Sounds like Peter Gammons is not having much fun this winter. Between agents controlling the flow of information to his Sox getting hoodwinked by Boras and the Yanks, Gammons is clearly a bitter, angry New Englander.
From Chad Finn's blog on Boston.com, he caught up with Gammons and got his thoughts on the events of this Hot Stove Season. It ain't pretty. Here are some of the abridged highlights:
On why Teixeira chose the Yankees over the Red Sox when the conventional wisdom was that he would sign with Boston:
Gammons: [...] Not because his father was a [high school] teammate of Bucky Dent, but he made it very clear watching it yesterday [and wading] through the baloney . . . Teixeira is Scott Boras's ultimate client, and he's very well-programmed . . . The Red Sox didn't know it, and in the end there was nothing they could do about it. He wanted to go to the Yankees, his wife doesn't like Boston -- apparently she doesn't like the stores on Newbury Street or something -- and in the end that's the way it goes.
On whether -- or when -- John Henry realized Teixeira was ticketed for New York:
Gammons: They didn't know it. They were waiting on the day that he signed . . . they thought that they were going to get him. They tried to close the deal on Monday night [Dec. 21], and Scott [Boras] said, 'Well, the Teixeiras are flying, and they haven't quite done this, and they haven't quite done that," and he kept putting it off an all along it was to just finish the language with the Yankees. That's the way it goes. [...] As you probably remember, there was a lot of testiness between Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira when they played in Texas together . . . and I don't think Alex really cares about communicating with other players, we know [that] from Derek Jeter. Also, we haven't really seen Teixeira in a situation where the expectations are really that high, and he's going to have to deal with them in New York. It will be very interesting to see how it goes with the Yankees.
On whether there was a number that would have convinced Teixeira to come to the Sox:
Gammons: Maybe $220 million . . . This is one of the worst winters I can ever remember. What happened this winter is that, as the internethas expanded to become the media power, the flow of information is quickly controlled by agents. A lot of general managers and those of us in the business kid about a couple of sites referred to as ScottBoras.com [...] But Scott floats this stuff out, and he's able to get people to report it.
On whether there is a strain on the relationship between Boras and the Red Sox:
Gammons: Well, it's good that Scott didn't call back at 5 o'clock that afternoon [when Teixeira chose the Yankees] and try to sign up another player [...] In was unnecessary for Scott to try to lay some of the blame on Larry Lucchino, as if, you know, Teixeira didn't like him.
**PS: How incredibly awesome is that picture? Gammons, Boras, Cashman and Epstein. Talk about MLB's power brokers!
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12 comments:
Jason,
I think that most of the "article" was lifted from an interview Gammons gave yesterday on WEEI, which I heard in full. So, you have to read this with the understanding that the questions were loaded to begin with by radio hosts. In listening to the interview, Gammons did not have much of a bitter tone. It came off as Gammons just accepting the power of Boras and the NYY. Perhaps a little bitter, but really, what did he say that was untrue? You see, this is where Yanks fans have a huge disconnect...if there is anything to be bitter about, wouldn't it be that one team of 30 has an overwhelming advantage versus any other team, based almost solely on geography? No, I don't think he was all that bitter, just going through the steps of acceptance.
BTW, is Cashman a smurf or what?
BTW2: Teixeira is a real man's man, huh? "Um, honey, where do YOU want me to play, 'cause I want you to be soooo happy." Reminds me of Costanza when he employed PDA with Susan.
Tad,
I won't disagree that the questions were loaded, but that doesn't change the tenor of Gammons' comments.
And the Yanks are not the only team out of 30 with significant financial advantages. Maybe they have the MOST advantages, but any hint that the Sox are amongst the "have nots" is silly. I know you're not saying that, but your comment reads that way.
Cashman isn't a big dude, eh?
Don't go bashing Teix on something that flimsy. Tell me that you make every family decision without consulting your wife and kowtowing to her interests and desires! If you do, you're the first and likely the last. I know that Rule #1 of a happy marraige is this: "A happy wife is a happy marriage. The converse is even truer."
