Bleacher Report - Articles by Aaron Santerre

Mark Teixeira Signing Shows Major League Baseball Needs a Salary Cap

Aaron Santerre — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:55:23 -0500

Congratulations to the New York Yankees. No seriously, congratulations.

In Mark Teixeira, the Yankees got their man and they did it within the rules of the game. Whether or not they have an unfair competitive advantage doesn't matter right now. According to the system that we have in place, it's fair.

As the fans of every other team in baseball are focused on holding their lunch today, there is one solution to this problem.

Major League Baseball needs a salary cap.

It's funny actually, because just a couple years ago the baseball world was up-in-arms about a certain other kind of unfair competitive advantage: steroids.

Essentially, the Yankees are Mark McGwire.

Mark McGwire was torn apart and made to look weak back in 2005 for having success with an unfair competitive advantage that was, at the time, within the rules of the game.

So what does that make the Yankees? What does that make the league's premier franchise and poster-child?

This problem may actually be worse than steroids. It affects not just a few at-bats per game, but entire teams. It affects the fans in ways worse than the feelings of dishonesty that came with steroids.

Always, but especially in a time of recession, it affects our wallets.

Hey Yankee fans, how does a ten-dollar beer sound?

We're paying for it all in the end. Not having a salary cap hurts our wallets, it hurts the competitive balance of the game, and it hurts the sport.

It's time for Bud Selig to realize a salary cap would be good for the owners he represents. Not having a salary cap has driven player salaries through the roof.

Albert Pujols, arguably the best player in the game, signed a contract worth an average of $14 million annually over seven years before the 2004 season.

Fans of the Cardinals should be shaking in their boots right now. If Teixeira can command an average of $22.5 million annually over eight years, what will Pujols command in a few years?

Steve Phillips, the former general manager of the New York Mets, was on ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning on Wednesday. He was challenged to address the fact that while the Tampa Bay Rays were competitive this year, they will not make the playoffs 14 out of 15 years like the Yankees. His reply was, "Nor should they. If you own a large-market team you get special privileges."

That's right. It's not about the fans, the revenue providers, anymore.

I propose a $110 million cap with a $60 million minimum spending limit.

It's time for Major League Baseball to put the big-boy pants on and get to work. Bud Selig needs to tell Donald Fehr enough is enough.

It's about time the Tampa Bay Rays can keep the fruits of their labor and resign the prospects that they develop.

It's about time the fans of the Kansas City Royals, Washington Nationals, and Pittsburgh Pirates can go into a season feeling good about their team.

It's about time the Yankees, and a handful of other teams, develop their own talent and stop their reckless spending.

But hey, congratulations to the New York Yankees. No seriously, congratulations.

LeBron James' Free Agency Will Not Destroy the Cleveland Cavaliers

Aaron Santerre — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 01:26:28 -0500

Five years ago, LeBron James saved the Cleveland Cavaliers.

All you have to do to hear this is turn on any sports talk-radio station. They'll tell you of the franchise's impending doom that is sure to come with LeBron's likely trip to New York following his 2010 free-agency bid.

They're all wrong.

Five years ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers saved their franchise by drafting a local prodigy. The prodigy did not save them.

He did not draft himself and give himself his first contract. However, now there is this notion that every trade and every signing that the franchise takes part in is done simply to appease James.

Heaven forbid they would actually want to improve themselves if it wasn't for the presence of "King James."

The nickname is quite fitting actually. After all, he is essentially acting like a monarch with the goal of becoming the world's first billion-dollar athlete.

However, any notion that James has the ability to hold the Cavaliers for ransom is as ludicrous as James' three-point percentage (28.6%).

To understand the truth behind the LeBron James soap opera, all you have to do is look at the Boston Celtics.

For over a decade, the Boston Celtics were a product of nothing more than their own poor management. If the Cavaliers crawl into a corner and allow James' departure to be the downfall of their franchise, then it is their fault alone.

Much is made of the 2010 free agent class, and as teams clear salary cap space to make a run at the surplus of talent that will exist, people seem to forget that the Cavaliers can do the same.

