Think about how excited Indians fans must have been in 2007. CC was himself, Fausto had just had a breakout year, Westbrook and Lee were still fairly young with lots of potential, although both had been up and down at that point in their careers.
In the field, Peralta had just had a breakout year, Martinez at C was good, Garko still young with a solid year, Blake was solid, Sizemore still young with loads of potential, Hafner had a solid year with some great years before that and still only thirty. Solid young bench with Choo, Cabrera, Gutierrez, and Francisco.
However, the bullpen, which was solid that year (outside of closer Borowski), just went to crap.
Couple that with Hafner's shoulder, Garko never really progressing, Fausto getting worse, and Peralta and Sizemore staying solid, yet not much better than that year, and you have a couple of bad years. Now, half of those pieces are gone.
I'm thinking the Phillies push it to Game 7 tonight.
IM going Yankees end it tonight (I HOPE)
All that money and the Yankees cant get a fourth starter? That is embarassing. I still think they were able to buy the championship this year. They finally are actually paying way too much money for people that are actually good, instead of overpaying for Pavana, Johnson (in his later years), and Giambi's roided up contract. They way overpaid Burnett, but it isnt like you can expect the Yankees to make smart fiscal moves. Hell, they are the most storied franchise, you would think people would want to play for them without having to overpay by so much, but I do understand living in NY is expensive. Anyway, Yanks, Red Sox, and all the other big market teams are making baseball pretty boring to watch, as if grinding through 162 games wasnt boring enough. I get to watch Northeast versus West Coast and see a couple of lucky small market teams make it to the playoffs and get a$$-hammered. Yay, what a fun season!!!
Pettite vs. Pedro tonight...is this 2009 or 1999?
Isn't Pettite pitching on 3 days rest? Who knows what he's been injecting today to get through tonight!
I'm sorry. I'm such a hater
Yeah its cool EVERYONE hates on the Yankees that are not Yankee fans. Thing is the smaller market teams choose to pocket their luxury tax money the Yanks have to pay them rather than going out and getting better players.
#4 of HoDo's 10 tips on how to win a World Series - add key players.
The Yankees added Sabathia, Teixeira, and Burnett and $50.5 million to its 2009 payroll. The pay for those 3 players was more than the Padres, Marlins and Pirates spent on their season payrolls.
No salary cap equals crappy sport, the main reason why baseball is just plain boring. How can I watch a sport, when it is like watching Wal-Mart compete with mom and pop (and that is the difference between the Yankees and the Royals). The Phillies might be CostCo, but it still is not that close. The only reason why the Yankees havent won anything over the past decade is because they are so bad with their spending over that time. Not enough good FAs, so they just threw money at any warm body that was half-decent.
To clarify, this isnt really about the Yankees. They are just the recipient because they are in the largest market of the uneven playing field. I know we are a "free enterprise" economy (well, that is what we believe at least), but sports and "free enterprise" just dont do it for me. I am apathetic towards pro baseball and college football many times (outside of my emotional attachment to the dawgs) because of the lack of equity in both sports.
Florida won with a low payroll its not always the team that spends the most.
The Yankees have to pay luxury taxes to the other teams for spending so much money on players. Not the Yankees fault that they pocket the money.