2010 Team Salaries
(1) New York Yankees 206,738,389 (2) Boston Red Sox 160,913,333 (3) Chicago Cubs 146,609,000 (4) Philadelphia Phillies 142,728,379 (5) New York Mets 136,022,942 (6) Detroit Tigers 122,864,928 (7) Chicago White Sox 105,530,000 (8) Los Angeles Angels 104,161,666 (9) San Francisco Giants 98,586,333 (10) Los Angeles Dodgers 95,358,016 (11) St. Louis Cardinals 93,940,751 (12) Houston Astros 92,355,500 (13) Minnesota Twins 90,309,166 (14) Seattle Mariners 86,910,000 (15) Atlanta Braves 84,423,666 (16) Colorado Rockies 83,172,000 (17) Baltimore Orioles 81,202,500 (18) Milwaukee Brewers 81,108,278 (19) Tampa Bay Rays 72,323,471 (20) Kansas City Royals 71,405,210 (21) Cincinnati Reds 68,200,542 (22) Washington Nationals 62,349,000 (23) Toronto Blue Jays 61,484,400 (24) Cleveland Indians 60,778,966 (25) Florida Marlins 55,239,500 (26) Texas Rangers 55,168,114 (27) Oakland Athletics 50,839,900 (28) Arizona Diamondbacks 48,452,166 (29) San Diego Padres 38,199,300 (30) Pittsburgh Pirates 34,933,000

And really, I like the guy, I think he’s a great pitcher as well, but I’m just skeptical he is gonna keep it up over the next 5 years.

Thats just my opinion based on his weight and the unusual # of innings hes thrown for his age. There’s no data.

red sox payroll last year was $161m. they shed beltre, v-mart, lowell, lugo’s ghost, couple other guys. that dropped the 2011 commitment to around 130 (with estimated arb for papelbon, ellsb, &c).

20 for crawford puts it back up to 150. ad-rock’s still cheap for 1 more year, so that’s 156. they still need to add a few bullpen guys, nooks and crannies. so they’ll wind up back where they started, more or less. probably a little over. unless they ship out cameron or scutaro.

they’re not just adding crawford’s money on top of the existing team. they also LOST two of the top free agents.

so yeah. they can never criticize the yankees again. because they had the same payroll 2 years in a row.

One of my plays for ’11 was to pounce on an undervalued Youk and Pedroia. I’m hoping that this Crawford signing doesn’t have everyone too bullish on the Red Sox offense to let me see any sort of discount for their injury-plagued seasons…

@quimmy: I missed you too!

The Konerko deal was a longshot hope he’d take less than market to play in his hometown. Not very realistic but doesnt meant it wasn’t worth a shot.

@Elijah: Yeah, definitely. He kills rallies for days. In fantasy, it doesn’t bother me, but in real baseball it’s death.

Also, while I agree that the Sox and Yankees have question marks in their rotations, I wouldn’t bet against either of them, especially not if they were playing the Giants. Or the Phillies. That team is absolutely Werthless.

Bad pun, I know. Seriously though, screw every team in Philadelphia.

Its just too many K’s. As one exec was quoted, it would be a lot different if it were 150 K’s, but its not. Not to mention the propensity to produce in bunches…Sure he might have 2 HR 5 RBI one game, but then its 3 games of 0-4 with 3 K’s.

is bautista a top 50 pick ?

if not , what # ??

Lackey at least tends to be an innings eater. Hes not a fantasy option imo, but he’s a usable starter in the real game. That being said, you don’t spend that kinda money on innings eaters.

As of this moment, I do think Boston is the favorite. If/When the Yanks sign Cliffly, they pull pretty much even.

You got the joke!

@Tony – Agreed, except that Dice-K isn’t really as bad as his reputation. He still walks WAY too many guys, but he’s a better-than-average starter for 10 mil. Since the Sox apparently print their own money, that seems to be a reasonable price (to them). I wouldn’t mind if he got traded, I just don’t want Wake/Doubront/Bowden/Rich Hill starting 30 games this year. If they wanna trade for Greinke or sign Duchs for short money, I’m all for it.

I never liked the Lackey signing, so I’m not gonna defend him. Beckett’s only 30, I’m not ready to write him off yet. He’s 2 years removed from being a CY contender, so I’mma give him the benefit of the doubt. And fuck it – if they suck, Lester and Bucky can just trade off all year. That’s right 81 games each. You gonna tell Jon Lester he can’t? I’m not. Mostly ’cause I wouldn’t know how to get in touch with him.

I think the O’s are gonna be in last, but maybe thats just me. I think the Jays might end up 3rd, Rays 4th, O’s 5th. Only real ramifications of the O’s being better is they could siphon enough W’s off the Sox and/or Yanks to keep 1 of the 2 outta the Wild Card.

The Yanks have issues as well and even with Cliff Lee their rotation is just good, not dominant. CC’s best seasons are behind him (lets face it, there’s a lot behind him period), their bullpen is adequate…I think its defnitely a 2 team race now. Wild Card would be Yanks getting both Lee and Greinke, which, after I puke, would place them as the clear favorites.

its bat him 1 or deal him….

Their pitching is their achilles….. lester, bucholz, then what? a josh beckett who gets a blister every other start or has a back ache, dice K who is god awful or john lackey who is comparable to what the yankees usually do signing wise (vazqueef)…… thats going to hurt them, they better hope they can score a shit ton!

Ells is a nice luxury in the 9 hole. O’s no have no shot, lets not get crazy, they dont have the pitching to compete and their lineup is only decent.

I wouldn’t mind if they flipped Ells for some pitching. Having him and Crawford seems a little redundant (especially considering how rarely the Sox run). On the other hand, I’d love it if they waited a year so I can watch them score 90 bajillion runs and steal every single base.

Also I’m happy for the O’s. It’s nice to see them making a few moves that actually have promise. If they sign LaRoche, that lineup begins to look awfully good (on paper). Perhaps not too legit to quit, but legit nonetheless.