Boston Strikes Again!

First they traded the farm for Adrian Gonzalez, now the Boston Red Sox have signed Carl Crawford to a $142M 7 year deal, the largest in team history…until of course Gonzalez resigns with them for likely even more money.   Although Adrian Gonzalez won’t sign an extension until the 2011 for accounting/luxury tax reasons, the Red Sox essentially have spent ~$300M this offseason, mimicking the New York Yankees 2009 strategy on how to win a World Series after missing out on the playoffs: Spend, spend, spend!

Other teams need not attempt this strategy as only the Yankees and Red Sox are qualified to do so.  Overall I don’t think you can accurately state that baseball suffers a competitive balance problem because of signings like this, which will inevitably be claimed. You can, however, say that only a few teams (maybe only 2) can spend their way to consistently be competitive.   

The Red Sox, who once famously called the Yankees the Evil Empire, will now  join the Dark Side once their admissions check is cashed and accepted.  The team that had previously refused to shell out an extra $10M for a marquee free agent or trade the future for the now, has swallowed their last bit of “we’re not the Yankees” pride and are playing with the big boys, spending  roughly $300M and losing three prospects on just two players this offseason.  Actually they’ve likely spent even more because those prospects (along with the draft pick surrendered to sign Carl Crawford) have monetary value as shown here. According to my rough calculations the Red Sox have basically spent $350M, which is on par with what the Yankees spent in 2009, and could possibly be more depending how the prospects turn out.

The $142M and maybe more importantly, the 7 years, may seem like a lot for Carl Crawford, but that’s the luxury of having the financial muscle and the wherewithal to flex it.  Carl Crawford doesn’t fit the profile of most hitters who receive big money like this, in fact there is actually no comparison, but the fact Crawford is different doesn’t mean it’s necessarily a bad contract.  There is no rule that states a player must be a power threat to deserve a long term deal.  The name of the game is production, and over the past few years, Carl Crawford has been among the most productive hitters in the league. Since 2008, Carl Crawford ranks 4th in the American League in FanGraphs WAR, with only Kevin Youklis, Joe Mauer and Evan Longoria besting him. 

Carl Crawford’s production is based on his fielding prowess and base running, two skills that often require one specific skill, speed, something that also tends to fall as players age.  But Crawford is still young (29), is currently one of the best players in the league and shows no reason why he shouldn't remain one of the best players in the league for 5 or so more years.  The Red Sox very well may be overpaying Crawford when he's 34 and 35, but that's the price you have to pay to have one of the best players on your team for the other 5 years, and I'm not sure that's such a bad thing to have.