Rox vs. Sox

[byualum]

Manny will struggle in the outfield at Coors...

Only if the Rockies can hit a ball into the outfield...

[laxfan25]

Sweep. Sweet! The Rockies made the games interesting after game 1, but still couldn't get over the hump.
As good as the Red Sox may be, they'll never be like the Damn Yankees. The Yanks look to be in a little bit of turmoil right now - shucks.

[KnoxVegas]

Maybe that $50 million plus was worth it for Daisuke Matsuzaka? Enjoy it Red Sox fans, heavy hangs the head that wears the crown.

Attention Peter Angelos: You own a franchise that was once the model for all others. Now you let your players throw out the first pitch for a team in your own division. Think about it!

[onpoint]

I got a late ticket to last night's game. The Sox are just on another level. I only wish the crowd would have started the "You're the Yankees!" chant after they won.

[StrykerFSU]

"You're the Yankees!"

But the Red Sox actually win championships!

The Sox may spend a lot money but they are not from the only ones. With home grown talent like Pedroia, Ellsbury, Youkilis, Papelbon, Delcarmen, Bucholtz, and Lester at the dawn of their careers the Sox are a far cry from the bloated, aging mercenaries over in the Bronx.

As my girlfriend said to me last night following the last out of the season, "I'm so happy for them, they just seem like a group of really nice guys that have a lot of fun". I couldn't have said it better myself.

Four months until pitchers and catchers report in Fort Meyers...

[Zeuslax]

Attention Peter Angelos: You own a franchise that was once the model for all others. Now you let your players throw out the first pitch for a team in your own division. Think about it!

Don't get me started on the O's and Angelos. Good to see the American league east win......just not the Yanks!

[Dan Wishengrad]

Kudos to the Sox for an awesome WS sweep, especially given the key contributions from rookies Pedroia and Ellsbury.

Hard to watch Boston without being constantly reminded of one of the worst Mariners trades (and there have been some doozies) of all time: young players Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek for has-been Heathcliff Slocumb. To top that, the M's gave up too early on another of their draft picks, a young guy called David Arias, and threw him into a different deal. The guy changes his last name to Ortiz to become truly the "Player To Be Named Later."

[CATLAX MAN]

Maybe the players are nice guys, who knows? None of us certainly do. However, one thing is for sure....... the Red Sox organization is an embodiment of what is terribly wrong with baseball. Yes, they are not that far from being the Yankees. Wantonly spending money and buying championships is quite detestable. The Sox spent more money on one player (Matsusaka) than the entire Rockies payroll. I undersand that it is not against the rules, but something needs to be done about this. It has created an environment of a few contenders and a whole lot of have nots.

[Zeuslax]

Maybe the players are nice guys, who knows? None of us certainly do. However, one thing is for sure....... the Red Sox organization is an embodiment of what is terribly wrong with baseball. Yes, they are not that far from being the Yankees. Wantonly spending money and buying championships is quite detestable. The Sox spent more money on one player (Matsusaka) than the entire Rockies payroll. I undersand that it is not against the rules, but something needs to be done about this. It has created an environment of a few contenders and a whole lot of have nots.

Well there is one team bucking the trend of not going out and buying players - the Buc’s. They haven't won in 14 years. The owners were recently rated as one of the worst owners (#6 if I remember correctly) in pro sports. They're making tons of money on top of it. They've decided to buck (no pun intended) the trend and just develop their farm system. It's been said that their scouts stink though. Really seems to be a lose-lose scenario.

Basically the owners and GM have decided to build the organization the old fashioned way, but the fans are going crazy. Crazy enough to continue to support a team when the owners are obviously raking it in and refuse to put a product on the field that can win.

Ahhhh, If only the Pirates still had Bobby and Barry.

[laxfan25]

Maybe the players are nice guys, who knows? None of us certainly do. However, one thing is for sure....... the Red Sox organization is an embodiment of what is terribly wrong with baseball. Yes, they are not that far from being the Yankees. Wantonly spending money and buying championships is quite detestable. The Sox spent more money on one player (Matsusaka) than the entire Rockies payroll. I undersand that it is not against the rules, but something needs to be done about this. It has created an environment of a few contenders and a whole lot of have nots.

Actually a friend of mine back in New England won a VitaminWater contest towards the end of the season for a barbeque with Big Papi. He had tickets from his brother to the Friday night game when they clinched the division, the next afternoon was the BBQ with all sorts of goodies handed out and getting to say Hi to the big guy, and then a special section at Fenway for the game on Saturday night. Sounds like a rather fun weekend!
Spending big money doesn't guarantee championships (although it helps!). It does sell out a ballpark every night, and they have a very rich TV contract from NESN that allows them to spend the money. Other owners elect to bring in big bucks but keep it for themselves - kudos to the Sox for putting it into the team on the field. The Sox stepped up and spent $50M+ just for the rights to negotiate with Dice-K - that was a very significant gamble on a player that had never pitched in the American major leagues - turned out to be a good gamble. Risk big - win big. I'm sure there are many, many people in Red Sox Nation that find it delectable, not detestable!
It's not against the rules, so no one else is prohibited from trying the same thing. A-Rod is on the market, and I think the Red Sox will leave him alone (at least that's what we're hoping), but someone will pony up big bucks for him. What do you suggest be done about this? Salary caps? Shared revenue from TV contracts? If those are the rules, great, but until then, go Sox.

