MLB Report: Carlos Beltran Signs With New York Yankees

[Halu Sination]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/12/yankees-to-sign-carlos-beltran.html

lol I told you Iveus... Cashman had some weird fetish for the dude.

And I thought Dodgers had too many outfielders...

[MistaNova]

Fuck, I'm starting to hate this team.
This probably means that Wells will get released/dumped for whatever the Yankees can get and Gardner's probably on his way out of the door. Rumor has it that Gardner will be part of the package going to back to Cincinnati in exchange for Brandon Phillips. Hopefully that doesn't happen and Gardner is instead traded for a starting pitcher.

Although if Gardner goes, then the Yankees will have lost a total of 6 players they managed to develop themselves this year. Mo, Pettitte, Hughes, Joba, Cano and Gardner.

[TraceOneInfinite]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Fuck man... this was the one chance the Royals had at being serious contenders!  Beltran had love for KC cause he came up in our organization, we needed a right fielder, all the stars were aligned and then the big market Yankees step on the little guy as usual... I swear baseball has been so screwed up since the strike, the scales are all tipped in favor of the big markets and this is further proof.  If baseball had a salary cap and collective bargaining and it was a fair fight the Royals would have gotten Beltran and we would be competing for the playoffs.

Ohh well... atleast we picked up some Japanese dude from the Brewers to play right field, Aoki.  That should give us another 86 win season which will still be fun considering how low expectations are here.

[MistaNova]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

Fuck man... this was the one chance the Royals had at being serious contenders!  Beltran had love for KC cause he came up in our organization, we needed a right fielder, all the stars were aligned and then the big market Yankees step on the little guy as usual... I swear baseball has been so screwed up since the strike, the scales are all tipped in favor of the big markets and this is further proof.  If baseball had a salary cap and collective bargaining and it was a fair fight the Royals would have gotten Beltran and we would be competing for the playoffs.

Ohh well... atleast we picked up some Japanese dude from the Brewers to play right field, Aoki.  That should give us another 86 win season which will still be fun considering how low expectations are here.

I thought Aoki was an awesome pickup for the Royals and considering that they gave up a reliever for a guy getting paid peanuts the Royals practically stole Aoki. He'll definitely be able to help the Royals in the leadoff spot, an area where the Royals have been troubled for a while.

As for a salary cap or whatever, there is one in the form of the luxury tax. If the team's payroll exceeds $189 million they must pay a fine, and that fine gets bigger for repeat offenders. That said, the Yankees and Dodgers are two of the teams that can afford to give the luxury tax the middle finger and troll the rest of the MLB.
Besides, the Royals were never going to be able to sign Beltran. They'd have to clear salaray by getting rid of Butler and a few other guys first. And I doubt the Royals were anything more than leverage in contract negotiations with the Yankees (and other teams that were willing to spend money unlike the Royals).

[Halu Sination]

Exactly, Aoki was a HUGE steal imo.

I know Beltran can't field anymore, but on offense he's not a horrible last second replacement if you're trying to throw in some slugging and only want a temporary solution with Cano gone.

But Yanks were already the oldest team in the league, this certainly isn't a step in the right direction.

[MistaNova]

The New York Yankees: The place where the remaining veteran players from the 90's go to die

[Hack Wilson - real]

Bye bye vernon wells 

[TraceOneInfinite]

I thought Aoki was an awesome pickup for the Royals and considering that they gave up a reliever for a guy getting paid peanuts the Royals practically stole Aoki. He'll definitely be able to help the Royals in the leadoff spot, an area where the Royals have been troubled for a while.

As for a salary cap or whatever, there is one in the form of the luxury tax. If the team's payroll exceeds $189 million they must pay a fine, and that fine gets bigger for repeat offenders. That said, the Yankees and Dodgers are two of the teams that can afford to give the luxury tax the middle finger and troll the rest of the MLB.
Besides, the Royals were never going to be able to sign Beltran. They'd have to clear salaray by getting rid of Butler and a few other guys first. And I doubt the Royals were anything more than leverage in contract negotiations with the Yankees (and other teams that were willing to spend money unlike the Royals).

Good info...

I might have sounded like I was being sarcastic about the Aoki trade, but I was actually serious.  I'm happy about Aoki and I think he keeps the Royals playing at above .500 which is really great here with our low expectations.  We are going to be losing Ervin Santana who had a big year last year and replacing him with Vargas who is good but not likely to post Santana numbers.  Bruce Chen also had a lucky year for us and we are losing him.  So it was likely the Royals would've gone down next season but Aoki makes up the difference and keeps us as a winning team for another year.

Does the luxury tax money then get distributed out to the small market teams?

[MistaNova]

Good info...

I might have sounded like I was being sarcastic about the Aoki trade, but I was actually serious.  I'm happy about Aoki and I think he keeps the Royals playing at above .500 which is really great here with our low expectations.  We are going to be losing Ervin Santana who had a big year last year and replacing him with Vargas who is good but not likely to post Santana numbers.  Bruce Chen also had a lucky year for us and we are losing him.  So it was likely the Royals would've gone down next season but Aoki makes up the difference and keeps us as a winning team for another year.

Does the luxury tax money then get distributed out to the small market teams?

