Yanks Want Lowell For First Base

More than half of the Yankees lineup is a bought lineup. It wold just make it worse if they get Mike Lowell.

Lowell sucks....i dont see why yankees haters wouldnt be happy abt this.

im a mets fan. if the yankees hadnt overpaid for so many players, beltran would be in the bronx.

luckily for me, they sign dudes like lowell.

GOD! i hate this friggen team.

I would have agreed with you i past years venom but i think Cashman finally lost his mind. He just doesnt know how to operate a baseball team anymore (if you ask me, he never knew how to). The Yankees biggest need of the offseason still remains: a new gm.

im going to have to agree with not joe morgan on this one, as a sox fan even i have to agree with that. i dont think anything is wrong with it, if you got it flaunt it i would have to say in this case, esp as a sox team needing to compete with a machine like the yankees.

What's the salary limit this year before the penalties? Also, anyone know what rate they Yankees will have to pay for their "overage"?

Lowell or Jones could move to 2B? Trade Johnson and something else for pitching help?

Yeah the Braves is pretty BS. Cardinals? That would be funny.

"im going to have to agree with not joe morgan on this one, as a sox fan even i have to agree with that. i dont think anything is wrong with it, if you got it flaunt it i would have to say in this case, esp as a sox team needing to compete with a machine like the yankees."

And there my friends, is the problem in MLB. Might as well fold the other 20 or so teams and just have it an all NY, BOS, CHW, CHC, LAD, ANA, NYM, etc game. Would be much more fun watching 6-10 mega-teams beat the crap out of eachother constantly than to have the talent spread over 30 teams and being forced to watch the Pit’s and Wash’s of the world try to act like real major league clubs...

bsox21- if youre a met fan why are you bsox21. Oh, yeah youre just like every other met fan who jumps on the sox bandwagon after the mets are out of it. Also, of Beltrans three years in NY, hes really only had one great year. Year one, he was basically bernie williams. Year two, he was great but last year, when he wasnt hurt he was pretty inconsistent...youre not quite gettin what you pay for with him

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-newcba102506&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

To answer my own question the luxury tax level for 2008 is 155MM and the Yankees would pay the multiple offender rate of 40%.

wasnt there a rumor that the brews were shopping Ben Sheets and the yankees were interested?

Abreu and Ian Kennedy?

Tyler... you must be a Yankee fan... because that offer is laughable.

Doesn't the Braves rumor assume Chipper is finally being moved off 3B into LF?

Yanks homegrown:
SS
CF
2B
C
1B (most likely)
The entire starting rotation (if Ian Kennedy is your 5th starter over Mussina)

And Closer.

Red Sox homegrown:
2B
1B
CF (most likely)
1 starter
Closer

Could count Matsui and Dick-K since they have never played for another team

The two that stand out for a trade are Matsui and Damon, Matsui is a better trade bait. I can see Damon going for a couple pitching prospects and the Yankees eating up to half his salary to a place like St. Louis, Angels, Oakland or San Diego.

I think Giambi can be moved, mainly to a west coast team with another headache player, like Richie Sexson in Seattle or to the Giants for Ray Durham. I assume Giambi has a no trade clause or has to agree to the trade. Another place would be the Angels, but the Yankees probably have to eat some of his salary, like $10 million.

Even though Matsui re-up his contract in the past year and has huge marketing clout for the Yankees. I can see a team like Seattle interested in him, given they are already looking in Japan for a slugger to add to their very strong batting line up, (with the exception of Sexson) they also need a right fielder to replace Guillen. So some sort of trade with Matsui and Giambi to Seattle, probably very far fetch, but I think the Yankees would love to get rid of Giambi if they can find something in his contract to boot him from New York, or put even more pressure on him via the NY Tabloids, he could accept some sort of trade to a west coast team.

No.

First of all, hes due to make some big cash. Second of all, he can't stay healthy for a full season.

The yankees certainly aren't giving up Abreu along with Phil Hughes or Joba Chamberlain for Ben Sheets

Move Chipper to LF with his knees... now?!? Are you crazy?

Actually, they could move Chipper or Lowell to 2B and move Johnson to CF.

Not saying the Braves are really pursuing him, just saying that if they did, Jones to LF would be the solution (as opposed to Jones/Lowell to 2B).

