Who Did a Good Thing This Week?
Thing That I Didn’t Like: The contract the Yankees gave Jorge Posada.
Let me preface this by saying that the Yankees had to re-sign Jorge Posada. They didn’t have a choice. They’re losing A-Rod, the rest of their lineup is old, and Mariano Rivera might not be back. There would have been a riot if they didn’t sign Posada. With that said, the contract they gave him is horrible. Four years and $52 million? That’s absurd. The only good thing about it is that in two years it will have made people forget about Kei Igawa.
The most important thing to remember is that Jorge Posada is a 36-year old catcher. Three years ago, when Jason Varitek was a 32-year old catcher, the Red Sox signed him to a 4-year, $40 million contract. Since then his average season has been a .260 batting average with 17 HRs and 64 RBIs. Right now Posada is four years older than Varitek was and he’s played in 600 more games than Varitek had played in at that point. That does not bode well for the future.
Last year Posada had a career year (in his contract year), but that was an anomaly. From 2000-2006, Posada was remarkably consistent. He never batted higher than .287 or lower than .262. He always had at least 19 home run and 71 RBIs, but never more than 30 homers and 101 RBIs.
So what’s more likely—one of the most consistent players in baseball finally figured something out at age 36, or that he worked his ass off in a contract year and batted 51 points higher than his career best? I’m going to say option B.
The Yankees got their man, but they’ll be lucky if Posada can match his 2000-2006 numbers for even a year or two. By 2010 the deal will be harder to get out of than a Sprint cell phone contract.
Thing That I Liked—The Colts signing Simeon Rice
The problem with Rice is that he’s purely a pass rusher. He doesn’t play the run at all and that makes him a terrible fit for 99% of NFL defenses. Fortunately, the Colts defense is in that 1%—they unleash Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis on the quarterback on almost every single play, and their defense is designed so that the defensive ends don’t have to play the run. Rice won’t be the same guy that Freeney was, but there’s a decent chance he can step in and give the Colts what they need.
On the other hand, Denver cut him, and one would think that with a lackluster pass rush and Jarvis Moss already out for the season, the Broncos would hold onto any defensive end who could move.
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