1. The Red Sox are paying Matsuzaka $52 million... OVER 6 YEARS. Clemens is getting about $20 million for half a year. There's no WAY that's a better deal. 2. The pitcher you would likely be acquiring and signing to a long term deal would be younger, so you would WANT to lock him up. 3. With the luxury tax, they will be paying more than the $20 million Clemens will get. He's NOT a cheap alternative at all, and if you really think he is, you know less about baseball than I thought. 4. He hasn't pitched in the AL, let alone the AL East in nearly 4 years. The Red Sox have exactly 4 players from the last time Clemens pitched in the division. The Orioles have 3, the Blue Jays have 3, and Tampa has 3. He doesn't "know the division" anymore.
This is a horrible move only because he didn't go to the Sox or Mets. Definetly should have checked with their fans first on this because we all know how their prized organizations know how to win championships.
I'm not saying it was a horrible move, but to make it sound like the best deal in the history of baseball is bullshit. It was Steinbrenner throwing a bunch of money at a guy in his mid 40's who spent the last few years in the worst division in baseball, who will go 6 innings a game, for half a season. Will he help the Yankees rotation? Probably. Is he going to put them over the top? Probably not.
He's not being paid that money, so no. It doesn't count to their payroll, so no. It won't add toward the luxury tax, so no.
It's a better deal because it is 18 million and done. If Matsusaka turns out to be a bust as all previous Japanese pitchers have been they will still be paying 100 million to him, well for him if not to him. Besides it may not cost the Yankees a penney. I believe I heard today that if Pavano has surgery they have insurance. So that will pay Clemens 18 million itself as Pavano will be out until the end of his contract. You have to understand what cheap means to a team like the Yankees before getting on your soapbox.
Hideo Nomo says hello. He was hardly a bust. And his nationality has NOTHING to do with how he will pitch. If you really think it does, you may be borderline retarded. As for the insurance, that's great, but it still counts to the payroll and luxury tax, so no, it's NOT cheap. And the reason it's $18 million (which it's not, it's $20+ million with the luxury tax) and done is that Clemens is 45 years old. It's not like the Yankees swindled him into taking a short contract or something.
Funny if that fee were posted by the Yanks it would have been big bad Yankees flexing their muscles all over again.
Haha..I really do understand why you, as a Sox fan, would prefer the Yankees to go all season with two different rookies in the lineup reather then somebody with 348 wins. Not going to happen though. You guys better get some bats as your pitching is not about to last all year. It is 18 million if he joins the ML lineup on June 1st, all he has now is a minor league contract. Oh, nm..you're right with the luxury tax. Just money. You are paying luxury tax now too. Face it, what you really can't stand is the fact that your owners and the Mets and LA and all other big market team owners do is pocket the money rather then put it back into the team. Steinbrenner puts the money in the team because he wants to win. In fact, I think I read that on paper, at least, the Yankees actually lost money last year. He could put crap on the field and just put the money in his pocket instead. I'm not saying Boston, or any other of those teams do that to a large degree but plenty do.
I don't think its a bad move, you guys need him.. but if you want to consult a fan base, try Arizona, Anaheim, Florida, Boston, Chicago, or Detroit. Since their organizations seem to have figured out how to win.
Honestly, if I was a Yankee fan I'd rather see some youth brought into the rotation. I'm hoping as hard as I can that the Sox let Schilling go to make room for some young guys next year. The difference here is the Sox don't need Clemens at this point, and the Yankees do. And why won't the Sox' pitching last? Because you don't want it to? Even with Clemens, I'll take the Boston pitching staff over the Yankees pitching staff any day. I wonder how many wins Clemens will lose with Torre bungling the bullpen, and the relievers being overworked/sucky? Especially since he'll be leaving the park after the 6th inning every start.
They have? How many WS championships combined have they won in the last 100 years? 6 maybe? I think they have a lot more figuring to do.
Hughes is youth. He will be in the rotation as soon as he comes off the DL. Wang is youth. There are others a year or two away. The Yankees bullpen will be fine if they can get 6 innings out of their starters everyday. The problem up till now is they get about 4, sometimes 5.
What youth do you want the Yanks to put in the rotation? I dont think the Yankees desperately needed Clemens as it is being painted. W/o Clemens our playoff rotation assuming everyone is healthy is Wang Pettite Moose Hughes. At this point the season is early, John Maine is the NL Cy young. A-Rod is possibly breaking the HR record, and Albert Pujols is a .264 hitter. were only 5 games back in May, I can recall not to long ago the Yanks trailing the Sox in the division entering the June to July
The people running those teams 100 years ago are all dead. The people running them NOW have won more WS then the Yankees. Who last won SEVEN years ago. A kid who was a freshman in high school the last time the Yankees won a world series is now a college senior. And you're kidding yourself if you believe George "alzheimers" Steinbrenner is currently running the Yankees.
they are. And what better mentor for Hughes to have than Clemens. As far as how many inning he will go etc,we'll see when it happens,but imo his value being here goes beyond on the field.
