February 28, 2015

NYDN's Madden Whines About "Double Standard" With Red Sox

Bill Madden, Daily News:
It is really quite amazing how the Red Sox, after winning the Yoan Moncada sweepstakes for $63 million, are taking bows and being hailed for investing heavily in their farm system, even though they don't know what position the unproven 19-year-old Cuban prodigy is going to play any more than they know where their other $72.5 million Cuban import, Rusney Castillo, is going to play this season.

All told, the Red Sox spent $265 million this winter on Moncada, Pablo Sandoval, Hanley Ramirez and the contract of Wade Miley, who they acquired in a trade, in contrast to the $438 million the Yankees spent last winter on Masahiro Tanaka, Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury and Brian McCann. Only the Yankees, who were labeled as cheapskates in some quarters for bowing out of the Moncada bidding at $25 million, were chided for grossly overpaying for Beltran, Ellsbury and McCann, and said to be "insane" and "desperate" for giving $155 million to a pitcher, in Tanaka, who had never thrown a pitch in the major leagues.

So what's with the double standard? The Red Sox, who, incredibly, are still trying to convince people they are not like the Yankees, are instead proclaimed as geniuses for all their spending, while the Yankees, whenever they spend big, are gluttonous over-reachers — and then "cheapskates" by those same critics when they restrain themselves from spending $200 million on Max Scherzer, $75 million on James Shields or $60 million on Moncada.

4 comments:

allan said...

Hahahaah! All four comments under the article are gold.

Jai
I guess the real question is why don't your worry about your own pathetic organization :)

Jai
The Red Sox have a budget and they don't go above it. They follow a budget. Sure their budget is bigger than most teams but it is still a budget. The Yankees have never had a budget ...

Joshua Powell
This article is complete bogus! Its never been the money on the yankees contracts, its the years. ... You act like having outfield depth is bad thing.

evilone
Why are the Red Sox hailed as geniuses for all the insane spending this offseason? Why are Yankee fans such Titty babies? Two good questions.

FenFan said...

The difference? Moncada and Castillo are young players locked into long-term contracts (as is Sandoval, who is only 28), while Beltran, Ellsbury, and McCann are older players locked into long-term contracts. It should be obvious which presents more risk.

As for Tanaka, he threw 1315 innings in Japan over seven seasons between age 18 and 25. That averages to nearly 188 innings per year, which is a lot for a young arm. Was anyone surprised that he landed on the disabled list last year while pitching for the Yankees? Did we learn nothing from Daisuke Matsuzaka?

Lastly, how is spending $265 million the same spending $438 million?

Deadlines are a bitch, eh, Madden?

Michael said...

Hahaha I love it! In addition to everything FenFan pointed out, the position argument has to be the most pathetic, trite load of bull in recent years. The kid is about 2 years from MLB level, if everything goes well. We moved Mookie to the outfield to get him in the lineup. Do you really believe Panda and Hanley are still going to be at their current positions in 2017? Do you really think this team will keep every player it currently has on its roster over the next two seasons? Do these people even follow baseball?

Michael said...

Why even have prospects?? They're all blocked at their respective positions in the ML club anyway!