Gammons..that interview is almost hard to believe..I don’t mean this in a nasty way at all but I wonder if he has not been the “same” since his illness..?? I know from some family members that post-illness their comments seem to come out with little filter..can’t think of any other explanation for that comment on Tex’s wife, that was just bizarre…not familiar with the “defective baseball” incident though..

Giambi…not the best, not the worst signing, but see little value in even discussing it now, is the Hot Stove that boring that the tabloids need to get into that??

I believe that your memory is at least partially mistaken. The Yankees signed Key when negotiations with Maddux (and also Bonds!) fell through. Key was NOT signed for his veteran leadership. Rather, he was the big signing for the team in 1992/1993, whose role was to be the anchor of the pitching staff. That the team around him happened to get better by 1996 so that, as his skills declined after a major injury, the team won, says little about his initial contract. His contract “paid off” not because the happened to win the WS, but because e was a very good pitcher for three out of four years with the team (the other lost to injury).

I, on the other hand, recognize that the Yankees will always pay too much to get the big fish. Therefore, I adjust my expectations accordingly. As for good contracts or bad contracts–I think that this is largely an irrelevant issue.

[27] “Essential part of their business model”…and yet, they are making money hand over fist despite a relative drought in WS championships. I think your understanding of the Yankee business model is perhaps flawed.

From the standpoint of competition on the field, it is IMO deeply wrongheaded to “blame” (essentially) one player for a team’s failings. The Yankees did not win the WS from 1979 through 1996. However, this was not the “fault” of Winfield (for example), who was more years than not the best player on the team. The Yankees got what they paid for from Winfield. That they screwed up with the rest of the roster is independent of the goodness or badness or paidoffness of his individual contract.

Actually, I would say that no free agent signings “worked out” as perfectly as those of Boggs and Key. They were brought on to be veteran role models to guide a young team toward a championship, and they did exactly that.

Giambi had OPS+ of 126, 130, 153, 187, 197, 172, 148 at age 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32. That is almost a perfect career arc. 148 OPS+ at age 32 was perfectly predictable. To be disappointed with that is to have unrealistic expectations.

Gammons is a bitch.

Frankly I’m psyched about Gammons’ asinine comments because it will motivate Tex that much more to rake against Boston (not that I doubted his motivation after the introduction!)