Media Madness

The jury is out. The Yankees have a lot of money. And that's just not fair.

Since the signings of both C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett the media has gone out of its way to be both disgusted and shocked by the actions of baseball's richest team. It's impossible to hear Karl Ravich, Steve Phillips, and John Kruck dissect these deals on ESPN. It's also laughable at the thought that these deals only make us "competitive" within the AL East as Phillips suggests.

Normally whenever I do this blogging thing I'll check a few sites, read a few articles and get a feel for the news of the day. There's usually something there that gets me thinking, sticks out as odd, or catches my eye. Yesterday and today when I scanned the headlines the one constant was a considerable bashing from the media.

As expected, the Cleveland Plain Dealer has some issues with the deal. C.C. Sabathia did win a Cy Young for them in 2007 and commanded a salary that Cleveland just couldn't pay. These things are unfortunate, but they did the best thing for themselves by trading the big lefty early in the season last year, knowing the impending price of free agency. Why the sour grapes now?

It's no different north of the border either as Toronto beat writers get in on the action. Even going as far as scolding the Yankees for their decision making and business model while ignoring the fact that the Toronto Blue Jays have serious issues with their own business model.

Even the The Boston Herald gets in on the action by going after A.J. Burnett saying his injury history and durability pose a significant threat. Why not use this keen eye in regard to the future of staff "ace" Josh Beckett?

It's just disappointing I guess. Every negative there is on Sabathia and Burnett are appearing ad nauseum in the media. Yeah, we get it, he's fat. And we know about his playoff record. Really? Burnett gets injured? Wow. You don't say.

There's also this overwhelming sense in the media that these deals the Yankees made were made out of one thing and one thing only: desperation. I am accrediting Lupica for this concept. And Bill Madden is running wild with it. What an ass.

It's ridiculous. The Yanks all but told you idiots with notebooks that they were going to do this. At every turn, Yankee decision makers were saying pitching was the number one priority and you all knew money wouldn't be an issue. Why the hell are you taking them to task for doing exactly what they needed to do? You know if they failed to get these guys and got a Lowe or a Sheets at less money they'd be ridiculed for not having the ability to land the 2 big guys. They can't win, it's an exercise in futility. I wonder why newspapers are becoming obsolete?

The double standard is also overwhelming. Yes, we know. The Yankees committed nearly 250 mill on 2 pitchers recently. But, if you remember, in 2006, the Boston Red Sox committed 100 million dollars with the salary and posting fee for the services of Diasuke Matsuzaka, who is indeed a very good 5 inning pitcher. They also spent considerable coin on Julio "Can I play, too?" Lugo and J.D. Drew that offseason.

Theo was shrewd. Cashman is desperate. Naturally.

You expect this type of thing in the papers of your rivals though. Their fan base doesn't want to hear about anything positive going on in the Bronx. Unfortunately our beat writers thrive on the negativity too. Flip "White Man Afro and Pedophile Moustache" Bondy really goes out of his way in an attempt to make an absurd point in today's Daily News. His article is so baseless and wrong that he's winning my Idiot of the Day award.

In this prize winning piece, Bondy somehow see the Yankees as old. This is hilarious. A.J. Burnett is the oldest pitcher in our rotation at 32. Let me say that again, the oldest starting pitcher we have is 32 years old. In the bullpen its Mo and Marte and a ton of young, live arms. Our core of Posada, A-Rod, and Jeter are older, that is true, but Damon and Matsui leave next year. Swisher replaces Giambi. Nady replaces Abreu. Sabathia replace Mussina. We've only gotten younger, really. We also aren't forcing our youth to produce now like we did last year. And I'm sorry Mr. Bondy, expressing interest in 36 year old Mike Cameron is not the same as acquiring him. Nice try Flip.

The only people who like these deals are Johnny Damon and Joba Chamberlain.

This is absurd.