Keep in mind though that Aoki's still just a leadoff hitter. The Mariners had a really great leadoff hitter in the 00's and look where it got them. The rest of the team has to really do well. Hosmer needs to take another step forward, Butler and Kain need to stay consistent, Perez needs to learn how to hit the fucking ball and Moustakas needs to wake the fuck up.

As for the luxury tax money, no it does not go to small market teams.

Instead, it goes into an 'Industry Growth Fund' that MLB uses for player benefits and to promote the growth of baseball around the world. Money is distributed to smaller revenue teams, but that money comes from MLB's revenue sharing program, which is entirely separate and independent of the luxury tax.

Basically the money goes straight into Bud Selig's pocket. And there is money flowing into small market teams, but it's on par with what Chinese factory workers make.
Plus there's probably even going to be a minimum amount that teams have to spend soon to keep teams like the Astros and Marlins from trying to lose on purpose just for the sake of pinching every last penny they can save.

[TraceOneInfinite]

Good info...

I might have sounded like I was being sarcastic about the Aoki trade, but I was actually serious.  I'm happy about Aoki and I think he keeps the Royals playing at above .500 which is really great here with our low expectations.  We are going to be losing Ervin Santana who had a big year last year and replacing him with Vargas who is good but not likely to post Santana numbers.  Bruce Chen also had a lucky year for us and we are losing him.  So it was likely the Royals would've gone down next season but Aoki makes up the difference and keeps us as a winning team for another year.

Does the luxury tax money then get distributed out to the small market teams?

Keep in mind though that Aoki's still just a leadoff hitter. The Mariners had a really great leadoff hitter in the 00's and look where it got them. The rest of the team has to really do well. Hosmer needs to take another step forward, Butler and Kain need to stay consistent, Perez needs to learn how to hit the fucking ball and Moustakas needs to wake the fuck up.

As for the luxury tax money, no it does not go to small market teams.

Instead, it goes into an 'Industry Growth Fund' that MLB uses for player benefits and to promote the growth of baseball around the world. Money is distributed to smaller revenue teams, but that money comes from MLB's revenue sharing program, which is entirely separate and independent of the luxury tax.

Basically the money goes straight into Bud Selig's pocket. And there is money flowing into small market teams, but it's on par with what Chinese factory workers make.
Plus there's probably even going to be a minimum amount that teams have to spend soon to keep teams like the Astros and Marlins from trying to lose on purpose just for the sake of pinching every last penny they can save.

Good info again..

But Perez can hit, by the way. 

[Chamillitary Click]

Ellsbury
Jeter
McCann
Tex
A-Rod?
Beltran
Brandon Phillips?/Kelly Johnson
Soriano
Ichiro

& niggas are still complaining? I'd be fine with that. Then get two pitchers & hope CC earns his keep & Kuroda plays like last year.

How the fuck can anyone complain about that?

[MistaNova]

& niggas are still complaining? I'd be fine with that. Then get two pitchers & hope CC earns his keep & Kuroda plays like last year.

How the fuck can anyone complain about that?

Well lets see...

Ellsbury - Can't stay healthy
Jeter - Old, injury prone, defense sucks
McCann - Skills have been declining since 2010
Tex - In decline, injury prone
A-Rod? - In decline, injury prone, will be suspended for most of the season
Beltran - Old, defense sucks
Brandon Phillips?/Kelly Johnson - Phillips is no garauntee, Johnson is just a slight improvement over Nix
Soriano - Lives by the longball and dies by the longball, so he's dead for most of the season
Ichiro - Ghost of his former self, can't hit for shit

Look at those hitters, not one of them can qualify as a middle of the order threat. Yankees fans can fool themselves all they want but McCann, Ellsbury and Beltran do not equal Cano, they don't even come close to Cano. And I can't stress this enough, the Yankees just don't have the depth teams need to succeed. While the 2014 Yankees won't suffer nearly as many injuries as they did in 2013, some of these guys will get hurt at some point during the season and then we'll get stuck with the same guys who we had to rely on last year. The Ryans, Nunezes and Romines.
And most importantly, their starting pitching. No matter who they get on the free agent market their rotation won't hold a candle to the Rays's or Red Sox's rotations. And like any team, the Yankees rotation will see a number of guys have bad years or fall to the DL. And again, the Yankees don't have a lot of depth. They have some inhouse options in Pineda, Phelps, Nuno and Warren but who knows what we'll get out of them.

Lastly from the latest rumors and inside scoops I've heard if the Yankees want Phillips (or any-fucking-body), they'll have to give up at least Gardner AND Robertson. Huge blow to the bullpen right there.

You're a fool if you think this team will be a contender in 2014 AND in the AL East where there are already 2 teams that are better than this one. Maybe if the Yankees played in the AL Central or NL West they'd have a shot but in the AL East, stick a fork in them. This team only gets more mediocre with every transaction they make.

[Halu Sination]

I know it's not ideal after losing someone like Cano, but I feel like Beltran is a very suitable middle-of-the-order threat. He batted .300 this last season and slugged .490, and is a career .500 slugger. He hit 24 homers and 32 the year before that. Don't be turned off by his age, he hasn't really shown signs of decline offensively. Defensively he sucks though.

[MistaNova]

Beltran's not bad, offensively, but my point is that he's not Cano. He's not as threatening as Cano would be in that lineup.

[Chamillitary Click]

Yeah, they should of resigned Cano & stuck with the lineup they had last year. That worked.