@Rockhead,
can't believe a major league manager tested positive for coke and still has a job...
@Region Philbis,
Maybe he brought enough for everyone
@George,
meanwhile the new puppy catcher can afford his own kibble factory...
@Region Philbis,
I am now looking quizzically at the screen, head tilted to the side.
I was looking at team rosters, and found out that the differences in pay are often overwhelming and that the best paid players are not always the best players.
Best paid players (in millions of dollars)
Arizona
Don Haren 7.5
Atlanta
Tim Hudson 15.5, Derek Lowe 15.0, Troy Glaus 12.1 m.
Baltimore
Miguel Tejada 14.8, Kevin Milwood 12.9
Boston
J.D. Drew 14.0, Adrián Beltré 13.4, David Ortiz 13.0, Mike Lowell 12.5, Josh Beckett 11.1, John Lackey 10.0, Mike Cameron 10.0
Chicago Cubs
Carlos Zambrano 18.7, Alfonso Soriano 17.0, Aramis Ramirez 16.6, Derrek Lee 13.2, Ted Lilly 13.0, Kosuke Fukodome 12.5, Carlos Silva 12.2
Chicago White Sox
Mark Buerhle 14.0, Paul Konerko 12,0, Jake Peavy 11.0, Juan Pierre 10.0
Cincinnati
Aaron Harang 14.0, Francisco Cordero 12.1, Scott Rolen 11.6. Bronson Arroyo 10.1
Cleveland
Travis Hafner 11.5, Jake Westwood 10.0, Kerry Wood 10.0
Colorado
Todd Helton 16.6, Aaron Cook 9.4
Detroit
Magglio Ordoñez 19.0, Miguel Cabrera 14.4, Johnny Damon 13.0, Jeremy Bonderman 12.5, Dontrelle Willis 10.0, Carlos Guillén 10.0
Florida
Hanley Ramirez 5.5
Houston
Carlos Lee 19.0, Lance Berkman 14.5, Roy Oswalt 14.0, Brett Myers 12.0
Kansas City
José Guillén 12.0, Gil Meche 11.4
LA Angels
Torii Hunter 18.0, Hideki Matsui 13.0
LA Dodgers
Manny Ramírez 23.9, Jason Schmidt 15.2, Hideki Kuroda 12.4, Vicente Padilla 12.0
Milwaukee
Jeff Suppan 12.7
Minnesota
Jim Thome 13.0, Justin Morneau 11.6, Joe Nathan 11.2, Joe Mauer 10.5
NY Mets
Carlos Beltrán 19.2, Johan Santana 18.9, Oliver Pérez 12.0, Gary Mathews Jr. 10.4, Kelvim Escobar 10.0
NY Yankees
Alex Rodríguez 33.0, Derek Jeter 21.6, Mark Teixeira 20.6, A.J. Burnett 16.5, C.C Sabathia 15.3, Mariano Rivera 15.0, Jorge Posada 13.1, Javier Vázquez 11.5
Oakland
Eric Chavez 11.5
Philadelphia
Ryan Howard 15.0, Roy Halladay 14.2, Brad Lidge 12.0, Chase Utley 11.3, José Contreras 10.0
Pittsburgh
Octavio Dotel 6.0
San Diego
Jon Garland 6.2
San Francisco
Barry Zito 18.5
Seattle
Ichiro Suzuki 18.0, Eric Brynes 11.7
St. Louis
Albert Pujols 14.4, Matt Holliday 13.5, Chris Carpenter 13.3
Tampa Bay
Carl Crawford 8.2
Texas
Vladimir Guerrero 15.0, Michael Young 13.0
Toronto
Lyle Overbay 7.9
Washington
Jason Marquis 9.9
The list includes all players with salary over 10 million.
And it all tells me there are some very shrewd agents, some very stupid general managers (and some bright GMs as well).
@fbaezer,
I just hope Rolen plays up to his salary.
I got him off the pile...
Gary jr has a great agent.
@Rockhead,
seems a lot of those are veterans being paid for past performance...
@Region Philbis,
Region Philbis wrote:
seems a lot of those are veterans being paid for past performance...
... or past potential
... or one or two good years
Conceding that some of the high earners are true stars, what's the most pathetic situation -from the point of view of the franchise-?
My vote goes for Jason Schmidt. 37. Last good season was 5 years ago. 2 wins in the last three years.
I nearly cried tears of joy when I found out my Brewers' Jeff Supan is going to start the season on the DL. His .ERA last year was about as high as his salary.
@Gargamel,
18.5 mill for mediocre barry zito is a head-scratcher...
@Region Philbis,
Zito is the ultimate Billy Bean deal.
Another beguiling case is Carlos Silva.
W-L career record below .500
Only 2 seasons out of 8, below 4.00 ERA (and 3 seasons way above 5.00).
Lifetime .304 BAA
12.2 million dollar contract.
@tsarstepan,
Another A2K Sox fan? Really?
@Gargamel,
I make no effort or attempt to disguise my allegiance to the
one true sports franchise, the Red Sox.
@tsarstepan,
NY Times Sports Headline:
RED SOX 9, YANKEES 7
Red Sox Strike First, but Stay Tuned
I like the sound of this new baseball season!
@tsarstepan,
I kinda like the MLB decision to open the season the way they did.
It's almost like them acknowledging that the rest of the teams don't really matter.
money-ball.
gotta love it.
