Stop Thinking And Just Do It

Look. You're making a big deal about saying you're in it to win it.


You blow the Dempster deal over a prospect and thereby tie a heavy lead weight to your leg while you're racing for a divisional title. You have no access to any other non-miracle needed pitchers. You've sunk a Pacific Ocean full of money into the team in the last few months. Are you telling me you're not going to buy the last expensive and risky ticket to a possible World Series?


Put the claim in on Cliff Lee and move on. The Phillies aren't going to let you have Lee for nothing without a really long and annoying negotiation. That buys you time at least.


And what if the Phillies surprise everyone and say, fine take him? Well, that's what you wanted. You didn't want the ba-zillion dollar contract you now own but that's the price of being a big boy. And the Guggenheim Partner group may be as a big a boy as you'll find in Major League Baseball ownership. 


They understand the financial benefits of going deep in the playoffs. They're not afraid of payroll if it's going to reap other dollar rewards. These guys are investment bankers, financial killers roaming the corporate world looking to eat all the weak. Why did they overpay for the Dodgers? To make big time money down the road.


You think they're not going to push the button on Cliff Lee because he has an outrageous contract by our standards.  


Ned and Stan aren't making the call on Cliff Lee. The Guggenheim owners are.


If you want to talk baseball let's do that. There are no free agents to speak of in the off season. Somebody from the minor leagues is going to have to play left field or first base next year. Or some much beloved prospects are going to have to be traded to get same. 


This would be the Dodger's big free agent signing and you'd be hard pressed to find a better one. Yeah Lee's getting old and he's likely to be average or worse by the time the contract runs out. But there's a good chance the contract will look better than what Mr. Ethier's contract is going to look like then.


But if the Dodger claim Lee we're only half way there. The Phillies are going to want Zach Lee and others for the rights to the absurd contract they gave Lee. What do you do then? That one is hard because if you go all Dempster and screw it up and again, well, I'd have to fire you. Or the Guggenheim Partners will. Saving a buck or prospect but not winning is not a positive when you play with the big boys.


Anyway, we'll come to that bridge if and when we get there.