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The Numbers
The Red Sox signed Manny Ramirez to a reported eight-year, $160 million contract when the Indians' final offer was reportedly $136 million. And apparently until the Indians got re-involved, there were no other interested parties. See the problem? While Commish Bud Selig is preaching doom and gloom, his owners are bidding outrageous numbers to win players. Last week, Ken Rosenthal remembers this vignette. In "Lords of the Realm," author John Helyar describes an argument at owners' meeting after Ryne Sandberg's was signed for a $7.1 million average annual salary, beating Bobby Bonilla's previous record of $5.7 million. "Don't you know there's a number between five and seven?" one owner screamed at Cubs executive Stanton Cook. "It's six!" The real winners of this scheme are the agents. They play teams against each other. Look at what Jeff Moorad did. Only Boston was interested in Manny Ramirez, so what does Moorad do? He gets Manny to call the Indians and tell them that he will return if the numbers are close to equal. So the Indians match the Red Sox offer, and the Red Sox lay out some numbers that can't be turned down. These owners aren't just easing the prices up. The Rangers and the Red Sox drove their competitors to their knees with their offers. The reason is that the agents for these players know how to work the owners. You gotta love seeing people who are so good at their jobs. Transactions So Far These notes take no consideration of money, only the on field value to each team. Atlanta With a gaping hole at first base, the Braves sign Dave Martinez. The rotation is solid with Smoltz back, but who’s on first? Arizona They did their biggest deal last year, getting Curt Schilling. Re-signing Armando Reynoso will fill out a rotation of Randy Johnson, Schilling, Brian Anderson, and Todd Stottlemyre. Mark Grace fills their open position at first. The Diamondbacks are probably done for the winter. Chicago They signed Julian Tavarez, a solid reliever; Jeff Fassero, a space-filler in the rotation; and Tom Gordon, pending a physical. They have done nothing that upgrades their team, unless Gordon returns fully to form as a closer. But that’s still not enough. Colorado Why these pitchers went to Coors Field is a mystery. Actually, it was money. Regardless, the rotation for the Rockies is much improved on paper with the additions of Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle to a rotation with Mosato Yoshii and Pedro Astacio. Forget Hall of Fame ERA’s, they just need to win games.
The copyright of the article Transaction Reports in Major League Baseball is owned by Bryan Walker. Permission to republish Transaction Reports in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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