So, Cleveland fans, how does Joe Johnson and Tracy McGrady sound? Would you be upset if you lost a little talent in James, but gained a greater desire to win in Dwyane Wade? Would James have come back too soon after dislocating his shoulder? Would he risk permanently damaging himself and his prospects of being the world's first billion-dollar athlete?

I don't know. Maybe he would. But I know Wade would because he has.

The 2010 offseason will be both intriguing and important for many NBA teams. LeBron James will be considered the best commodity, but he is far from the only top-tier commodity.

The Cleveland Cavaliers need to look to improve themselves when the time comes. Almost every other team is looking at it that way. Whether or not that improvement includes resigning James, it must happen.

If the Cavaliers do not improve themselves, it will be of no one's fault but their own. They cannot let LeBron James hold the future of their franchise for ransom.

LeBron James needs to get over himself. More importantly, everyone else needs to get over LeBron James.

St. Louis Cardinals: Signing Brian Fuentes Would Be a Bad Move

Aaron Santerre — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 10:28:17 -0500

Brian Fuentes is the St. Louis Cardinals' "top priority." These are the words of Cardinals manager Tony La Russa.

Sure, the Cardinals' bullpen blew 31 saves as a team last year. Sure, it may have quite possibly cost them a shot at the playoffs. But is Fuentes the answer?

What do you say, Mr. I-Will-Let-You-Go-Blow-Another-Save-Jason-Isringhausen, ahem, Mr. La Russa?

"From Day One, he's been the guy that fit us the best," La Russa said of Fuentes. "You know, we have a strong right-handed relief core, whether it's a veteran like Ryan [Franklin] or [Josh] Kinney or Brad Thompson or the two kids [Jason Motte and Chris Perez]. A left-handed reliever, quality like Brian, from Day One, he's the guy who was our first choice. And I'm excited that here we are and we're still in the hunt and he's still available."

So what exactly is it that the Cardinals are looking for here? I know the Cardinals had their struggles last year with the southpaws in their bullpen, but it seems that if they were looking to sign a closer it would not matter which hand is in his glove.

A closer pitches the ninth inning. You don't sign a closer because he's left-handed.

If the Cardinals wanted another left-handed specialist to complement Trever Miller and Tyler Johnson, they should have looked to Arthur Rhodes. He could have been had at a much better price and he had voiced his desire to be in St. Louis.

I guess the Cardinals would rather spend $10 million plus per year on Fuentes for three-plus years than give Rhodes the $2 million a year for two years that he got from Cincinnati.

So, now that the hand Fuentes' uses to comb his hair doesn't matter, is he the best option at closer?

No, Brian Fuentes is not the best option. If the Cardinals lack that much confidence in "the two kids" and want to go out and sign someone, they should look to Trevor Hoffman.

Hoffman converted 30 of 34 save opportunities for the San Diego Padres last season. Guess who else converted 30 of 34 save opportunities? Brian Fuentes.

When it comes to the stats that matter for closers, Hoffman surpassed Fuentes last season. Hoffman had a better WHIP, a better on-base-against average, and a better ground-out percentage.

Hoffman's strikeouts/walks ratio: 5.11

Fuentes' strikeouts/walks ratio: 3.73

Hoffman's walks/nine innings ratio: 1.79

Fuentes' walks/nine innings ratio: 3.16

Anyone that has watched Jason Isringhausen close games for the last several years knows that closers who walk batters are bad news.

Hoffman would also be a great teacher for "the two kids." Who better than the all-time saves leader? All this for significantly less money than Fuentes will command.

If the Cardinals wanted to go with Motte or Perez and spend that money elsewhere, the sky would not fall. After all, La Russa announced in early August there would be a closer by committee. At that time, the Cardinals had blown 27 saves. They managed to blow only four saves the final two months of the season with Perez at the head of the closer-by-committee totem.

Chris Perez has shown he is capable and he deserves a chance to close. He will do the job and will do it gratefully. He will do it for much less money and will not voice a preference to pitch for the Angels like that certain left-hander the Cardinals covet.

Tony La Russa, Chris Perez is no kid. He is very much a man.