A Tale Of Two GM's

What do you make of the statements made today by Yankee's GM Brian Cashman (I'll get to him in a minute) and Boston's GM Theo Epstein? In the middle of the Yankees slaughtering of the Red Sox this past weekend Epstein came under some intense scrutiny from the media.

It should be prefaced to say that the Red Sox (in essence Theo) made no moves before the trading deadline to shore up their struggling bullpen or the offensive holes in their lineup. So when a story surfaced on Saturday in a Boston newspaper that the Red Sox could have had Bobby Abreu instead of watching him spank and punish Red Sox pitchers, more than a few eyebrows were raised.

It also didn't help that ex-Red Sox centerfielder Johnny Damon continued his smashmouth offensive attack against his former team over the weekend. The questions to Red Sox fans were obvious. Why aren't these two players on our team? Why is that we only have two reliable pitchers (Curt Schilling and Jonathan Papplebon)? Why do we have so many holes in our offense? Why in the hell did you go out and get 35 year old Javy Lopez to replace the injured Jason Varitek?

It all comes down to money and the Red Sox' current penchant to hang on to it. Johnny Damon has pretty much held his tongue all season on why he left Boston. When the Yankees first visited Boston this year, he was met with boos and derisive comments. It hurt, it stung this proud man. But, ever the professional, he kept his mouth shut. This weekend he finally let off a little steam. He stated that the Red Sox never made a serious attempt at signing him. The Yankees pursued him and offered him a contract with one more year on it than the Red Sox offered and for more money. Seems like a no brainer to me. He capped off his short commentary by saying that he was so happy to be playing in New York for the Yankees because he knows he is wanted in the Bronx. That is huge.

Another cloud of controversy swirled in beantown this weekend when it was reported that the Red Sox could have had Abreu. This didn't sit well, especially while Abreu was in the midst of going 10 for 20 with 7 walks against the Sox in the five game set.

If you are to believe Theo Epstein, it all comes down to money. Today, Epstein faced his critics by saying that the Red Sox didn't have the money to get those players. This is such hogwash, I'm not sure who he thinks is going to buy this but surely not Red Sox fans. The Red Sox do have the money, they are just choosing not to spend it. After all, when Roger Clemens was going through his now annual will I or won't I come out of retirement, the Sox were thick in the hunt. They knew that they were going have to pony up approximately $11 million to get Clemens. So my question for Epstein would be this. Was that $11 million earmarked solely for Clemens or couldn't that money have been spent on Abreu or Damon? Or a better bullpen for that matter? Me thinks that the honeymoon phase of the Theo Epstein post World Championship afterglow is now officially over. They don't have a farm system that they can depend on and the deals that they did make are not panning out. Take a look what Co Co Crisp or Wily Mo Pena have done recently.

Now let's talk about Brian Cashman. He also made a statement today concerning money. He stated that the Yankees are losing money. While that may be possible, albeit a little hard to swallow when you factor in creative accounting, the fact remains that love him or hate him, George Steinbrenner is the kind of owner that everyone wants. He will spend the money and to hell with the consequences.

The Yankees did not stand still at the trading deadline. The Abreu/Lidle trade was a huge coup, albeit an expensive one for the Yankees. Abreu fit right into an already surging Yankee offense. He is a patient and professional hitter. Before coming to the Yankees, he had already seen more pitches than any other major league hitter. Corey Lidle, while not Cy Young, gave the Yankees a reliable arm at the back end of the rotation. Obtaining Craig Wilson was also a great move, even if it meant Bubba had to take a hike.

The bottom line is that the Yankees are a better team than the Red Sox (thanks to their respective GM's) and while the Yankees can't put them in their rear view mirror just yet, hopefully it won't be too much longer until the Yankees can start printing playoff tickets and the Red Sox can start calling for tee times.



Is the honeymoon over for Theo?