If the Yankees want to pay Lowell stupid money for 4 years, they can have him. The Red Sox didn't bite on Damon and they won't fall for this Yankee stunt.

As it stands now the Angels have starters at:

C (Napoli/Mathis)
1B (Kotchman)
2B (Kendrick)
3B (Figgins)
LF (Anderson/Willits)
DH (Morales)

3 of their starting pitchers (Lackey, Santana, Saunders)
most of their bullpen (K-Rod, Shields, etc)

As a side note - I will be PISSED if the Angels made any sort of offer to Mike Lowell. He will be absolutely average in Anaheim. We don't need a 36 year old 3B making $15m/year.

As a Red Sox fan I think it would be awesome if this happened. I'll take the draft pick gladly and get 80-90 percent of his value somewhere else on the cheap. Meanwhile the Yankees continue to act on inside information that the AL will go to the as many DHs as you want format in 2010.

If this Lowell to NY rumor is true I'm confused.

I thought the plan was that Jorge could be moved over to 1st base once his catching days were over? Could have sworn that I heard that straight from a Steinbrenner's mouth.

Oh well, guess you really can't take anything they say as truth.

Before we get the oxygen tent in here, let's not forget the Real Baseball equation!

(# of homegrown players x 10) + (# of white players x 10) + (50 if city's population

You're being modest, Thundersticks. Chipper is much, much better than Mike Lowell. He had a sensational 2007 that seemed to fly pretty much under everyone's radar.

(Please note I hate Chipper Jones. I hate the player and the stupid name. This was hard for me to type.)

hahahaha, chipper jones does sound like a golf club

I'm a nobody to Chipper Jones. So, ha ha, the joke is on you.

"No, not at all, the braves already tried that about five years ago and chipper could never stay healthy because he constantly hurt is hamstring. Furthermorem, the braves have a very nice option in matt diaz in left field, a guy who can hit .315 and knock 15-20 homeruns while also driving in around 85 if he played everyday. Also, the braves are not going to give 15 million to lowell when that money should be saved to give to teixera. No matter which way you slice it, lowell to the braves makes no sense whatsoever.

Posted by: bravesbeast | November 14, 2007 at 09:48 PM "

Wait, since when did playing Third Base prevent Chipper from constantly getting hurt? :P

Seriously though, Lowell to Atlanta makes no sense. Particuarly since they seem to be pinching pennies lately to be able to keep Tex. They'll probably sign Glavine, maybe a reliever, and go with what they have.

if we are all getting hard ons for our team's home grown talents, the braves are up there with the best of 'em

and chipper isn't moving to lf... not only for health issues, but because he is one of the better defensive 3b in the game

i have no idea where that lowell rumor came from

Yanks144,
Yes, low-budget teams need to be “creative” ~ ie only plan on competing for a year or two every 15 years or so. It must be great being Tigers or Royals fans who see teams with some type of talent once every 20 years… On the flip side, NY, BOS and others just throw money away, wasting more than some teams spend as a whole…

Also, you guys have to stop the “homegrown talent” thing ~ it’s a bit different than it once was… The draft is now a market where the players decide which position they will be bought out of in their dictating how much money they will make. The first problem in the situation. Then we have the fact that a “homegrown talent” in KC, TB, FLA, PIT, etc has a 4-5year shelf-life before they almost have to be traded. Even if the best players in the game happen to end up on the lesser teams, its only a short period of time before they would walk for the millions the cash-cows dangle. So, “homegrown talent” in NY or BOS where they can afford to actually keep them well into their arbitration years is a bit different than “Homegrown talent” in Cle or Min where they have to pick and choose wisely which of the players they can actually afford to keep longer than 5 years. If those two teams had 150Mil to blow then nearly the entire roster would be “homegrown talent”; as it is though, they need to squeak by constantly replacing the talent they do find…

At what point is it the Big market teams fault for over paying and at what point does it become that small market teams are too cheap?

Fair enough no one can compete on the level of the Sox and Yankees, but there is plenty more talent and races to be won throughout the MLB that money can buy.

On my last post, I was more going for a metaphor with small and big market teamsm, not there actual style of play. I agree, read that way it, was pretty bad analysis.

