Giving the Devil His Due

It is almost painful for me to say this....kudos to the Boston Red Sox. Ugh, I suddenly feel so dirty.

I have to give credit where credit is due though. In the last week, Red Sox GM Theo Epstein made the kind of shrewd, under-the-radar moves that help teams win championships. After the hoopla and fanfare surrounding the blockbuster signings by the Yankees, the Hot Stove cooled down just a bit. People took this time to reflect on the changing landscape of the AL East with CC, AJ, and Tex all donning Pinstripes. The Rays responded by signing Pat Burrell to beef up their power from the right side of the plate, and Joe Nelson to sure up the bullpen. The Red Sox did....nothing.

Fans and sports writers alike wondered what would Boston do? What COULD Boston do in response to the moves by the Yankees? There were no blockbuster free agents left, and even if there were, how could they possibly match what the Yankees had accomplished with their big 3 acquisitions?

Then last week it was announced that the Red Sox had reached a 1 year deal with Brad Penny for $5 million. A man who only made 17 starts last year because of injuries, and compiled a 6-9 record with a 6.27 ERA. The Sox then signed Rocco Baldelli for 1 year and $500,000. Baldelli has been hampered by injuries throughout his career. Last year he was diagnosed with a mitochondrial disorder that tires his body out very quickly after physical exertion. He managed to come back for the Rays' stretch and playoff run last season. The busy Red Sox then signed 38 year old Takashi Saito for 1 year and 1.5 million. Saito was the Dodgers closer over the last couple of seasons until midway through this past season when his arm began to give him problems and he was eventually forced into a closer platoon because he couldn't handle the workload. The final move was announced yesterday when the Sox completed their 1 year, $5.5 million deal with lifelong Atlanta Brave John Smoltz, who missed most of last season because of arm problems.

At first glance it looks like the Red Sox were picking up bodies off of the scrap heap at a bargain price. The kind of moves a low budget, flailing organization makes in order to try and lend some "credibility" and name recognition to its team. But the Red Sox aren't exactly a low budget, floundering organization. Put these guys on an already well built team, and they suddenly become low risk, very high reward commodities that could pay huge dividends now and in the future.

Here's a rundown of what each could bring to the table for the Sox:

1) Brad Penny: Despite his troubles last season, Penny has been, at times, a dominant starting pitcher, winning 16 games in both 2006 and 2007 for the Dodgers. And as an added bonus, he was one of the young starting pitchers that helped the Marlins beat the Yankees in the 2003 World Series. If he can recover from his injury and get back to where he was in '06 and '07 he slots in as an extremely dangerous number 4 starter for the Red Sox. He's only 30 years old and there is little reason to believe that he can't bounce back, and if he does, it may allow Epstein to trade one of his young starting pitchers for a good starting catcher, which the Sox desperately need now that Jason Varitek is finished in Beantown.

2) Rocco Baldelli: Baldelli effectively becomes the Red Sox 4th outfielder. Early in his career with the Rays, Baldelli was being touted as one of the next great stars of baseball. He was drawing comparisons to Joe DiMaggio, though that may have been due in part to his name and ethnic background. Joking aside though, the kid could play. He was a frightening blend of power and speed. His average always hovering around .300. David Wright comes to mind when you think of comparable numbers.

Then the injuries began. He simply couldn't stay healthy. When he was diagnosed with the mitochondrial disorder it looked as if his career might be over. He worked hard though to get healthy again, and was used delicately in the Rays stretch run this year, showing some of the same potential he had on display at the beginning of his career.

Now the Red Sox will use him in that same delicate manner. He will be there to spell one of the 3 starting outfielders and can be a great player off of the bench. If he is able to stay healthy he becomes an excellent back-up who would be a starter on any other team. And if he isn't able to stay healthy, well, no matter, he wasn't one of the 3 starters anyway.

3) Takashi Saito: He may be the most under-the-radar of the 4 of them. You can immediately slot him into the 8th inning in front of Jonathan Papelbon. He will share that inning with lefty specialist Hideki Okajima. In doing so they will relieve Saito of the heavy workload of a closer and be able to use him as a dominant 8th inning option. Even in a season in which he had arm problems, Saito was able to put up a 2.49 ERA and save 18 games. This could turn out to be a scary good move for the Red Sox.

