Today's links were first eaten, and then (fortunately) regurgitated by Santa's Little Helper …
• Mark Attanasio thinks maybe
MLB needs a salary cap. I wonder … Will the Brewers owner's sentiments be worth more than the dozens just like them, uttered by owners of (relatively) poor teams since the 1970s? Meanwhile, at least
one calm head points out that the Yankees may actually have a smaller payroll in 2009 than they did in 2008.
• Meanwhile, the Brewers' GM isn't real happy, either, but
his beef is with the system used to determine the compensation draft picks awarded to teams that lose players to free agency. As Doug Melvin told ESPN's Buster Olney, "The Elias rankings have never been changed, and there are so many smart statistical gurus -- Bill James, etc. -- that could create a fair model for both players and teams, who should be compensated fairly according to the value of each player to that team."
Well, yeah. This really is ridiculous. When I played in a serious Strat-O-Matic league -- National League players only -- we came up with a system to compensate owners who lost players to the American League. We were just amateurs, but it was so easy that a caveman could do it. So what's MLB's excuse?
• Rich Lederer
interviews Dave Studenmund, one of our national treasures (and the editor of a
pretty good darned book, if I do say so my darned self).
• What's winter ball all about?
Just ask Doug Glanville.
• WasWatching
on Tex:
I'm calling "Ken Singleton" on this one -- since he and Teixeira are/were the same kind of hitters. That would mean that Mark Teixeira should be a solid offensive performer for the next five seasons -- and then we'll start to see a pretty good drop-off from him with the stick during 2014, 2015 and 2016. And, that's where it's going to get ugly -- when he's not going so well and making a ton of money. Add a (then) 38-year old Alex Rodriguez to the mix in 2014 and the Yankees will be paying two past-their-prime former All-Stars mucho denaro.
Well, sure. But that's what the Yankees do. They overpay in the "out years"; they did it with
Bernie Williams, and they're doing it with
Derek Jeter and they'll do it with
Jorge Posada. Why do they do it? Because they can. When Teixeira's time comes, they'll sign
Justin Upton or
Travis Snider or whoever, and they'll live with Tex's declining production or they'll trade him for pennies on the dollar. This isn't necessarily a winning strategy. But it can be.
• I'm not sure I buy the Baseball Ethicist's argument that
baseball is different (has the B.E. never heard of Willie Wilson or
Elijah Dukes?). But I did enjoy the lesson about cognitive dissonance.
• Did you, like me, wonder why
Willy Aybar got so much playing time in October?
Wonder no more.
Rob Neyer
