The HUMMER Metro Ice Challenge spices up the rivalry between the Rangers, Islanders and Devils. Plus, it's for charity. (MSG)
Your days of juicing are over, Billy Casper... (Steroid Nation)
The 49ers essentially traded a future Hall of Fame wideout and a top five pick for Joe Staley last year. (SimonOnSports)
"With Leather" joins the Mile High Club... and gets fat. (SPORTSbyBROOKS)
A list of some possible replacements for Lloyd Carr. (Rumors and Rants)
If Mariano signs, his next save could be worth one entire Joba Chamberlain season. (The Grand National Championships)
Relive the days when you could understand Harry Caray and there were no lights at Wrigley Field. (Home Run Derby)
The Blog Show XXIX. (Burly Sports)
For the Chicago Bulls, no Kobe = no championship. (Chicago Bull)
Brady Quinn and a butch lesbian, which is which? (With Leather)
Yet another reason to love Australians - Nicky Whelan. (CamelTap)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
THE AFTER PARTY
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
HIGH PAY CLOSERS LEAD TO FAILURE
by Brian P. Foley, The College Baseball Blog
A report from Forbes magazine examines the effect of a high paid closer and the success of the team on the field. The four teams with the highest paid closers were eliminated in the first round of the MLB playoffs. Teams around MLB are currently paying closer's a salary of $3.9 million/year which is 30 percent higher then the average player.
The Red Sox and Rockies faced off in the World Series where the Red Sox used Jonathan Papelbon as a closer and the Rockies split time between Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas as they led their teams to the promise land. The Red Sox bullpen money is spread throughout the bullpen as Papelbon only received $425,000/year as he is still working under his rookie contract. The Red Sox were able to pay more players quality money. Papelbon ended up pitching 59 innings out of the team's 1500 innings which equals out to playing in only four percent of playing time for a top of the line closer. Fuentes on the other hand makes up 29 percent of the team's bullpen salary. This is still substantially lower then the Yankees who spent 52 percent of their budget on Mariano Rivera.
I know that every fan hates to watch their respective team lose a game in the ninth inning as an ineffective pitcher comes into the game and proceeds to blow the game. This move to paying pitchers big time money to come into the game for the final three outs is Tony La Russa's fault as he made Dennis Eckersley the first real closer in MLB and made it common for the closer to only pitch one inning. This has stuck in MLB since the late 80's and is still used today.
What do you think should be done about closers? Should they be paid better then Starting Pitchers?
Thursday, October 11, 2007
YANKS ABOUT TO LOSE BEST WEAPON?
by Jack Cobra, Cobra Brigade
With the Yankees out of the playoffs already, it looks like their will be a mass exodus following the exit of Manager Joe Torre. The Yankees best weapon for the past eleven seasons, Mariano Rivera, is ready to follow his skipper out the door.
Rivera isn't happy that Joe Torre could be out as manager in New York and said the team's decision will be factored into whether he returns.
"I don't feel good about it," Rivera said Wednesday, two days after the Yankees' third straight exit in the first round of the playoffs. "I don't see why they're even thinking (about letting Torre go). I wish he's back, definitely. If you ask me what I would want, I want him back."
Rivera's contract also is expiring and he is eligible to become a free agent. He said whether Torre returns will help determine whether he remains with the Yankees, the only major league club he's pitched for.
"It might do a lot of it," he said. "I mean, I've been with Joe for so many years, and the kind of person he has been for me and for my teammates, it's been great. The thing is that I don't see why they have to put him in this position."
It used to be that when Rivera entered the game....the game ended soon after. While he has slowed down a bit, he is still one of the best three closers in MLB and should be paid accordingly as such. A lot of people consider Rivera to be the most valuable Yankee for the last decade and more than a few people believe they would have had a very difficult time winning any World Championships without him. Yet, here they are...on the precipice of losing one of the greatest weapons MLB has ever seen.
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