Ebby Calvin LaLoosh: I got a Porsche already; a 911 with a quadrophonic Blaupunkt. – Bull Durham.
Don’t fear the MLB dream teams.
The Red Sox appear to be wading deep into the free agent swamp. Rumors are live that Boston has offered Jon Lester a contract worth $110-120 over six years. Apparently, they are also courting Pablo Sandoval with an offer estimated at $80-90 million over 5 years. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe is the source of both rumors. The Giants are believed to be in the same range; but Panda took offense at their failure to re-up before last season.
True, the Yankees won the World Series in 2009 and the Red Sox won it all in 2013; but both teams have paid through the teeth for those successes. The San Francisco Giants have won three titles since 2010. The Dodgers have won nothing. A closer look at these teams’ payrolls since 2009 reveal a lot about the failure of money to buy ultimate success in Major League Baseball.
From 2009-2014 the Yankees spent more than $1.2 billion on payroll. During that same period the Red Sox spent over $900 million. The Dodgers have spent almost $900 million; and the Giants have spent just over $700 million.
It might make more “cents” to pay attention to what is happening down on the farm. For instance, Cubs’ fans are freaking out at the prospect of losing out on the Jon Lester sweepstakes to Boston. Hold faith Chicago. Theo Epstein has been a master of working around MLB rules to build an organization from within. In Boston he amassed a stockpile of draft picks massaging the old rules that ‘“liberally dispensed first-round picks as compensation for lost free agents: “Type B” free agents brought back one draft pick, and “Type A” free agents brought back two.”’
MLB moved the goal posts with the new CBA in 2012. Epstein sought out new avenues for club value. He found it in the international market. MLB moved the goal posts again in 2014 with new rules severely limiting access of major league clubs to young prospects. The Cubs have invested millions in a facility to acquire and develop young players from the Dominican Republic.
It might be too late for MLB. The Cubs are stacked. Fans should never underestimate the value of a franchise placed in agile hands and fluid minds. In three years the next Ebby Calvin LaLoosh might just be driving a Chevrolet Volt. The Yankees will still be paying A-Rod, the Angels will still be paying Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols, and Kung Fu Panda might be pushing three bills.
