Red Sox Sign Adrian Beltre

Yup. You’re right, the Red Sox have a lot of similarities to the Yankees; it’s a big difference from the Twins/A’s and the Sox, I agree. There still is a big difference between the Sox and Yanks, even if it is on a higher level though; while they both have the capability to go out and buy up the best FAs on the market each year, there is a difference between what the Yanks did last year, when they bought up three best FAs for over 400m, where, while they all did make sense, it was still admittedly a bit overkill. What of course bugged me most about it was the Teixeira deal, with Cashman basically guaranteeing they were out of that race, and then nabbing him for only a couple mm more than the Sox offered (there’s that similarity again though! The Sox were number 2 bidder, still big-market!). They just threw all their money at Sabathia and saw how much stuck, and then Burnett was almost an afterthought; “hey, we could use another pitcher. Hey look, this guy’s pretty good and he’s still available. Lets throw 5 years at him!”

Now. What I see different in the Sox’s offseason this year (in fact even the Yankees are being pretty tame) is that they knew their problems, and yet went with the flow of the market, not getting sucked into a deal with a lot of cash just because that seemed like the obvious choice. What I see as differences: Red Sox let Bay go. When was the last time the Yankees let any player coming off that kind of year go? Damon and Matsui had decent years but they were both old and fragile (besides Damon might still return). There were good reasons to let them go. Bay, whatever his faults, is a player deserving of at least those 4 years, 60m. What I see as the difference is the Yankees will spend whatever they have to to get that player they want (Sabathia). The Sox will stick to their guns, unless its a player they really feel will make a BIG difference (they raised their bid on Teixeira…of course look what that got them). Damon, Pedro, and Bay…all guys Epstein traded or let go because they wanted too much. The only reason Lackey and Beltre signed: they were willing to take down their price to sign with Boston. So while the Red Sox this year are working with the players that were interested in Boston, and letting go the player that clearly preferred the cash over the team, the Yankees give their players whatever they want so they’ll play for New York.

I dunno. It’s a subtle difference. I like the Red Sox style better because it’s more of a team that prefers loyalty, and guys who will be reasonable in their dealings. They won’t sell out and pay whatever is necessary to get that one player. I don’t care who you are, one player doesn’t make a team. How much did Mauer help the Twins? The Yankees got ARod, that seemed like the last nail in the coffin for the Sox…then the Sox won two World Series before the Yanks got one. The Yankees, as proved with ARod, Sabathia, Teixeira….will pay out the nose for that one special guy.

Hmmm. That was one LONG rambling post that didn’t really make much of a point….