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Bad (Sales) Pitch

By JDWC, Section MLB
Posted on Wed Dec 07 2005 at 7:55 PM EST
More on: (all tags)

Do Major League Baseball GM's understand what they are doing? Do J.P. Ricciardi or Pat Gillick thoroughly think things through? The reason I'm asking these questions is because I'm astonished at the contracts players have been receiving this off-season, especially the pitchers. I don't know about you, but if I'm running a Major League organization, I'm not willing to pay someone $75,000 per inning to pitch for my team, unless the back of his jersey says "Rivera" or "Clemens".

When I read up on the recent signings in the MLB, I had to restrain from breaking my screen right then and there. I was so sick I should have been allowed to miss a week or two of school. Luckily, I was just able to stop myself from grabbing my bat and smashing in the horrid headline I was looking at: "Yankees sign Farnsworth to three-year, $17 million contract"

Yes, that's all spelled correctly. Seventeen MILLION dollars for a set-up man. That's nearly $6 million per year. To pitch the 8th inning 80 times. Oh for God's sake, I'm feeling sick again.

Granted, this is George Steinbrenner we're dealing with, but honestly. Seventeen MILLION?? Kyle Farnsworth is only an attractive player because he throws the baseball 100 miles per hour. We're talking about the same Kyle Farnsworth that has a career ERA of 4.45 and has 20 saves compared to 21 blown saves. Sounds just right for New York actually.

Then, there's the issue of the man Farnsworth is replacing.  Tom "Flash" Gordon is a good pitcher. He has been a closer before. He has attractive postseason experience. He is also nearly old enough to collect social security. I applaud new GM Pat Gillick's decision to move Jim Thome to the Chicago White Sox for Aaron Rowand, but I don't know how he can justify paying Gordon this much money to close games. Three years is way too long to expect Gordon to produce for the team. Only immortals like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens can survive that long. The Phillies needed a replacement for Billy Wagner (who was also grossly overpaid by the New York Mets), but they spent too much money on the wrong guy for that spot.

I've made it this far without losing my lunch, but this is where things get tricky with the Toronto Blue Jays. B.J. Ryan was a solid closer for the Baltimore Orioles last year, recording 36 saves with a 2.43 ERA. He's also got 42 career saves. A.J. Burnett is a flamethrower with a lot of promise. He also has a career record of 49-50 and a not-so-promising injury history. The point I'm trying to make is that neither player has proven themselves to be a consistent player. They both have a lot of talent and have showed signs of brilliance. But that's not enough to sign for $47 million and $55 million over five years, respectively. They are unproven players, and both will have enormous expectations put on them this coming season. Congratulations, Ricciardi you wasted a ton of money. I think it's safe to say that the Toronto Blue Jays will once again be pretenders, not contenders.

The teams I think are doing it right are the ones who have cheap, young closers, or are smart enough to realize that you don't need a pitcher to be labeled a 'closer' so that he gets paid $5 million a year. Their money would be better spent signing starting pitchers and position players, and then (even though I know this will get me some comments) use any of your relievers in the closing role depending on the situation.