im an astros fan. how the hell could I be further from instant gratification. Im simply explaining its ludicrous to trade the best pitcher in the league in his prime for nothing proven in return. I hope the twins lose every game because owners such as theirs are a disgrace to the sport. that would be my instant gratification. as much grief as I give yankee fans for steinbrenners ridiculous spending on rag arms, at least they try to improve and maintain excellence even if they fall short. No one is arguing you dont build from within yet your goal is to win. You keep your proven talent first and foremost. You simply have bought the bill of goods that loading up on prospects is just as good and be patient. you seem to forget the actual goal. So in 4 years when these new twins prospects develop close to their prime and the twins ready to make a run then what happens? wash, rinse, trade again, repeat. santanas contract will look like chump change in 2 years and history will likely laugh at them. its the point im arguing. they should have at all costs. some may disagree: But go back to the winter meetings, when Smith had the Yankees and Red Sox completely paranoid, the Mets desperate to join the bidding and the Mariners and Angels lurking. That was the time to strike. That was the moment Smith's leverage was highest. Smith should have done then what he did early this week, telling interested clubs to make their best and final offers. The Red Sox or Yankees probably would have jumped, and Smith would have been hailed for staring down the AL East superpowers. Case closed. Instead, Smith waited, reasoning there was no rush, gambling that the Yankees to do something stupid, miscalculating on two fronts. One, Santana had the leverage to refuse a trade once the season started, a possibility raised by his agent, Peter Greenberg, according to sources. Two, teams generally become more reluctant to trade major-league talent as they get closer to spring training. Slowly but surely, Smith's market collapsed, and he eventually ran out of time. The Yankees dropped out of the bidding. The Red Sox declined to improve either of their offers. And ultimately, the Mets landed Santana for probably less than it would have taken to acquire him at the winter meetings. if they cant compete when getting 60 million dollar welfare checks then they need to sell their teams. they simply do not want to compete at the price it takes. major markets and revenue markets are 2 different animals. the reds may have made some strides since last spring its just most of their prospects, if not all, are unproven above single-a level which is not a good thing. luckily they play in the NL central where most of the players are double-a.
Bruce was just named minor league player of the year after dominating AA and AAA. Bailey, Cueto, and Votto have also been among the best players in AAA. It's possible that all 4 will be in Cincinnati by the end of '08.
4 times in 15 years. And if they couldn't win with Johan giving them a pretty good shot at 3 wins in a 7 game series, how well are they going to do now? They've won 4 and played in 2 others since the Twins last went. And it ain't from lack of effort that they haven't won. And now that they're spending money, they're winning titles. I'm sure that's just a coincidence though. Paying top dollar for a couple of handicapped pitchers will do that do you. Lost a thriller of a series in 7 games. How close has Minnesota come? Choking in the Series is different than refusing to spend the money to get there. Lost Twice in the series in the last 10 years or so. Which would be 2 more than the Twins have appeared in. :rofl: Unless this guy starts spending money, he'll never have a shot at the playoffs, let alone a title.
Other than Josh Beckett in '01, not much to brag about on the list of this award recepients over the last 10 years.
10 highest payroll in baseball ($93.5 million). Ahead of the Cardinals, Giants, Phillies, Astros, Braves, Blue Jays, and others.
Using my slide-scale for players payment evaluations I see he wont be playing every five days if injured. This hasnt been studied yet, thus my unknown answer.
Paul Konerko (very good power hitter and 3 time all star) Eric Chavez (won silver slugger at 3rd and is best fielder behind Rolen) Joe Mauer (best catcher in baseball) Jeff Francis (started game 1 or WS--one of best young pitchers in MLB) Delmon Young (still young, but has showed a lot of promise) Only John Rauch has been a bust.