...Didnt Tex use to play left field???

as i guy that watched the braves the whole year, chipper is an excellent 3b defensively

forgive me if i'm a little old school and don't have any clue what you were linking to, njm, but by fielding percentage (i'm pretty sure he was third in the league) and my own eyesight i know that chipper is a damn fine defender

agreed.

Kouz may be a nice little player on the rise but his defense is definetly average.

lowell-cards rumor? wtf? when was there a lowell cards rumor?

The Braves connection is being blown way out of proportion. I'm fairly certain that the braves did call Lowell's agent to kick the tires, as they have been for almost every FA on the market. Most teams will do that this time of year. Take a look at years past. It's not unheard of for a player to sign with a team out of left field for seemingly no other reason then they made an offer. Even if the Braves made an offer it's almost certainly a lowball offer just in case.

If Lowell did jump to the braves for pennies (which he would almost certainly not) it's not the end of the world. Tex is a great player but he is only under team control for one more year. I can see him becoming available if contract talks break down this winter.

Further, 1B is not out of the question for Chipper. His bat is doing quite well and if his legs/hands start hurting him he could switch. That said, he would need a replacement who plays some very good ball in place before he or the team would consider the move.

hey arodsucksatlife, there were no projected figures or years offered by the cardinals that i have read about on this page

not being such a dick helps

noooo, the page got updated with a update on lowell, so i changed it up, sorry i screwed the whole website up for you, if you like you can go back to your other conversation now

why is your name arodsucksatlife if you want him to be a red sock, are you a red sox fan?

homegrown teams are so hard to put together though. The only team to have like almost have an entire team on homegrowns were the 03 marlins, and pretty much every guy from that team is an all star these days. thats rare, and probably wont happen ever again

He does suck at life, just not at baseball. He could step on puppies and I'd still want his 1.000 ops 45/130 manning 3b and breaking the homerun record at Fenway. Not to mention how nice it would be to steal a dominant player away from the Bronx after all this traffic the other way.

arod is in a sense shea hillenbrand, but a good baseball player

If the Sox resign Lowell = win.
If the Yankees sign Lowell for 1B = epic bad Karma that dwarfs the cubs.

Lowell for 1B for the Yankees is pathetic, there is no other word. He isn't a first baseman, his game doesn't suit Yankee Stadium, and he would cost a lot of money.

I really really hope Yankees fan realise how pathetic that is IF it is true.

I just am grateful that Theo isn't that stupid, he won't follow that road.

I hate other teams bitching that the Yankees buy their Champions. First of all it's not the Yankees fault that the other teams suck and their fans don't want to see them play. Yankees got money, what do you want them to do look at it, they spend it because the can! Also Lowell to Yankees is BS if you ask me.

"First of all it's not the Yankees fault that the other teams suck and their fans don't want to see them play." LOL

Nice work, making yourself look like a moron.

Here is one sox fan hoping Lowell stays for 3 years (2 would be better, haha), or we get some nice draft pick compensation from whoever signs him (I could care less if it is the Yankees). Trade for Blalock or Chavez (or Cabrera). Hell, sign Mike Lamb. Don't commit long term to aging players. It doesn't work.

Yankfan1,

A couple of points, and I apologize in advance for length…

Yes, it's a common refrain that the Yankees buy their championships, but the complaints run deeper than that. The biggest problem with the Yankees' spending is what it does to the overall market. There is nothing wrong with this in a free market, but when the Yankees bid against themselves and throw more money at a player than is necessary to sign him, they set a market precedent that becomes a standard for future free agents, and it drives up the cost of players across baseball. I think it would be less of a gripe if the Yankees actually outbid other teams by just as much as is necessary to get the player to sign, but they don't. They spend cavalierly, and the ripple effect is felt across the industry.

It's not just the Yankees. When Hicks doled out $252M for A-Rod in 2000, he guaranteed that there was no way in 2007 that A-Rod would sign his next contract for less. But the Yankees haven't won any sort of coup here. They're rumored to be offering 10 years at $27.5-28M per year when there is no indication that any other team was even willing to go beyond eight. We'll see how it shakes out, but a 10-year/$275-280M deal for A-Rod will have a damning effect on the team that tries to lock up Cabrera. We're in an era where a rapidly graying Mike Lowell could command $15M per year for four years, coming off his FIRST season maintaining a .300 average.

