Help, my team has spent a lot of money...

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...and they will still suck next year.

Seriously, why the hell did the Red Sox just spend $157 million dollars on the wife-beating Julio Lugo, the oft-injured JD Drew, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, who has never pitched in the major leagues?

Someone help me out here!

I'm facing a similuar problem with the Vancouver Canucks, except there are no wifebeaters that I know of.

Hmmm, hockey. Look closer at the team and I'm sure you'll find a few wifebeaters.

Well, they are looking better then the Phillies at least. They basically made no moves at all. Looks like another 80+ wins (this would be like 6 straight seasons) without making the playoffs .

We don't care much for JD Drew here either, but the fans were jerks when they threw batteries at him. Freakin' Philly fans.

HAHA! Your team just traded for the corpse of Freddy Garcia and they have no catcher. Of course, they also have Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Pat Burrell, and Brett Myers, which helps a bit.

And Brett Myers and Julio Lugo can face off in the World Series of Domestic Abuse.

Werbert-
Nice to see a fellow Sox fan. "Nancy Drew and the Wifebeaters" would make a good band name, wouldn't it?
As for the money- Market conditions. The new CBA changed the tax threshold (soft salary cap) for team payrolls, and there's more money flowing into the sport due to restructuring of TV contracts. In short- there's more money to be had, and less restriction on spending it, and when this happens, it usually shows up in the contracts. I'd rather it go to the players than the owners.

What gets me is the length of contracts. 5 years for an often injured player is crazy, but that's the trend this year. Carlos lee is going to go MoVaughn-nova any day now, and he got 6 years.

I do challenge your assessment that they will suck. They got the best players for their needs that were available. They sucked last year because they did not do this in the previous offseason, and then went through injury hell down the stretch.

Drew was, despite his injury history, the best bat available, certainly better than Carlos Lee ($100m/6yrs) or Gary Mathews ($50/5yrs). If you value OBP like the Red Sox do, you'd value him higher than Soriano, ($136/8yrs) whose career OBP is 70 points lower than Drew's

Lugo was the only SS available that had any talent.

Matsuzaka should wind up being the best pitcher on the market. the only one who is really close is Zito, and he's had his ups and downs and is pushing 30. Matsuzaka is still quite young (26) and has a Pedro-like arsenal of pitches. He'll be solid, and may be spectacular within a couple of years. You're going to like this guy, and they will get a deal done.

The rotation of Schilling, Beckett, Matsuzaka, Papelbon, Wakefield could be outstanding. The lineup will be solid, and they still have Ortiz/Manny, and Drew (when healthy...) will be the #5 hitter they desperately needed last year. Only problem is the bullpen, which could be a disaster. Anyway, I'll be watching as I always do. Can't wait. I'm already counting the days to Spring training.

Nancy Drew and the Wifebeaters

And yes, I value OBP. That's why I hated the Coco Crisp trade. Why give 700+ plate appearances to a guy who couldn't get on base if the strike zone was the size of Jason Giambi's testicles?

And speed be damned, this is their best batting order

1. Youkilis
2. Drew
3. Manny
4. Ortiz
5/6/7. Lowell/Varitek/Crisp. Whoever's having the better year bats higher.
8. Lugo
9. Pedroia

I did not have high expectations heading into this offseason, anyway. There were no good free agents available.

I'm with you on the batting order, but it's not what we'll see. Probably more like this...
Lugo
Youks
Ortiz
Manny
Drew
Lowell
Tek
Crisp
Pedroia

I'm a Weaver-ite. "Speed? you got those goddamn little fleas on the **** bases getting picked off trying to steal, getting thrown out, taking runs away from you!"

It's just not part of the current game, and it makes no sense to run in front of Ortiz/Manny so why bother?

I think Crisp can put up a .350 OBP if his hand is better. He was around there in Cleveland. Not great, but acceptable if his whole game is solid.

Just be thankful your home team isn't the Chuddly Cannons.