Light the Hot Stove fires

Except there's little room for error if they miss. Chances are they won't land a Bobby Abreu or someone like that at the trade deadline should things go wrong.

What I'm hoping is that what's happening now is akin to what the Tigers did years ago when they landed Pudge among others and everyone thought they just wasted money. Like I said in October, the Tigers definitely gave Royals fans hope.

 

But how many teams are going to go for an Abreu anyway? One. The Red Sox were crying poverty over Abreu in August and now they're blowing money like they're printing it in the basement.

In addition, how many teams have the room for error if they miss on a big budget FA guy? One. The Red Sox invested in all the wrong guys after they won it all. They signed Renteria, traded him for a guy they used to get Coco Crisp, who was there to replace Johnny Damon. Because the Sox had Renteria, Hanley Ramirez treaded water at Double-A and he was traded for Josh Beckett, who was supposed to be the 1-A pitcher the Sox lost when they let Pedro walk and replaced him with Matt Clement.

The Mets didn't win a thing with Bobby Bonilla, et al, in the early 1990s. The Dodgers blew God only knows how much on Scott Boras clients in the late 90s and early 00s and didn't win a thing. The Rangers blew $300-plus million on A-Rod and Chan Ho Park and finished in last place three straight years.

And the ability to give away their mistakes hasn't helped the Yankees at all this decade.

It doesn't matter what size your "market" is. If you pick the wrong guy to spend $50 million on, you're going to suffer for years.

 

Unless you generate more than $200 million-plus from local media, ticket sales, etc. like the Yankees and Red Sox do. Then they simply find other ways to invest that new revenue and try again. For teams like the Royals who make $15 million or so locally, that could cripple a team for years.

When the Royals miss badly (think Juan Gone and Santiago in 2004, only a year after that glorious 83-79 season in 2003), it's 100 losses easy. When the Red Sox miss badly, it's 86 wins and third place. No doubt teams like the Royals can always spend money, and they must do so on the right guys. But the margin of error is a lot smaller with teams like the Royals than it is the Red Sox or Yankees, who will "suffer" to another October postseason soon enough despite making a rash of mistakes on pricey free agents.

Here's hoping that the Royals guessed right here.

EDIT -- Barry Bonds can find work, after all. One year, $16 million with the Giants.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/baseball/mlb/12/08/giants.bonds.ap/index.html

 

Glass might have more money, but Streinbrenner's team is generating a hell of a lot more revenue.

These are businessmen. Some of them simply won't pour more money into a business than they could ever get out of it.

But, of course, that doesn't fit your argument. So never mind.

 

Two thoughts on the Gil Meche signing - yes it was an awful signing - too much money for a mediocre pitcher. However, consider that much of that money very well could be traced back to the luxury tax money the Royals got from teams like the Yankees and Red Sox who were overspending before overspending was popular. Secondly - I would be curious how the Meche deal is structured. If it is backended - then the Royals could very well get two productive years out of Mech before trading him before the trade deadline. If the actual deal is Meche for two years at $8-9 million per year and then flip him for some prospects - this this could turn into a very good deal for the Royals. Of course this still represents a very big risk for the Royals.

 

One little nugget regading the Dodgers signing Luis Gonzalez to a one year deal - the Dodgers can now play two players in the outfield who went to the University of South Alabama (Gonzalez and Juan Pierre). In fact it is possible that the Dodgers could play Marlon Anderson in the outfield in order to have an all University of South Alabama oufield. The only other U of South Alabama alumni in MLB is Jon Lieber but look out for Blue Jay slugger Adam Lind who could someday challenge Gonzalez for the most HR in MLB history by a player who went to the University of South Alabama.

 

Thanks for this note, Mr. South Alabama SID

 

Baseball owners tend to make most of their money, historically, on the sale of the club because of the crazy rate of increase on franchise values. The only intelligent business strategy is to invest in your baseball operations, including players, to ensure optimum value increase. People pay way too much attention to annual operating revenues in these discussions.

 

Thank you, cran, for a touch of sanity in regard to baseball economics.

 

Not unless he is facing a righty bracketed by two left-handed hitters.

Percentages.

 

I never said they were making intelligent baseball decisions. Being successful in other areas doesn't mean you will run your franchise well.

I see cran's point, but it still makes a difference if the money is coming from team revenue rather than the owner's pocket. And even when it comes time to sell, none of these franchises will ever have the value of the Yankees.

 

Just like a two-bedroom condo in Minneapolis will never have the value of a two-bedroom condo in Manhattan.