The American Spectator

Reader Mail

Monday, Monday

4.22.08 @ 12:01AM

CAN TRUST THAT DAY
Re: Andrew Cline's That Gal's All Right:

Mr. Cline's article got my Monday off to a better start than I could have ever hoped for ! Hilarious! Brilliant!
-- Lois Grobb

Very funny, Mr. Cline. I especially liked the part about her health care plan "to provide free beer during every overnight hospital stay." If that doesn't bring 'em out on Tuesday, maybe some music would help, revised for her desperate times.

Obama (Cecilia)
(with thanks to Paul Simon)

Obama, you're breaking my heart
You're shaking my confidence daily
Oh, Obama, I'm down on my knees
I'm begging you please to go home

Obama, you're breaking my heart
You're taking my delegates daily
Oh, Obama, you're out of your league
I'm begging you please to go home
Just go home

Let's be nice in our last debate oh, Obama
But he wouldn't take the bait
Out on stage I am making my case
But whatever I say
I just can't budge his base

Obama, you're breaking my heart
You're taking my delegates daily
Oh, Obama, you're out of your league
Just take your Wright theology
And go home
-- Mike Showalter
Austin, Texas

After the reporters left the scene, Mrs. Clinton returned for the deer. As every Pennsylvanian knows, nothing tastes better than a little road-kill -- along with some "fava beans and a nice chianti."
-- Arnold Ahlert
Boca Raton, Florida

MONEYBALL
Re: Ryan Young's Against a Salary Cap:

Not a bad article, but certainly not an as in-depth look as it could be. Analyzing teams like the Dodgers, Cubs, Phillies, Orioles, White Sox etc., that are consistently in the top 10 in spending but don't consistently make the playoffs would be well suited for evaluation. They abide by the same rules governing the Yankees organization of signing top free agents and tend to compete but it still doesn't translate into playoff runs.

Large market clubs tend to sign free agents based on the player's track record and not based on their projected output. There are cases for both sides of this argument with identified players, but the price paid for the level of production is typically overblown. The player's longevity and abundance (thanks to the minor league system) is what makes baseball competitive. Proven vets do make it over to the big market clubs because those names draw the crowds. In New York they can raise ticket prices if Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez and Jason Giambi are your new men on the block; people will pay more if they think the organization is in turn using that money to bring in top talent. Of course Randy & Jason struggled mightily in their first few seasons with the Yankees and the production value on the dollar was extremely weak, even in the case of ARod.

After several cases of failed free agent additions the Yankees pushed their scouts on growing top talent in their farm system and filling it with players that can develop as Yankees. In essence, they were adapting to the line of thinking originated in Oakland and had effectively been picked up by the high salaried Boston Red Sox, and to a lesser extent, the Toronto Blue Jays. In the past 2 years this push has resulted in talented young players making the major league club. These were players, in the past, would have been used as trade bait for proven MLB talent. But these new budding stars include: Joba Chamberlain, Ian Kennedy, Chien-Ming Wong, Melky Cabrera and Robinson Cano. These home-grown players left the Yankees in only one sweepstakes for free agent: Johan Santana. Despite missing the asking price (paid by cross-town rival Mets) the Yankees were able to temper their payroll and, at the same time, depress the market asking price for top free agents. This left middle-of-the-road clubs the opportunity to add key components that teams like the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees would have swallowed up in the past.

The A's, this year, under Billy Beane's management, have once again engaged in another advance on the marketplace. During advanced winter meetings the team was thought to be lacking enough depth and possessed too many injury ridden players to make a competitive run at the division (this was alluded to in the posted article about making top clubs pay in trades for young talent). With both the Angels and Mariners spending big for top free agents (a hole opened by clubs like the Yankees and Red Sox bringing up players within their farm systems) Beane decided to forgo competing for the next few years by trading away his top talent that was tracking upward and still had several years left on their contacts.

Beane netted several top prospects from those respective organizations: Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox. The beauty of his trades was that he not only replenished his farm system (which had been subsequently depleted by several playoff runs) but took players who were on the cusp of big league status. This is only something that could have been pulled off by offering proven talent that was close to peaking in productivity that would in turn be used by a club seeking to a make a playoff run. The top players picked up included pitchers Brett Anderson, Dana Eveland, Greg Smith, Gio Gonzalez, and Fautino De Los Santos & position players Ryan Sweeney, Aaron Cunningham and Carlos Gonzalez. 3 of these players have already made the big league club this season and have contributed to the team's best start since 1992. With several club needs at the major league level, the A's are able to offer these players major league level experience which will only improve their development trajectory, and in turn, be potential trade bait in the future that could render another slew of top prospects.

Letter to the Editor

topics:
Trade, Television, Economics, Business, Constitution, Law, Iraq, NATO