Leaders Of Fraud Sox Nation Already Feeding Coal Into The Excuse Engine

John Henry on Wednesday:

"I don't think we can comment on what their ceiling may or may not be," Henry said. "We just have to do what we've done since we arrived here and that is try and build revenues, maximize revenues and try as best we can to compete with them financially. But we'll never be able to do that."

"People tend to clump us together, but there's a wide gulf financially between the two teams, and that's going to continue." (courtesy of SI.com)

Theo yesterday morning:

"I think that he (Ellsbury) is an above-average center fielder now, who is going to be a great center fielder. I know there is a certain number we don’t use that is accessible to people online that had him as one of the worst defensive center fielders in baseball last year. I don’t think it’s worth anything. I don’t think that number is legitimate. We do our own stuff and it showed that he is above average." (used courtesy of The Yankee U)

I would laugh harder at this stuff if it wasn't obvious that these two are serious with this shit.

Henry has been playing the "little engine that could" card with his team since the day he became owner, and yeah the Yankees do still have a higher payroll this season, but when your team is coming in hot at $170 million for 2010, that can hardly be considered a "wide gulf," especially when that gulf has shrunk considerably from 2009 to 2010 (over $80 million differential last year, just over $40 mil this year).

And as for the Boy Blunder, I can't blame him for trying to protect his precious Jacoby, who is finally being recognized and called out for his below-average defensive and leadoff hitter skills by the mainstream sports media. Ellsbury was one of Theo's first blue-chippers to be rolled out of the farm system, but facts are facts and the numbers don't lie. Theo can polish the turd that is Ellsbury's defensive numbers as much as he likes, but it's still going to be a turd and it's still going to stink.

I guess we all should have expected this kind of spin doctoring by Theo. Remember, this is the same guy who essentially said that RBIs don't matter in an interview last year in an attempt to justify J.D. Drew's horrible performance. But hey, just like bitching about the Yankee payroll, that's just part of the Fraud Sock Way. Instead of owning up to their mistakes and admitting that they made some bad decisions, they will fight to the end to support their own misguided opinions, even in the face of overwhelming evidence supporting the contrary.

The Yankees don't have that problem. They sign somebody and that guy sucks (see: Carl Pavano) they don't make excuses; they ride it out and let the guy go or attempt to trade him for somebody better. They look at stats supporting a claim (see: Jeter's weak defense) they tell that guy to get better. No whining to the media, no excuses, no claims of special top-secret internal stats that claim otherwise, just get better.

The Yankees are committed to success and winning; the Red Sox are committed to hoping for success, wanting to win, and coming up with reasons for why they weren't successful or didn't win in the event that happens.
 
P.S.- I wonder if that "We don't care about RBIs" mentality was the basis for the Red Sox off-season acquisitions of Beltre, Scutaro, and Mike Cameron.