[Optimus Prime]

Slumgullion Spitteler;282629 said:

Hood's balls in vice! Yankees' opening day got rained out...

An omen...perhaps?

*cue music and evil laugh machine*

MUWHAHAHAHAH

Damn Braves, TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW! ARGH!

The Tampa Bay Rays, they WILL win over 80 games this year....surprise of the year.

[Grumble]

Nice start for the Mariners here's to another 116 victorys for the M's and the outright MLB record.

[Optimus Prime]

Grumble;282918 said:

Nice start for the Mariners here's to another 116 victorys for the M's and the outright MLB record.

You better hope it isn't followed by a huge collapse against the Yanks in the playoffs.....I was so depressed that year

Yanks won't make the playoffs. That's my bold prediction.

[Slum]

Xander;283261 said:

Yanks won't make the playoffs. That's my bold prediction.

While I'll concede that it's a possibility that the Yanks' may miss the playoffs, I also think that it's unlikely. Barring any major injuries to their starters and slumps from their run-producers, they have just as good a shot as anybody in the AL East. Now, they are on the old side -that's obvious- but they're also used to the grind and know how to handle the highs and lows of a season. And they are the Yankees, so don't be surprised if they pick up a mid-season acquisition of some significance...

And they won last night...another Yankee victory, another record set. All in a day's work for the best team in the history of baseball.

[paladin]

Slumgullion Spitteler;283517 said:

And they won last night...another Yankee victory, another record set. All in a day's work for the best team in the history of baseball.

and the angels will continue to wipe the smug from your ass all over your face with their only winning record against the yanks since the torre era

i dunno what to hate more, yankee fans or red sox fans.

[Slum]

Geez, bitter much?

It's my team, and since everybody else on these boards seems to hate them, I have to stick up for them at least a little. And I think you should be more concerned with the Mariners than the Yanks...

And you did notice the tongue smiley, didn't you? That means don't take it too seriously...

[Optimus Prime]

At least Red Sox fans are new to their superior feelings.

If I were a Yankee fan, I'd be sad. They will never be as dominant as they were in the 20th century. It's all downhill from here.

[Slum]

Kind of like the Braves, Xander?

[Optimus Prime]

Sort of, though we only won one World Series...so we technically can do better. But that string of Division Titles? No way...we won't ever do that again.

What I'm saying is, the Yanks won't ever win all those titles because Baseball is such a different game...and full of much more Parody...though not as much as I'd like. They'll still win championships, of course, but what 26 in a century?

no way.

[Slum]

Okay, fair enough. But I'm not sad...I still enjoy it because the Yanks do everything they can to win, and if they don't, at least it's not for lack of trying.

And it's true that there is more parity in the game today, but small market teams will never be able to compete with the likes of Boston and New York as long as they remain frugal. 'Cause let's face it the Sawx and the Yanks will spend what it takes...other teams, the Tigers come to mind, are starting to emulate them, but the Kansas Cities and the Tampa Bays and their ilk are going to be perennial cellar-dwellers if they don't pay to keep the talent they're developing.

[Obdigore]

Hey the Twins are one of the lowest paying teams in baseball, and they do pretty good with it. They had to trade the best pitcher in the game so they could keep some of their hitters. Meh, there should be a salary cap, instead of just an increase in the 'luxery tax' on clubs that go over the recommended salary.

[Optimus Prime]

Right Slum.

Although...I think the Royals and Rays will shock some people this year.

So are you for a salary cap in baseball?

[Slum]

Well, I think the A's, Indians and the Twins are really the exception in the AL, but how many world series have they won?. And those young stars are going to demand a lot more money as they come out of current contracts and such (Billy Beane deals his stars every year, it seems). In the NL...heck, Arizona goes from last to first, the Rockies come out of nowhere...the Marlins win two World Series with a minimal payroll and young starters.

And, um, er, I'm a Yankees fan...so of course I don't want a salary cap. But it would be interesting

[Obdigore]

Slumgullion Spitteler;283643 said:

Well, I think the A's, Indians and the Twins are really the exception in the AL, but how many world series have they won?. And those young stars are going to demand a lot more money as they come out of current contracts and such (Billy Beane deals his stars every year, it seems). In the NL...heck, Arizona goes from last to first, the Rockies come out of nowhere...the Marlins win two World Series with a minimal payroll and young starters.

