Ben Sheets and the New York Yankees

I’m pretty sure they can only sign 5 overall, and they have 4. I know they have one more spot left, but I think that is it.

I’m far from an expert on this, but I think this is accurate. If someone with actual, you know, knowledge on this stuff sees something that needs correction, by all means, let me know.

I’m curious to see where the Yankees’ “off-limits” first round pick falls in relation to the Brewers’ first round pick. It’s possible that after all this, the Yankees get to pick before the Brewers in the first round as well.

I might throw-up a little in my mouth. Could you imagine how upset the entire Brewers nation would be.

I wonder if Melvin would feel the need to try and best their offer in an effort to avoid getting a 4th rounder and hoping for a 1st rounder when his next contract expires. Maybe offer him a 1 year deal at a higher per year value with the thinking that the market might be more friendly for him next year. I guess it depends on how much he values that 1st round pick he expects to receive for Sheets. I’m thinking based on the comments he made after the Tex signing is that he values it pretty highly.

saying that the Yankees didn’t want Sheets anymore, and they were going to pursue Pettitte. Back then I was saying that I thought the report was stating this:

The Yankees would rather have Pettitte than Sheets. After Pettitte says no, they’ll turn back to Sheets.

We’ll see.

makes a play for Sheets and Pettite?

Brewer fans should have seen it coming last July. When Ben Sheets struck out BOTH Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz (in successive at bats!) in the All Star game, his fate was sealed as a Yankee starter. If you can take down the 2 biggest Red Sox threats, on national TV while the Steinbrenners are watching…. what better audition can a pitcher have? All this recent Andy Petitte posturing is just for public consumption, designed to make a declining Petitte look greedy and an enemy of the Yankee State. This recent turn of events has (magically ?) created the Sheets opening I’ve always believed would be his to take, at least soince the All Star game. I know how the Yankee Management works….I’ve been following them for years.
First the Yanks will wait until Lowe signs with the Mets and then Andy will re-unite with Torre in LA, and then….. Sheets becomes the Yanks fifth starter. What’s Cashman supposed to do? Despite his injuries, Cash will take Sheets on his All Star performance alone, as he did when he signed Pavano on his World Series performance against the Yankees. Sheets will start 2 or 3 games in April and then hit the DL, just in time for Hughes’ re-emergence as the Yankee Wonderboy.

What are you smokin dude? These salary rules were made to pick the Yankee pockets and re-distribute some of their money to low life teams like the Brewers and Royals. Just last month the Yanks had to pony up some $ 27million in salary cap tax to be divvied up by all the cheapo clubs. And what do these leetches do with the Yankee dollars?… spend it on players? NOPE. They put it in their pockets and while it accrues interest, they trot out minor league teams with no hope. And then they have some hired dolt, like you?, crying the blues about how unfair life is with the Yankees in the room….
I give the Yankees all the credit in the world, they make a lot of money, they spend a lot on player salaries, they put out a great product and they sell a lot of tickets. And, by the way, they win Championships… 27 by my last count…And this year they are actually under budget having $ 89 million coming off last years payroll, and only adding back, so far, 61 mill. give or take. So by my math, the Yanks can go out and sign Manny and still be UNDER BUDGET! How great would that be? And what the heck, sign up Ben Sheets too, which would put them 10-15mill over last year…

Giambi $ 21 M, Mussina $ 16 Mill, Petitte $ 16 M., Pavano $ 10 Million, Abreau $ 16M, Betemit, Hawkins, Ensberg and Farnsworth(less)… add em up and your at $ 89 Million. After Buyout Options paid to Giambi and Pavano, it nets out to $ 82 Million of money coming off the Yankee 2008 Payroll. Now… add in Teixera + Sabathia + Burnett and your at 62-63 million going into 2009… which when compared the the 2008 payroll leaves you UNDER by about $ 20 Million. So, here’s the big scoop… Sheets @ $ 12 Million, 2 year deal with an team option on the third. The other $ 8 Million will be pocket change for Cash when the trading deadline pops up, or when the failing economy forces teams like the Brewers and the Royals to hold a tag sale on players they can no longer afford to pay… And all this gets done before Cash gets the ok from George’s boys to expand on last year’s payroll total by…, say.. 10%…
Maybe instead of bashing the Yankees for their success and their ability to satisfy their growing fan base, you should turn your rage at the Brewer management and insist that they copy the Yankee model… start a TV network, sell subscriptions to it through local Cable providers, win a couple dozen championships, and oh yeah.. gets some exposure in the red hot Japanese Baseball market…wouldn’t hurt.

Last time I checked all teams are a part of MLB. Without the league and the other teams the Yankees would not exist in their current capacity. There needs to be revenue sharing. I don’t know if I am a fan of the current set up, but it is something.

Now I agree there needs to be a way to make teams compete every year. Florida (in a mid-market) shouldn’t be allowed to spend only about $25 mil and then rake in the profits from the Yankees, Red Sox, etal.

 I don’t think you can claim the Brewers aren’t trying to spend money and win. Maybe win Wendy was in charge, but I think Mark wants to compete and he has shown he will put money back into the team.

I am not going to pretend to be smart enough to come up with a perfect system, but if ecomonic trends continue it would be a shame in 20 years if every small/mid-market team would have to fold.

I suppose we could all just enjoy 162 games of Red Sox verses Yankees shoved down our throats on E***. Maybe contraction was the way to go.

Revenue sharing is just plain theft. Work hard, succeed and give your hard earned money to a bunch of losers who couldn’t do it as well as you. Give me a break! It’s like giving billions of tax payer dollars to a group of bankrupted automakers, who clearly have chosen a path of fiscal irresponsibility. How will the automakers compete in the global market if they are rewarded for failure? Our system demands that they be shut down and in their wake new automakers will rise up and take their place with better products and better bottom lines…. And, the worst part is by giving this money to the losers, you impair the ability of the profitable/successful companies/teams to do business as they would do it.
Baseball doesn’t need revenue sharing. It simply needs management teams that are committed to their fans and aren’t afraid to make smart moves. Look a what the Marlins have done…the Rays too. On shoestring budgets they both made it to the World Series and in the Marlin’s case they won it 2 times! How great is that?
The fact is that a baseball team can only have 25 active players on it at any given time. There are at least 700 professional baseball players at the major league level and they all have to get paid. Some will make more than others, some will perform better than others. It’s what makes baseball fun to watch and follow as a fan. who couldn’t help but feel great watching the young Rays play in last year’s World Series? It isn’t rigged, because if it was, then the Yankees would win the World Series every year and the Rays wouldn’t stand a chance.