Last year’s Championship Series were a beautiful example of the league’s new direction of growing your own talent through drafts and scouting. The Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Cleveland Indians all featured rosters saturated with homegrown talent and payrolls that ranked in the bottom third of the league. By comparison the Red Sox payroll this season stands at $134 million dollars while the Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Indians all hover within the $60-70 million range. Even the Red Sox since GM Theo Epstein took over have transformed themselves into a perennial powerhouse with a deep farm system (including my cousin Justin Masterson) who have 1) the resources to spend money on big time free agents they deem worthy and 2) the scouts who find the best talent available in the amateur ranks. That’s what makes the Red Sox so scary to compete against. Speaking of saying something that makes you feel dirty…
Within the last decade, the AL Central was once known as the Comedy Central (a nickname that now fits perfectly with their National League counterparts. I mean, the Cubs? Seriously? Who are they kidding?), now is seen as the powerhouse division with many “experts” picking either the Tigers or Indians to win the World Series. As little as three years ago, the San Diego Padres won the NL West with an 82-80 record, the worst mark ever for a division winner. Now, the NL West is arguably the most competitive division in baseball with four teams having legitimate shots at the title. They were also the only division last year with four teams with winning records.
Most teams these days are following the path of the Cleveland Indians to try and build their organizations from the ground up. In 2001, the Indians made the playoffs on the reliance of aging veterans and one hefty left handed rookie pitcher (CC Sabathia.) After their meltdown against the Mariners in the ALDS, new GM Mark Shapiro began dismantling the club. He let Juan Gonzalez and Jim Thome walk and made perhaps one of the greatest trades of all time by sending pitcher Bartolo Colon, who was in a contract year, to the now defunct Montreal Expos for Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and a throw in outfielder named Grady Sizemore. Lee has won 43 games since 2005 for the Indians, Sizemore is generally considered one of the brightest young stars in baseball and someone with Hall of Fame potential, and Brandon Phillips after a change in scenery down I-71 to Cincinnati enjoyed a 30-30 year in 2007. Shapiro has followed the Indians’ GM of the 1990s, John Hart, who built the powerhouse Indians by signing their young talent to long term contracts early in their careers and pulling off shrewd trades. Those teams led by Kenny Lofton, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Sandy Alomar Jr., Charles Nagy, and Albert Belle ruled the American League Central for the better part of the decade. Now, Shapiro has taken the Indians’ modest payroll and signed the core of Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta, and Jake Westbrook to long term deals. The only question mark will be whether or not they will be able to pony up enough cash to keep CC Sabathia with the only club he’s ever known after he becomes a free agent at the end of the season.
Though the payroll disparity has not decreased at all, and probably won’t in the near future, the level of play between the best and worst in the league has consistently been shrinking. For the first time ever there is even a sense of optimism in the Tampa Bay Rays organization though it is yet to be determined if it has anything to do with the exorcism from their name in the offseason. The perennial also-rans of the league, i.e. the Royals and Nationals have begun their seasons in optimistic fashion by slaying a few of the preseason picks for the postseason in the Tigers, Braves, and Phillies. The same cannot be said for the Pirates, Marlins, Giants, Orioles, and Rangers as those teams can only pray for mediocrity and hope the good Elway takes pity on their souls. The teams that had postseason success last year were once on par, or as terrible, as any team in the league. Once their teams’ front offices figured out that the approach they were taking at trying to build a winning ballclub wasn’t working after years and years of last place finishes they got new personnel to revamp their entire organizational philosophy. In 2000, the Rockies brought in Dealin Dan O’Dowd to be their general manager and even when we all thought he was batshit insane for making some of the moves that he did (Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle’s contracts for starters), eventually it all came together once they developed their scouting in Latin America to bring us young and extremely talented players like Manny Corpas, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Franklin Morales. Once they harnessed their raw skill and developed into Major Leaguers, the Rockies went to the World Series thanks strongly to their efforts. Even though last season might have validated some of his moves, I still cannot bring myself to say Dan O’Dowd is a great, or even capable, general manager. I’m an Indians fan too, so you could say he and I have a history with him going to great lengths to try and ruin my favorite teams.
High payrolls don’t always necessarily guarantee success in the Major Leagues, thankfully. When the Yankees were cementing their dynasty in the late 90s, I was ready to forget everything I knew about faith and just resign myself to the belief that money and George Steinbrenner were the roots of all evil. Then the Broncos Super Bowl wins restored my faith in a higher power and I slept easier knowing that someone was looking out for me. If A-Rod suffers a season ending injury in the coming months, I’ll also have to start believing in karma and help old ladies with their groceries and my neighbors with their taxes. Until that happens, I’ll have to keep stabbing my bobble-head voodoo dolls and holding out for hope. Even arguably the best hitter in baseball does not surpass the worth of 25 Major League caliber players.
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