Rice: Free agents win you championships. Except when they don’t.

Here’s Jim Rice on why he never won a championship in Boston:

“During that time, Steinbrenner spent more money than the Red Sox. He had more free agents. So when you get the best free agents, and you get the superstars from other ballclubs, that’s what made you have a better team. The more money you can spend, the better you should get.”

Fine, the ball went between Buckner’s legs because Steinbrenner signed Don Gullet. We get that. But tell us, Jim, why have the Sox won two titles this decade and the Yankees none?

“If you look at the Red Sox now, you see them bringing guys up in the organization. That’s why Theo has been the person he’s been over the last couple of years. He’ll bring young kids up and stay within the organization. The Yankees haven’t won in the last eight years. What do they do? They go out and buy high-priced players in the hope to get back the winning percentage they had 10 years ago.”

So it’s not just the money spent in free agency, it’s the brains spending that money, and if you have enough brains, you can do pretty damn well with your farm system too. Hey, I agree with Jim Rice! Unfortunately, given that these quotes were offered by Rice in an effort to criticize free spending, I don’t know that even Jim Rice would agree with Jim Rice.