What they should be worried about is the increase in luxury tax in 2014. That's why the Yankees are not spending money this offseason, and will be most likely looking to cut payroll next year.

gunsmack: The Red Sox found ways to exploit the loopholes in the former labor contract to enrichen themselves talent-wise


/is that even a word?

Enrichen is perfectly cromulent word

gunsmack: The Red Sox found ways to exploit the loopholes in the former labor contract to enrichen themselves talent-wise


/is that even a word?

It's a perfectly cromulent word--you really should try to embiggen your vocabulary.

gunsmack: The Red Sox found ways to exploit the loopholes in the former labor contract to enrichen themselves talent-wise


/is that even a word?

Sure. It's perfectly cromulent.

I'm sure there will be some people in this thread that will argue that the Red Sox were just smarter than other teams in taking advantage of these loopholes. However, step 1 of this strategy is to lure free agents to the club by paying extremely high salaries for 1-2 years of service. A lot of teams can't afford to do this. It's also a cycle that needs to be perpetual for continued success; after the player walks you're going to have bridge years before the compensatory talent develops. So you constantly need to be bringing in other high-priced talent and spending money. This is inherently unfair to teams with small budgets.

Frankly I am glad to see these things get fixed. A level playing field would be far more entertaining. But I don't blame the Red Sox or other teams for exploiting rules that Selig is too impotent to address.

Puts Theo's 'genius' in perspective.
Is there a gorilla costume store near Wrigley?

No no no, it's the CUBS who will suffer the most going forward because they have Theo Epstein. These new rules almost entirely exist to negate the advantages he and his staff were gaining. Cubs fans better hope that Theo really is a genius, otherwise it's back to going to games solely to get drunk and soak up the sun.

...who am I kidding, it'll ALWAYS be about getting drunk and soaking up sun!

Just please, please sh*tcan "Go Cubs Go".

CygnusDarius: They still kick the Yankee's ass.

Owangotang: Just please, please sh*tcan "Go Cubs Go".

...and Sweet Caroline.

In other news, Jorge Posada is expected to announce his retirement.

This makes me wonder what the extent of his legacy will be:

A. Hall of Fame
B. Retired number
C. Retired number, but not before Bernie
D. Hot Cocoa Sampler

WinoRhino: Owangotang: Just please, please sh*tcan "Go Cubs Go".

...and Sweet Caroline.

Are you kidding? One is a song by a great American songwriter, and the other is Sweet Caroline.

1% problems.

/Pirate fan

that free agent compensation rule was a pretty bad loophole.
Soon enough all players who have first choice of where they want to play will get equal offers from every MLB team. And they'll pick places with lowest taxes, least travel, and best weather. And you won't have to hate Boston anymore.

JosephFinn: Are you kidding? One is a song by a great American songwriter, and the other is Sweet Caroline.

You shut your got-damned whore mouth, whore!

Henry Holland: JosephFinn: Are you kidding? One is a song by a great American songwriter, and the other is Sweet Caroline.

You shut your got-damned whore mouth, whore!
[ecx.images-amazon.com image 300x300]

Sweet Caroline needs to go...but it could be worse. Dragging the field (no pun intended) to "YMCA" while the fans sing along is lame and kind of...well...NTTAWWT 40,000 times over

The Bestest: In other news, Jorge Posada is expected to announce his retirement.

This makes me wonder what the extent of his legacy will be:

A. Hall of Fame
B. Retired number
C. Retired number, but not before Bernie
D. Hot Cocoa Sampler

E. Hand Pissing

jackiepaper: The idea that there will be some mass exodus of baseball players to football or basketball is nothing but a laughable talking point of money hungry agents. There aren't exactly a ton of guys with the talent to play both professional (or even high level college) baseball and basketball or football.

At the college level, there aren't very many. Plus, by that point, most two sport guys have already decided which career path to take and already know where they're most likely to make money. Jake Locker, for example, knew he could make millions right away by committing to football instead of staying with the Angels. Todd Helton was Peyton Manning's backup at Tennessee. He could have been an afterthought in the NFL draft, but instead ended up getting taken eighth overall in the MLB draft.

The high school level is another matter. There are tons of kids who are two sport athletes, with college scholarships to match. The advantage MLB had over the NFL was that those guys could get a truckload of money when they were 18, so they could be lured away from their football commitments. In terms of the top talent from last year's MLB draft, Archie Bradley and Bubba Starling were well-touted QB prospects who had committed to Oklahoma and Nebraska, respectively. They chose baseball instead. The new CBA could hurt MLB's ability to attract the top amateur athletes to baseball.

FreakinB: Hillbilly Jim: 1% problems.

/Pirate fan

Then this actually sort of hurts you too, as the Pirates had recently figured out that cheaping out on the draft is a bad idea if it's your only way to get talent. They used to draft for signability but stopped in recent years. Hence Alvarez, Cole, Taillon, Bell, etc.

Plus small market teams' ability to over-slot their high picks and sign them is going to be severely hampered by that change as well. These CBA rules are a minor inconvenience for the big market teams; they'll still sign these guys, they just won't be able to collect additional picks. It hammers small market teams though, at least their ability to sign their high picks.

Also, this is awesome:

These so-called over-slot signings infuriated commissioner Bud Selig, who had no power to prevent them. But to punish clubs like the Red Sox, his office would refuse to approve the deals until the mid-August signing deadline. By then it was usually too late for those players to be assigned to minor-league teams, costing them a summer of valuable professional experience.

BUD SELIG EVERYBODY! Nothing like directly harming the professional careers of dozens, perhaps hundreds, of young baseball players because you don't like what teams are doing within the confines of the CBA.

Can't believe that the players agreed to so many limitations on amateur draft signing bonuses. That's the only way someone gets paid before their arbitration eligible year. Guess the only people that matter are the established veterans.

Slu: The Bestest: In other news, Jorge Posada is expected to announce his retirement.

This makes me wonder what the extent of his legacy will be:

A. Hall of Fame
B. Retired number
C. Retired number, but not before Bernie
D. Hot Cocoa Sampler

E. Hand Pissing

I thought that was Moises Alou?

WinoRhino: I'm sure there will be some people in this thread that will argue that the Red Sox were just smarter than other teams in taking advantage of these loopholes.

There is no such thing as a "smart" $160+ million payroll.

DeathByGeekSquad: Slu: The Bestest: In other news, Jorge Posada is expected to announce his retirement.

This makes me wonder what the extent of his legacy will be:

A. Hall of Fame
B. Retired number
C. Retired number, but not before Bernie
D. Hot Cocoa Sampler

E. Hand Pissing

I thought that was Moises Alou?

Both (new window)

We have a customer who says that not only is Posada a first ballot HOF, but is also the greatest Yankee catcher of all time!

/Yes, we ridicule him...

FreakinB: Mad Canadian: We have a customer who says that not only is Posada a first ballot HOF, but is also the greatest Yankee catcher of all time!

/Yes, we ridicule him...

Back in the day I had a couple of friends who insisted that Posada was better than Piazza. Yeah. Sure.

That said, I don't find the idea of Posada in the HOF to be completely ridiculous. He's got a shot.

I don't find the idea of Posada in the HOF all that ridiculous.
First ballot, absolutely not.
Greatest Yankee catcher? Second at best behind Berra and I might even put him behind Munson..

So, if they can't spend all that money on the players, that means my ticket, beer, and Fenway Frank prices will go back down, right?

CygnusDarius: They still kick the Yankee's ass.



We of the Yankee nation will never ever let you live this one down.

El-Oh-El.

Also: