$161 million? Hey C.C., that's 161 million whoppers....The definition of insanity is continuously doing the same thing while expecting a different result each time. While MLB's lack of a salary cap and the disparity between the haves, the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, etc., and the have nots, the Devil Rays, Royals, etc., is the driving force behind the insanity of baseball's free agency, the continued insanity of owners and GMs is what perpetuates the madness of MLB's offseason. Recently the Yankees signed fireballer A.J. Burnett to a 5 year deal worth over $82 million. Yet Burnett has only surpassed the 200 inning mark, get this, 3 times in 10 seasons, while winning over 12 games only once in that time span. Not to be outdone, the Cleveland Indians gave 30 year old Kerry Wood, the once promising starter turned closer, a two year deal worth over $20 million despite dozens of trips to the DL and several surgeries over Wood's 10 seasons with the Chicago Cubs. History tells us lucrative, gauranteed contracts given to injury prone pitchers can prove to be disastrous for the team and for the rest of MLB. Barry Zito's 7 year, $126 million contract remains a lesson for GM's to adopt a cautious attitude towards giving pitchers long, lucrative contracts (not that the Yankees listened, giving C.C. Sabathia nearly $161 million over 8 years). Just to boggle the mind, check these numbers: 4 years, $40 million to Carl Pavano, 8 years, $121 million to Mike Hampton, 4 years, $33 million to Russ Ortiz, and even Denny Neagle(who managed to go 19-23 with a 5.57 ERA over first 4 seasons of his mega deal) managed to swindle the Rockies into giving him a mind boggling $51.5 million over 5 years. Despite the overwhelming numbers pointing to the contrary GMs continue to throw obscene amounts of money at free agent pitching, leaving the Carlos Silvas(4 years, $48 million) and the Gil Meches(5 years, $55 million) of the world laughing all the way to the bank.
One Yankee fan's ode to Carl Pavano
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