The point of all this is, MLB is not a vacuum. Keeping the market manageable, so that the revenue-sharing plan actually works as intended, depends on the fiscal responsibility of every owner. Other teams (Red Sox come to mind) have money to burn, but still consider the market when they make their offers, wringing every iota of value that they can out of every dollar. They've had their own "Yankee" moments -- J.D. Drew is overpaid (though not as much as some might think), and their bid for Matsuzaka showed that the posting system eliminates most teams -- but for the most part they behave as a rational business. The Yankees do not. If the goal of a corporate entity is to maximize profits, the Yankees should be looking to secure their valuable assets for only as much as is necessary to achieve their goal.

As for your claim that it's not the Yankees' fault that "other teams suck and their fans don't want to see them play," that's not an accurate characterization of situation. Do you know where the Yankees ranked in fan capacity for home games in 2007? 7th. They don't fill Yankee Stadium.

What the Yankees do have is the luxury of location. New York is the biggest market in MLB. It's not a function of fan loyalty, and it's not just a function of spending. It's a function of population numbers. The Yankees have money because they can support their own cable network. They can support a cable network because they have a geographic base of millions to watch that network. Ditto the Red Sox, on a much smaller scale. Because the Yankees have cable revenue, they can spend money. Because they can spend money, they can achieve success. Because they can achieve success, they can expand their fan base by signing watchable players and through good marketing. This is a luxury a team in, say, Tampa Bay, simply does not have, regardless of whether the owner is willing to spend money to create a winner.

You got one thing exactly right in your post, however… "they spend it because they can!" True.

dunkin you could have saved like 20 minutes of typing, said your last sentence and i would have been satisfied

DunkinDonuts, a lot of good points, and as a Yankee fan I wish they didn't spend so cavalierly. This year was one of the most fun precisely because kids and home-grown players were the ones who got them to the postseason.

But I don't know if I agree with your statement: "when the Yankees bid against themselves and throw more money at a player than is necessary to sign him, they set a market precedent that becomes a standard for future free agents, and it drives up the cost of players across baseball."

Sure, the salaries of players the Yankees sign are higher, but what about everyone else? It takes other owners to bid them up. Smart GMs (read: Beane, Towers, etc.) will look for the undervalued commodities. Pre-moneyball, it was OBP. Then it became poor defensive players. I once saw a argument defending the Giants' geriatric roster that old players were undervalued.

Towers has said that he's found value by looking at failed starters and turning them into relievers.

Anyway, I'm getting a little off the point, but let's go back to your statement about the Yankees driving up the price for everyone else.

So Lowell signs for $15M. Now let's say that a player a bit worse than Lowell was a FA. Edwin Encarnacion, say. You'd blame the Yankees if other teams now think he's worth $12M a year instead of $7M?

That's those teams acting irrationally, and they are influenced by the Yankees, that that's their problem.

Again, the smart teams will find a more efficient way to spend their money. And if they just can't afford anyone, but 2/3 of the other teams CAN, then they really shouldn't have a franchise at all.

Also, may I remind you that it's the players who have formed the strongest union in sports and who would never agree to a salary cap. And that the Yankees are playing by the rules that the other 29 teams basically got together and set for them.

I agree, I don't like it - but baseball is not a fair game, it's a business.

I personally wish the owners would grow some balls, insist on a cap, and lock the players out. They're rich. They don't need to keep fielding teams. The players need them a lot more than they need the players.

Oui Oui,

I'm aware of Yankee Stadium's capacity. My point is simply that there are six other teams whose fans are filling their respective stadiums at a higher rate, and that attendance is not what makes the Yankees the biggest spenders in baseball. Yankfan1 was suggesting that other teams don't spend as much because their fans don't want to see them play.

It's ALL about market size.

Pinstripe,

Somehow I doubt you actually read any of the preceding posts. At the very least, you stopped reading after picking out just the part that would allow you to make a defensive post that bears no relation to anything that has just been said.

AJC writer and Braves columnist Dave O'Brien kills this rumor from a Braves perspective, down in a subsequent post to his blog.

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/braves/entries/2007/11/12/cox_wren_on_han.html