Food for thought

Trying to distract myself from a couple of unpleasant Boston news days in a row. The latest setback, of course, is the Sox' total inability to even think about scoring runs off Royals ace Zack Greinke. It's some consolation, although not much, to know that Greinke is the hands-down favorite for this year's Cy Young Award. And here, also, is something else to consider:

An interesting piece by Kansas City blogger makes the case that the Cy Young race has come down to four pitchers: Greinke, Felix Hernandez, CC Sabathia, and Jon Lester.

Greinke and Hernandez are there simply because they are easily the best two pitchers in the American League this year. Sabathia and Lester are there because they are easily the best two pitchers on the Yankees and Red Sox. If there's anything like justice, Greinke will walk away with the trophy. But the discussion does provide fodder for an interesting comparison, an echo of something my colleague tried to bash me with a few weeks ago.

So, a comparison.

Player A
14-7, 3.33 ERA, 214 SO.
2009 Salary: $1 million
Average salary, 2010-2013: $7.2 million

Player B
18-7, 3.31 ERA, 186 SO.
2009 Salary: $15.3 million
Average salary, 2010-2013: $24.9 million

Oh, and one more thing to note.

Player A's postseason ERA: 2.25
Player B's postseason ERA: 7.92

MILES:

The Small Market Sox signed Lester to a $30 million contract extension in March, which basically bought out his remaining arbitration years. Not unlike what Theo did with Dustin Pedroia (six-year, $40.5 million) in December and, a month later, with Kevin Youkilis (four-year, $40 million deal). This is common practice in baseball. See Evan Longoria, Jose Reyes, David Wright, Troy Tulowitzki, Robinson Cano, and Chris Young, to name just a few. In 2014, Lester is  due to earn $14 million. A year later, when he becomes  a free agent, he should be in line for a pretty fat paycheck. 

Look, Lester is a very good pitcher. At times, dominant. Like against the Colorado Rockies. Against the Rays, however, not so much. Still, I like Lester. Truth be told, he's the only player on Boston's roster I would want on the Yankees. That said, I'm more than happy with CC's performance in pinstripes, and, come October, I'm confident he'll show his true worth.  

In the meantime, though, I agree that Greinke is an absolute lock for the Cy Young. He has been for weeks, long before he shut down the Sox. 

BEN:

All right, let's get this Small Market-Big Market thing out of the way. I know that some Yankees fans take great pleasure in noting that the Red Sox consistently rank among the top five teams in baseball in terms of overall payroll. I won't deny it. It's also true that they've won substantially more games and championships in the last ten years than any of the several teams with comparable payrolls-- say, for instance, the Dodgers, Mets, Cubs, and Tigers, all four of whom have bigger payrolls than the Sox this year. The Angels have had a comparable run of success with a comparable payroll over the same period.

But in the spirit of serious intra-rivalry debate, let's examine the facts a little more closely. This year, the Yankees outspent the Sox by $84m, which is larger than the gap between the Sox and the famously parsimonious San Diego Padres, who have the 2nd lowest payroll in baseball. To put it another way, $84 million is enough to cover the entire payroll of just over half of the teams in baseball. If you're really going to swear that this distinction is trivial, well, let's just say I disagree.

My point, though, is that the difference between the teams is cultural. In a given offseason, Sox can make a run at any player they want, provided they're willing to make payroll sacrifices at other positions. This is true of several teams--conservatively, maybe 4 or 5, liberally, as many as 7 or 8. What the Yankees do, as demonstrated admirably this past offseason (during the depths of a terrible recession, and while they were rolling out their hilariously overpriced new stadium), is give record contracts to players at any position where they see fit to bother. It's what makes other people think that Yankees fans are spoiled, that the team tries to buy championships; all those criticisms you're used to hearing by now.

Players currently on the Yankees who are the highest-paid at their position in baseball history: Alex Rodriguez (3B), Mark Teixeria (1B), Derek Jeter (SS), CC Sabathia (SP), Jorge Posada (C). Mariano Rivera ranks 2nd at closer.

This also probably goes some way to explaining why you express no interest in swapping your guys for one of the numerous comparable-yet-cheaper players on the Sox team, such as Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Jonathan Papelbon, Lester, or Clay Buchholz. Some of those guys are better than their Yankee counterparts, and some worse, but all are substantially less expensive, even the Rookie of the Year/AL MVP second baseman. By the way, are you sure you wouldn't trade the Melky Cabrera/Brett Gardner platoon for Jacoby Ellsbury, or Johnny Damon for Jason Bay?

Maybe this all sounds like quibbling to your ears, but I think it's pretty meaningful. Will the Sox have to give big money to Jon Lester when his arbitration years are past? Absolutely, and I'm sure they'll be glad to do it. But I'm willing to bet he won't be the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history, whether that person is CC Sabathia or whoever the Yankees come after next.

MILES:

Sorry, man, but any team that lays down $51 million just to talk to a player forfeits any claims to the poorhouse. In fact, just a few months ago, the front office offered Mark Teixeira at least $165 million, even though the team already had, in your words, a "comparable-yet-cheaper" first baseman. By your reasoning, if the Sox had signed Tex, they would have been forced to get rid of Ortiz and his $13-million contract, or J.D. Drew and his $14-million contract just to offset the cost. You're deluding yourself. Boston's payroll isn't as high as New York's; but, at $122 million, it is only approximately $6 million less than the combined payrolls of the Marlins, Padres and Pirates. 

For some reason I've never quite understood, Sox fans like to think of their team as one of the little guys, the underdogs, as blue collar as Will Hunting. When, in truth, the Sox are very much a part of baseball's privileged one percent, regardless of how dirty your MVP second baseman gets his jersey. Ask any Twins fan, or Royals fan, or even a Cardinals fan. They'll tell you the same thing: there is little-to-no difference between the Yankees and the Red Sox in this regard. Sure, the Yankees might own the biggest house on the block, but the Red Sox reside in the same gated community, despite numerous protestations to the contrary. 

BEN:

I never said that Youkilis was comparable to Teixeira and believed, at the time and to this day, that the Sox would've traded him to clear room for Tex.

I also specifically didn't claim that the Sox were in the poor house; only that the gap between the Yankees and those teams that rank below them is so large and significant that it's unfair to compare them. I think the numbers illustrate that pretty convincingly.

I can't speak for other Sox fans, but I've never believed that my team is middle-class; what I have done is complained that the Yankees' unlimited spending makes them the bad guys. I don't think the Sox deserve anyone's pity, I just find it ludicrous that Yankees fans can't see the difference.