Hank Aaron, but he’s no slouch, either. Just not sure he’s worth his price tag.
Okay–”you guys except for people who post on Center Field.” :D
But as I said, he’s good, but not $180 million good, plus this is his third team in five years. I’d rather see the money put back into the farm system.
HAH. Now that’s more like it… :)