Of course you could follow Wayne Huizenga's example with the Florida Marlins. Win the Series from out of nowhere, and then disband your team because they're gonna want raises, then put a second-rate product on the field the next season. I'm sure the Marlin fans were screaming "there oughta be a law!".

[CATLAX MAN]

Perhaps baseball needs to follow the lead of pro football and institute hard salary caps and revenue sharing. The problem is that that the overriding greed of the baseball owners will probably never let that happen. The owners have proven over & over again that they will never put the interests of baseball first at the expense of their own personal enrichment.

[Zeuslax]

Perhaps baseball needs to follow the lead of pro football and institute hard salary caps and revenue sharing. The problem is that that the overriding greed of the baseball owners will probably never let that happen. The owners have proven over & over again that they will never put the interests of baseball first at the expense of their own personal enrichment.

I agree. However, there was my O's. Angelos tried to buy the World Series, got about as close as you could get 2 years in a row, then the whole process blew up in his face. There was the big three issues with Alomar, little Jeffery, and Davey Johnson being the most widely publicized. After trying to buy the pennant and WS he took the other route and started banking instead of spending.

[StrykerFSU]

CATLAXMAN, I couldn't disagree with you more. Let's look at the all of the championships of the NFL and MLB since 2000. In the supposedly even playing field of the salary cap NFL there have been 13 different franchises to appear in the Super Bowl with the Pats and the Rams appearing multiple times. Eight of those franchises won the Super Bowl. With their salary cap and revenue sharing, the NFL has succeeded in creating parity in a league once known for dynasties. Now some may argue that the NFL has diluted its talent with over expansion and salary restrictions but that is an argument for a different day.

World Series participants over the same time span include 12 different franchises with the Red Sox, Cardinals, and Yankees all appearing multiple times. There have also been 8 different winners of the World Series.

Looking at payroll, the Red Sox spent $143 million this year compared to the Yanks' $195 million (I don't know if that includes the insane $25 million contract given to Clemens). But they aren't the only ones spending like crazy: New York Mets - $116 million payroll in 2007, Los Angeles Angels - $109 million, Chicago White Sox - $109 million, Los Angeles Dodgers - $108 million, Seattle Mariners - $106 million, Chicago Cubs - $99 million, Detroit Tigers - $95 million, Baltimore Orioles - $95 million.

Am I the only one that remembers all of the huge contracts that the Rockies use to give to pitchers that inevitably turned into busts? While the deep pockets of the Red Sox do allow them to pursue marquee free agents, there is no guarantee that these signings will pan out. For every Schilling there is a Renteria. What separates the Red Sox from the Orioles of the world is that they have an outstanding ownership group that trusts their baseball people to make sound baseball decisions. Instead of overspending for Tejada's or Millar's, the Red Sox allow the like of Johnny Damon and Pedro Martinez walk. They have also done an outstanding job of using compensatory draft picks to restock their farm system. For example Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury came from the Pedro and Orlando Cabrera deals respectively.

The problem is that that the overriding greed of the baseball owners will probably never let that happen. The owners have proven over & over again that they will never put the interests of baseball first at the expense of their own personal enrichment.

Let's not forget that owning a baseball team is a business. The Red Sox owners understand that the best way to ensure a profit is to spend. They have invested considerable money refurbishing Fenway and have been rewarded with a home sell out streak that is stretching into its fourth (I think) season. They invest in talent and scouting to field the best team possible. Their business/baseball plan should be a model to other organizations, not something to be legislated away.

[CATLAX MAN]

The bottom line is that there is a very discernible competitive difference between the 10 or so teams that you listed as the "big spenders" and the other 22 teams in baseball. It is true that some of the "big spenders" have not spent wisely. However, it is not a healthy environment when 2/3 of the teams in baseball know that they have a miniscule chance in competing right from the start because they can't spend the kind of money that the big markets teams do. tt's just not good business, IMO.

This is exactly what happened in football when the 49ers were in their heyday and collecting all the best talent that made itself available in the marketplace. The other owners got together and came to the realization that it is not good for the overall sport to create a class system and have competitive disadvantages due solely to those who had the money to spend and was willing to do so. They came to the realization that it was good for the game that all teams shared in the growth of the sport and success was tied to business decisions & talent evaluations rather than who was willing to outspend the other.

[StrykerFSU]

But the facts don't support your argument. Even with a salary cap and revenue sharing, you have an equivalent number of franchises appearing in the championships in each sport. It's not as though all 32 NFL teams begin each season with realistic hopes of reaching the Super Bowl. I don't think that the Kansas City Chiefs had any better shot of going to the Super Bowl this year than the Royals had in going to the World Series.

But hey, I understand. It's easy to label the Red Sox as the new bad guys now that the Yankees have imploded and I'm sure it's hard to root for the DRays, Pirates, Royals, Marlins (in off championship years), etc. but I'm also sure you'd get similar complaints from Browns, Lions, Bills, Dolphins, and Cardinals fans.