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02 Jan 2009 |
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| My first blog post here on FantasyPros911.com is the perfect opportunity to share my thoughts on the Mark Teixeira signing at the end of December; not just as a baseball fan or a fantasy player, but also as a Boston Red Sox fan.
The first rule in fantasy sports is that you must differentiate between your fandom and your fantasy valuations. In baseball I will always root for the Red Sox over my fantasy baseball players because of my early childhood allegiance. In other sports I never have had a real team that I truly called my own so my fantasy players always come first and my local DC teams come second, but I digress…back to the Yankees getting Teixeira. The Yankees had an insane amount of money coming off their balance sheet this year with Jason Giambi, Carl Pavano, Andy Pettitte, Mike Mussina and Bobby Abreu so the fact that they went out and spent that money on CC Sabathia , AJ Burnett and Teixeira made complete sense as it helped them replace some of their needs with salary they were already spending. For the Yankees, the move of getting Teixeira was ideal since it gives them a younger cornerstone to a team that has one aging cornerstone in veteran Derek Jeter and another in Alex Rodriguez. In a city like New York that demands stars and high profile players, the Yankees simply did what they should have …go out and sign the best players they could for the money they had available in their budget. As a baseball fan, one wishes that more teams actually did sign the best players they could for the money available in their budget. That, and the low budget amounts that are set by so many of the other team owners are the two biggest problems in the game today and the reason why certain teams like the Yankees, Red Sox , Mets, Angels always look like they are spending so much in comparison to the other teams. So many small market teams set low budgets so they can make sure the owners are able to gain cash value for their team investment to use on other business ventures and not put it back into the game for the fans. If a team can support a certain budget, like the Yankees can, there is no problem with them going out and spending the money on a top tier first baseman like Teixeira.  The Red Sox had their chance to get Teixeira and fans should commend them for not doing the easy thing and paying Scott Boras' demands. They did not need a first baseman of Teixeira’s caliber on their team. Kevin Youkilis has proven to be a quality first baseman/third baseman and the Red Sox have third baseman Mike Lowell, who is rehabbing and is on schedule to play starting in the spring for another year at third base. They also have a highly touted first baseman prospect, Lars Anderson, who is only a few years away and who would have to make a position change if first base was blocked by a long term deal that Teixeira was after. The Red Sox need: 1) A catcher to replace an aging Jason Varitek, 2) an Outfielder to rotate with the oft injured JD Drew and Jacoby Ellsbury and 3) Pitching because… well every team always needs more pitching. The Red Sox instead used some of their budget to lock up Dustin Pedroia and are now looking into doing the same for Youkilis. Hopefully, they will be able to acquire another outfielder and a one year catcher option in the coming weeks. Ideally the long term money they didn’t spend on Teixeira this year should be spent next year on a long term catching solution which should be entering the market in the form of Joe Mauer. Whether that happens or not we have to see. Finally the fantasy take! This is the easiest. Before the trade, Teixeira’s projection was that he would hit 30-35 home runs, 110 RBIs, score 100 runs with post a batting average of .300 or better. Now with the Yankees he pretty much projects the same. Lets throw in an additional 10 to 15 more runs and RBIs for being in the middle of the Yankees lineup. Not really any change in value. Still a great second round pick. Over the last few days I have seen many takes about this signing. Some that I agree with and others that I don't. Mostly though, I have found it very enlightening that people have felt so strongly in their viewpoints, even those I disagree with that say the Red Sox or any other team should have gotten Teixeira. What's your take on this whole Teixeira thing? Do you think the rich are getting richer? Do you think there should be a salary cap in baseball? Make sure you also catch my weekly column "Roaming the Outfield" appearing every Wednesday here at FantasyPros911.com. Trackback(0)
Comments (5)
  written by Wayne Provost, January 02, 2009
Agree 100% with you Sean...as a devout Red Sox fan I have faith in Theo...he can be very creative in using the $$$ it would have taken to sign Tex...
written by JoeLano, January 02, 2009
Yes Sean, the rich continue to get richer in Major League Baseball. It is a flawed system in place right now, but don't any real change coming anytime soon.
As a Yankee fan I was shocked when they signed Teixiera. I didn't even know they where still in the mix after signing CC and AJ. But your point about all the money they have freed up this season is what made it happen. Amazingly, their current 2009 payroll is less than it was in 2008. That can all change with another free agent signing. Manny?
written by SeanAgranov, January 02, 2009
just goes to prove that not all sox fans are irrational blowhards who talk funny. :woohoo: The salary floor sounds awesome to me as well. The only way to set any sort of salary cap fairly would be to base it on market share. I i dont forsee that happening anytime soon.
written by big o, January 02, 2009
nice article .
you sound too objective , too rational , to be a sox fan. what's in place now is a revenue "funnel" . all money leads into and away from the yankees . rather than a salary cap , i would like to see a team salary "floor" . i'd also like to see owners and players tithe 10% of their money to charitable causes ... but that ain't gonna happen .
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Tags: Baseball fantasy baseball Red Sox Mark Teixeira Scott Boras Kevin Youkilis Mike Lowell Lars Anderson Jason Varitek JD Drew Jacoby Ellsbury Dustin Pedroia Derek Jeter Jason Giambi Carl Pavanno Andy Pettitte Mike Mussina and Bobby Abreu CC Sabathia AJ Burnett Derek Jeter Alex Rodriguez New York Yankees Boston Dustin Pedroia Kevin Youkilis Joe Mauer projection
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Really love this article. keep up the good work. I have the rss feed now and love the new site as well. The four headed monster of Lenny, Paul, Tony and Patrick is going to be a sick team. With you and the other writers no need to go any where else.
Great job
Brian