This Story Makes Me Smile

Just when I think Theo and his merry band of assclowns can't possibly get any more inept, they go and pull a stunt like this...

.. AND TOTALLY REDEEM THEMSELVES!!!!!!

Just kidding, they're still a bunch of incomparable morons after allowing the Adrian Gonzalez trade to fall through this afternoon after reportedly not being willing to give Gonzalez a contract comparable to Teix's 8-year, $180 mil deal the Yankees gave him in 2008.

I'll put my Yankee homer hat off to the side for a second to discuss how stupid this is of the Red Sox.  They just agreed to trade 3 of their top 6 prospects for one of the premiere first basemen in baseball, a player they happen to have been after for over a year now in response to losing out on Mark Teixeira in the 2008 offseason.  This premiere first baseman happens to be perfectly suited for hitting in Fenway Park, has put up comparable numbers to Teixeira over his 5+-year career in a major pitcher's ballpark, is 2 years younger than Teix, and is coming off his last 2 years that have been the best of his career and ended with him posting higher OPS numbers than Teix (.958 vs. .948 in '09, .904 vs. .846 in '10).

Now because they were unwilling to give Gonzalez comparable money to Teix (money that he is almost assuredly worth), they have lost out on improving their team for the next season and beyond and have to scramble to either win him back or get back in the running for Adrian Beltre, the guy they cast aside because of their plan to trade for Gonzalez.  Neither one of these deals will come cheap as they've already failed to make one happen and now become more desperate as a result.  They have no bargaining power, no backup plan, and have completely shown their hand to the Padres and any other teams that they wants to deal with in trades as far as prospects are concerned.  If the Padres were smart, they would up their demands and play this thing for even more if the Red Sox try to re-start trade talks, as they now know they are still going to lose their best player but can risk asking for at least another prospect or maybe another of the Sox's top 6 as a new option since the Sox clearly don't have a better existing option to fill 1st or 3rd base.

As a Yankee fan, this is all music to my ears.  It had been a rough day or 2 for the Sox already before this trade came about and fell through after the failed Mariano Rivera signing that was a blatant slap in the face to their best 2 relievers.  Now this puts them even further behind the 8-ball as they've lost Martinez and Beltre and replaced them with nothing and everybody else out there knows what they offered for the player they wanted as a starting point for negotiations if the Sox call them up looking to make a deal for another player.  Oh, and there's the fact that now everybody on their team knows that the team wasn't willing to make a deal for a player that would have made the team better simply because they were too cheap to open their wallets.  That doesn't exactly build confidence for guys who are on the last years of their deals or who are interested in making it back to the playoffs that they missed in 2010 and winning a ring.

A Long Overdue Linkapalooza

I'm way behind in giving credit where credit is due.  I'm disappointed in myself really.  That's just unacceptable.  But I'm going to sit down, look at some tape, make the adjustments I need to make, and take this post one link at a time.

- Kevin of 6P8OBJ breaks down the implications of the Adrian Gonzalez trade for the rest of the league.  I've been too busy laughing at Boston's boneheaded attempt at signing Mo to really give this trade the time of day, so I'm glad somebody out there is picking up the slack.

- Bruce Markusen of Bronx Banter writes a nice piece about the career of Gil McDougald, who died in the past week.  Tough year for Yankee greats, no doubt.  But their collective memories have been done justice by writing like this.

- Caught up in the comedy of el duque's 10-Point Plan to respond to the Adrian Gonzalez signing is actually a lot of valid points, namely letting Jesus catch full-time and keeping all of the Killer B's.  Maybe I should take these guys a bit more seriously when it comes to baseball analysis.

- Luke Adams of MLB Trade Rumors packages together the latest news on Cliff Lee.  This is me linking to another larger collection of links.  That's efficient blogging there, people.

- Marshall at No Maas followed the non-tender list earlier this week and put together a quick little post showing the potential value in signing Bobby Jenks.  Jenks' numbers compare favorably to Kerry Wood's when he was in pinstripes at the end of last season, so for $3-4 mil, I wouldn't be opposed to bringing him in as the setup guy.

- Mike Vacarro of The Post tells us what we all already know, that Jeter saved face by agreeing to the new deal.  Sure we know it, but it's still good to read it again.

- SG at RLYW took a look at Mo's stats and projections to see if he's on the verge of falling off the cliff after signing his new deal this week.  Long story short, he's not.  Awesome.

- Mike A. at RAB makes a compelling case for the Yankees going after Scott Hairston this offseason.  With all that he does well, Hairston will most likely get a starting job somewhere, but trying to build a bench that is actually productive wouldn't be a bad strategy.

- Also, no link because they're updated daily, but do yourself a favor and head over to River Ave. to check out the new RAB Radio Show.  Lot's of good stuff on there and they don't take hours and hours to get to it like regular radio shows.

- Steve S. of TYU reminded us why the Yanks are still the winners in the Sox-Adrian Gonzalez deal.  Going back to 2008, the Yanks have now given up a few draft picks for Teix while the Red Sox essentially gave up 6 prospects (4 of them top prospects) and Victor Martinez to get Gonzalez as a response to losing out on Teix.  And now they have Salty and 'Tek as their catchers for 2011.  Another brilliant move by Cash becomes even more brilliant.

So there's some of the other good stuff from this week around the Yankee blogosphere.  Now if you'll excuse me, I have to drink beer and watch football all afternoon.  Enjoy.