4) John Smoltz: Smoltz seems to be the biggest question mark. We all know his track record, but last year he was only able to make 5 starts before he had to pack it in for the season because of major arm trouble. This is the second time in his career that Smoltz has had to deal with a serious arm problem. He turns 42 this year and one has to wonder how much he has left. But you can never question Smoltz's abilities though. If he is able to regain even a modicum of the success he has had over his illustrious career he can be a dominant #5 option in the starting rotation, or even become another excellent set-up man for Papelbon. Whether he can get completely healthy remains to be seen, but with all the pieces that the Sox already have in place, this is a very low risk signing.

So kudos to you Theo. You have shown once again why you are one of the best GM's in baseball.....and now that I've said that, I think I need to take a shower.

Arguing With Myself: Making Sense of the Mark Teixera Signing

OK, enough, we get it: the Yankees are bullies, don't they know that the economy stinks right now, it's totally unfair, the Yankees are going to buy another World Series.

I'll admit, it's getting tougher and tougher to defend the Yankees as this off-season shopping spree goes on, but I'm going to try.

First off, concerning my post on Mark Teixera last week, there is a big part of me that still wishes he had gone to his hometown Orioles. Am I happy to see him wearing pinstripes? Of course. He is a hard-working, exciting ballplayer; the kind of player I think young kids should emulate. But like I said last week, it would have been a good story had he taken less money and gone to his hometown team.

Next, I am sick and tired (and it's only been one day) of reading articles that say Teixera is despicable and that all he cares about is the money. How dare these people? He has earned the right to sign wherever he wants and for how much he wants after putting up excellent numbers and playing stellar defense over his career. It is not the player's fault that teams are throwing ridiculous sums of money at him.

Now, here's where it gets tough. I tried to argue a few weeks ago that the Yankees spending a ton of money on a player is simply the way things are. They have more money than any other team, and they intend on spending it. The best ways I could defend this are a) they sometimes makes very poor decisions on who they choose to throw money at, and b) they have not won a world series this decade despite all the money they have spent. However, with the team now holding the 4 highest paid players in all of baseball, and committing almost a half a billion dollars to 3 players in this off-season I am finding it difficult to continue to justify my reasons.

Nothing has really changed in my argument. This is simply how things are, but there does seem to be a sense of unfairness to it all when the top 3 free agents all go to the same team in the matter of a week. It just doesn't feel right.

Despite my uneasy feeling though, I still think people should stop with this ridiculous chorus of "The Yankees bought the World Series." Just because they're the favorites now doesn't mean they're going to win it all next October. This statement pings of jealousy. "Oh, the Yankees only won this year because they bought all the best players. They didn't really win the World Series." Oh, really? Then let's not even play the next season. Let's just give the Yankees the trophy now and call it a day. And I didn't hear these people chirping when the Yankees came in third last year. There weren't too many chants of "Oh, they bought 3rd place this year." This absolutely absurd whining needs to stop NOW.

Ok, deep breaths Michael. I digress....

Baseball executives are split on how they feel about all these signings. Some say that it's bad for baseball and that it's impossible for other teams to survive in this climate. Others, like Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi, said that teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs are great for baseball. This coming from a GM who shares a division with the Yanks and Red Sox. He commented this morning on WFAN in NY that these teams always sell out stadiums when they are on the road, they bring lots of attention and excitement to the sport, they make other teams really work hard at developing good ball players and building great teams, and he said he doesn't hear anyone complaining when the Yankees pay their big luxury tax to the other teams.

Clearly this is a divisive issue among fans and MLB personnel alike. I still defend my Yankees, but I have to admit, I don't do it with that same sense of righteousness that I did one week ago.

But I still don't want to hear anyone complaining that they bought the World Series if they win it all in '09. Someday soon, the rules might change when it comes to player contracts and salary caps, but until that day comes, the way the Yankees do business is just how things are.

And if you disagree....go ahead and tell me I'm wrong.