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May 26, 2012
Who is Shyster?
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Baseball. Blogging. Whenever.Monday, December 29, 2008Here come the Orioles!The Yankees aren't the only team in the AL East making high-profile deals: Mark Hendrickson just signed with Baltimore. Hendrickson is like 6'9", and it doesn't get any higher profile than that this side of Chris Young. Today at THTSome stuff to think about while coming to grips with the fact that Killer Kowalski died this year and no one bothered to tell you: Commerce without its folly-swaddlesThe New York Times takes a look at the way those of us whose cable company isn't carrying the MLB Network will be watching its content next season. Friday, December 26, 2008Randy Johnson to the GiantsSo sayeth Robo. No financial details yet. Just that it's, as expected, a one year deal. My big bold Boxing Day prediction: the Giants get more out of the Big Unit in 2009 than the Yankees get out of Burnett. Wednesday, December 24, 2008Merry Christmas! The wife and I just put ShysterBoy and ShysterGirl to bed, there's a generous pour of brown liquor over ice at my side, and I'm about to sit back and watch Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed do their thing. Life isn't perfect, but you take your moments where you can get them, and this is one of them. Remember George, no man is a failure who has friends. While I haven't met most of you, I feel like every one of you is a friend of mine. Writing this blog brings me more joy than you can possibly imagine, and I'm grateful that you folks continue to come back each day. Merry Christmas, old Building and Loan. Craig It’s worth noting . . .. . .that the Yankees payroll on Opening Day 2008 was $209 million. It's also worth noting that even with the additions of Teixeira, Sabathia, and Burnett, the Yankees' 2009 payroll obligations -- including signing bonuses -- stand at roughly $201-205 million, give or take. Yes, that will change some as they fill out the 2009 roster, and yes, the implications of this winter's spending spree are larger than mere current-year obligations, but let's not go crazy talking about salary caps and manifest injustice and all of that jazz. The Yankees have spent extraordinary amounts of money this decade. The result of that has been the ability to bypass the typical success cycle by never truly cratering competitively and always being in the playoff hunt. The result of that has not been the disruption of overall competitive balance or the prevention of success on the part of the other teams such that radical changes are necessary, let alone desirable. I will grant you that the former point is somewhat disheartening, but it is certainly not devastating. If you don't like Tampa Bay as an example of why the Yankees' spending isn't terrible (i.e. because it took a decade in the wilderness for the Rays to get where they are) I'll give you the Angels. Or the White Sox. Or the Phillies. Or the Twins. Or the Marlins. Or the Cardinals. Or any other team that has found success without spending $200 million. The same level of success? Well, no. All of those teams have ups and downs, and unlike the Yankees, they do not have seeming carte blanche to acquire or retain any player they want. But baseball's prime directive is not to foster perfect competitive balance nor to ensure that players stay with the teams who developed them. Baseball's prime directive is to be a financially successful and entertaining enterprise, and it has gotten better and better at this even as the Yankees have gone nuclear with their payroll. Some would even argue that there's a causal relationship there. I don't know if that's the case, but it cannot be denied that the Yankees' success and subsequent largess of the past 15 years has correlated remarkably well with the growth of baseball's attendance and revenues. Maybe that's cold comfort for Blue Jays and Orioles fans, but unless and until the Yankees' spending habits either (a) make a mockery of competitive balance; or (b) send fans away from the game in droves, those habits are not worth worrying about, and I don't see how any of their moves this past month are likely to lead to either of those developments. Today at THTI went to the Columbus Blue Jackets-Los Angeles Kings game last night. As I sat in the stands, I smelled hot dogs and beer and heard organ music and the murmur and occasional roar of a crowd. I closed my eyes once and could almost imagine I was at a ballpark. When I opened them again, however, I was stuck with stupid hockey. Please Spring, hurry up and get here. Teixeira in PerspectiveMaury Brown has crunched the numbers in the wake of the Teixeira signing and has found all kinds of fun financial factoids. Among them: The total base salaries of A-Rod ($32 million), Jeter ($20 million), Teixeira ($20 million), and Sabathia ($14 million) for 2009 will be $82.5 million, or more than the Opening Day payrolls of more than half the league last year (Brewers, Indians, Giants, Reds, Padres, Rockies, Rangers, Orioles, Diamondbacks, Royals, Twins, Nationals, Pirates, Athletics, Rays, and Marlins). There are many other dizzying comparisons like that, so by all means, click through. As one of you said in the comments last night: say what you will about this signing, but at least it will be fun to root against the Yankees again next year. Tuesday, December 23, 2008Teixeira to New YorkJason has the definitive take. At this point they should just sign Manny too. Insight Communications Has Ruined My YearIn the runup to its January 1st launch, I thought I'd plan ahead and find out on exactly which channel the MLB Network will be appearing among the many hundreds of offerings I receive from my cable provider, Insight Communications. After all, I'd hate to tune to channel 947 when the Larsen perfect game is appearing on channel 962! Plus, it's never too early to set up a series recording of what looks to be the be-all and end-all of nightly highlight shows! You'll imagine my surprise, therefore, when I discovered a few moments ago that Insight will not be carrying the MLB Network in 2009. This from just about the only cable company who actually carried the Big Ten Network when it launched. Other channels -- just the HD ones, mind you -- I will be able to watch that are not the MLB Network: A&E ABC ABC Family AMC Animal Planet Big Ten Network Bravo CBS Cinemax CNBC CNN CW Discovery Channel Disney Channel ESPN ESPN2 ESPNEWS ESPNU Food Network FOX FOX Business News FOX News FX HBO HDNet HDNet Movies HD Theater HGTV History My Network National Geographic NBC NFL Network Palladia Pay-Per-View PBS Science Channel SCI FI Channel Showtime Special Events SPEED Channel Sportstime Ohio Starz TBS TLC TNT Travel Channel Universal HD USA Network Weather Channel WGN HD On Demand HD Movies On Demand Ambient HD On Demand FEARnet HD On Demand Nat Geo HD On Demand Sundance HD On Demand HD On Demand: Action HD On Demand: Comedy HD On Demand: Drama HD On Demand: Horror/Sci Fi HD On Demand So I get a channel called "Ambient" and something called "Palladia," but I don't get in on the largest channel launch in the history of cable television. This is why five-day waiting periods were invented. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||