And, um, er, I'm a Yankees fan...so of course I don't want a salary cap. But it would be interesting

But thats the thing. A team like the Twins has all the farm system. If you are an up and comming baseball player, you WANT to get into the Twins farm system. They have one of the best, and they are able to keep rotating out their older, money-heavy starts and bringing up new kids who are almost as good, if not as good for 1/10th the price.

Twins have won.... 2(3?) world series, and have more Divison and Pennant wins than I can remember off the top of my head.

[Optimus Prime]

Slumgullion Spitteler;283643 said:

Well, I think the A's, Indians and the Twins are really the exception in the AL, but how many world series have they won?. And those young stars are going to demand a lot more money as they come out of current contracts and such (Billy Beane deals his stars every year, it seems). In the NL...heck, Arizona goes from last to first, the Rockies come out of nowhere...the Marlins win two World Series with a minimal payroll and young starters.

And, um, er, I'm a Yankees fan...so of course I don't want a salary cap. But it would be interesting

Until 2005, the Yankees used the smaller market teams as their "farm systems". They waited until the stars on teams like the A's, Twins, etc reached their potential (like Giambi) then they stole them away. It's the reason why the Yanks are so old now and haven't won in a few years, IMO. Now they've started to rebuild their farm systems and are reaping the benefits
(Hughes, Chamberlain, Cabrera) etc.

[paladin]

The difference is that the yankees won doing what good teams do, growing young talent inhouse, or acquiring young talent before it becomes difficult to acquire. when they started spending all the money in the world their success was less and less each year including letting the dreaded redsox win 2 championships in a few years span. their spending habits also got torre axed, and torre did a pretty damn good job managing the team with all the egomaniacs on it

teams that make it to the playoffs consistently and win world series are usually the teams with a good stock of homegrown talent and a star or two bought on the open market to put them over the edge. the braves are a prime example of this with excellent homegrown talent sustaining them for over decade with a few extra additions when they lost a component

both the royals and the rays are already on their way to this "solution" which is why people think they're close to success. both also have good pitchers in the tubes, some of which are proven(kazmir), some of which have only begun to prove themselves(bannister, shields). the key to winning, especially as a lower spending franchise, is pitching. the marlins, a's, and twins(until now) are all pitching first teams and history has shown that translates into consistent success, even if they don't win the championship at all. winning in the playoffs involves a great deal of luck and matchups, but making the playoffs is no fluke.

[Slum]

Those are all valid points, paladin. But the market has only gotten so expensive in the last eight years or so. Maybe the Yanks started the spending spree, but it also has to do with the record contracts guys like A-Rod, Manny and Jeter setting a new trend for star salaries...

Tha Yanks have made some stupid moves in an effort to stay on top...Kevin Brown, Pavano, even RJ. I think they've learned from that, though. Sinking a pile of cash into aging pitchers is not a good investment.

But those 5 championships lit Steinbrenner's fuse something wicked and he was not going to be denied...the spending hasn't worked, but they have made the playoffs every year.

Maybe the Royals and Rays are on their way up, but my whole point is, how are they going to keep those players if they're not willing to pay them market value? They can't overtake take the big dogs by building a good team and then dismantling it when it gets too expensive, only to start over again. Or maybe they can...I don't know. Like I said, I'm no expert, everything I know about baseball I get from ESPN and the YES network.

[Optimus Prime]

It is shocking how much range Jeter has lost....he may actually have to be moved to First Base soon...or the outfield. Can Captain Yankee do that? Or does Jeter really have an ego?

[Slum]

Um, I think they all have pretty big egos, Jeter included. He's not the best shortstop on his team, that's for sure... I don't know how much range he's lost though, he's always made quite a few errors. And the Yanks already have, like, four candidates for first base.

Jeter's not going anywhere any time soon... He does irritate me with his errors, but I think it's been so long since A-Rod was at short it'd be too much of an adjustment for him to switch now.

Sad Fact: I just read that A-Rod makes more than all the Florida Marlins combined...I can see why people hate him and the Yanks by extension.

[Optimus Prime]

But that's the Marlin's fault in a lot of ways. They just won't pay their players, except one year contracts.

If they don't get a new stadium that team is so relocating.

A lot of people who hate the Yankees are jealous, it's true.