MLB does not need a salary cap.... Lets see NFL salary cap the Pats have dominated the past 4 years winning 3 of 4. NBA salary cap the Spurs and lakers have dominated in recent years and b4 that the Bulls.... MLB no salary cap.. last 4 years 4 different teams winning the WS and 3 of them were wildcard ones.

Sure.  My point had more to do with teams like KC knowing that had absolutely no shot of keeping Beltran.  Some teams, including the Sox, operate their team with some kind of budget.  This is due attendance, tv contracts, etc.  No matter what, a team like KC, TB, or Milwaukee will never have the money available to compete with the Yankees on a yearly basis.  No matter how well they draft/cultivate talent, they have a window of opportunity to be successful before their players leave for bigger markets.

 

Name some other guys besides Beltran that they've lost to free agency. I'm sure you can name me a few, but until these guys start consistently churning out players from their farm system, I'm not going to feel bad for them one bit.

 

The Pittsburg's, the Kansas City's, teams like that -- these teams make stupid, stupid, stupid personel decisions, and cry poor. Look at Milwaukee. Melvin has taken his beating on the chin for a couple of years, and now is reaping the rewards of developing one helluva a farm system, and making moves like grabbing a Derrick Turnbow.

 

Take Pittsburg for example -- they have a player in Chris Shelton, who hits, in 2002, for a 1.012 OPS in A-Ball, and then follows that up the next year with a 1.119 OPS. And, after all that, they decide to leave him unprotected? I would be calling for Williams' head if he did something as stupid as that.

 

How about this? Instead of wasting money on stupid contracts like the one given to Jose Lima, invest it in taking a player in the second round who's a first-round talent, yet is holding out for more cash.

 

I realize that this isn't a totally level playing field, but I'm not convinced either of these organizations would do much better with a $100 million dollar payroll...

Montreal, for years, had good players come through their system, only to lose them because they couldn't afford to keep them. Now, I'm not sure Montreal was a great place for a MLB team, but imagine being a fan of theirs and knowing that Larry Walker was going to cost too much, Pedro Martinez, etc. It's kind of hard to follow a team like that and be fanatic about them.

 

The part about wasting money on guys like Lima is where the Yankees have a decided advantage over other teams. Take Kevin Brown. Horrible move for the Yankees in every way. Unlike other teams, though, the Yankees are unaffected by his contract. They keep signing big names, and they are in the hunt for every big name guy who is available every offseason. Last year, RJohnson (trade - but had to give him $$$ and more years), Pavano, and Wright. Plus, they were after Beltran and talked to Pedro. I'm not saying these moves worked out, but other teams wouldn't even think of pursuing these guys after signings like Brown, Giambi, et al. Them being in the hunt for FA players also drives up the price of the players (whether the Yankees get the guy or not), and ultimately, fans pay more.

If Rowand were to be traded, it would break my heart. I love that little guy, slanted shoulders and all.

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Ron Cey lookalike.