Look, I know that Gammons bleeds for the Sox and I totally appreciate that. I really do. It's what I respect about him and the RSN. I love when fans are really fans. But hiding behind the "Yanks are evil and spend too much money" stuff from the Sox is hollow and small.
They're going to pay a 41 year old coming off major shoulder surgery (surgery that HE thought was career ending) a guaranteed $5.5m with a hope that he'll be back at the All Star Break. Maybe they catch lightening in a bottle but this is as "big market" as they come with regards to taking risks and flexing financial might.
Jason, are you missing my point? He never said that the Sox don't have money or can't compete. You and other NYY fans seem to be clinging to this belief that the NYY are just one of several high revenue teams, and that is not accurate. They are #1 with a bullett - to put it in perspective, the #2 team (probably the Sox) would really be #3 or #4, with no other team occupying the intermediate positions. To talk around this or deny it is plain folly.
And give me a break with the marriage crap. Jeez, hope Teixeira doesn't have similar thin-skin! ;) Plus, if he allowed his wife to make the decision for him, then my criticism stands. If she was only a part of the process, well, my joke still stands. Ha! It's a partnership, remember. Besides, that episode was gold, Jerry, gold!
I don't think I'm missing your point. But the Sox are still #2 no matter how you mitigate it.
I've acknowledged as much. What is not acknowledged by NYY fans is that difference between #1 and #2 is probably greater than the difference between #2 and #4, and certianly greater than the difference between #2 and #3. You think I'm off base here?
Now I understand.... yes, the distance between 1/2 is greater than 2/4. I'll give you that.
All due respect, but you're hardly the guy to be talking about objectivity. This blog pretty much carries water for the Yankees, which is fine if that's what you want, but don't go bashing a guy like Gammons for some perceived lack of objectivity regarding the team he primarily covers.
Kevin,
You are 100% correct; this is a Yanks-centric blog. I've tried my best to be more objective than the countless others who are merely pom-pom wavers.
But, Gammons is a HOF national baseball writer/analyst. And I love his work. I've said that many, many times. But I think it's OK to call it as I see it: His bias has been bleeding through too much this off-season. Understandably so, perhaps, but with his position and platform, he should try to rise above it.
Gammons no longer is a Red Sox beat writer. He's an ESPN guy.
On the Gammons front, doesn't he seem to be more Red Sox biased during the offseason as opposed to the actual season?
And I don;t know about this blog carrying Yankee water... plenty of criticism here for the Yanks, just not since Teixmas. I guess the Yanks are content to dominate the offseason, the Sox will just have to be content with winning in the actual season. ;)
I should've also mentioned, along with my criticism, that I do very much appreciate your site, so thanks for the hard work. Oddly enough, I loathe the Yankees but love your blog (along with Peter Abraham's Yankees blog). I guess good writing/reporting beats out team hatred.
Unless it's the Mets. There's some things in life that just can't be forgiven.
Thanks VERY much Kevin for that. I really appreciate it.
I welcome the gives and takes, the debates. It's what makes this fun.
I think Peter's gotten worse and worse with his bias since the whole brain aneurysm. Maybe his objectivity filter was damaged, or maybe he was always this way and now I'm just old enough to realize it.
Anyway, obviously I'm a Yankee fan, but I don't blame Mark for consulting his wife. I don't think she castrated him and said we're going to NY. Mark claims he asked her where she would like to go, assuming all things are equal, and I believe that for a change. I don't believe that Mark ever wanted to stay with the Angels, even though he claimed that during the season. I think he wanted to play the majority of his games on the East Coast, closer to his hometown, and I don't think it mattered to him whether it was NY, Boston, Baltimore, etc., so he left that part up to his wife...
Aside from the borderline sexist comment made by Gammons towards Mrs. Teixeira, what's so great about Newbury Street anyway?
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