Phil Watch: Let's Dispel A Myth

Why not an end-of-the-year Phil? Why Not?

In a way, Phil is a rock in these changing economic times. A strong ship in the storm.

Nobody holds to such a stubborn ethos more than Phil in the Chicago Media since fuckstick left town.

For evidence, check out Phil's Hardball entry where he continues in his efforts to find a move that Kenny Williams might regret. That one involves the Aaron Cunningham for Danny Richar deal.

See, in Phil World, the White Sox would still field a competitive team with Aaron Cunningham in right if Jermaine Dye were traded. Because in Phil World, a win counts more when a team does it with prospects. It was like 1 1/2 wins when the Marlins won a game last year, completely destroying the rest of baseball with a 125-37 record.

That's the Phil ethos.

Speaking of the Phil ethos, another part of it is paying the top free agents gobs of money only makes you a dirty, dirty team. And your wins only count as half a win, meaning the Yankees with the top payroll in baseball last year only went 45-117. See. More Phil-math.

Using this logic, Phil wrote the perfunctory 'You can't buy a World Series' article Sunday.

Let's get started.

Trying to buy way into World Series not best method

Impatience rarely is rewarded in baseball.

Neither is badness. Seems like the same result to me. Both types are not playing in the playoffs with the fire and passion, but tell me more, Dr. Science.

It happens, sure. The World Series the infant franchises in Florida (1997) and Arizona (2001) won come to mind. But there have been a lot more spectacular failures than successes from teams that spend heavily to get themselves to the top.

Well...there's spending stupidly and above your means and then there's just spending. Let's see if a distinction is made.

Think of the White Sox in the Albert Belle-Frank Thomas years...

I know. Those 49 hrs, 152 rsbi, 48 doubles, .328 average, .400 OBP, 200 hits and 113 runs completely drug down the Sox lineup in 1998, one of only two years he played for them. Fucker. Who dare he? Base clogger.

The Dodgers with guys like Kevin Brown and Darren Dreifort...

Brown was 58-32 with a culmulative ERA below 3 in his time with the Dodgers. Asshole. How dare the Dodgers not foresee his injuries as well? They should have been able to predict that.

And wait a minute! Driefort was the Dodgers' first round fucking pick! They stupidly rewarded one of their own. How is that buying anything?

The Mets in the era of Pedro Martinez, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Delgado...

Yeah. Signing the best player in baseball at the time in Carlos Beltran was soooo stupid. He didn't prove his worth enough when he hit a gazillion homeruns in the '04 playoffs. How is that different from the Red Sox 'buying' Manny for $20 million a year? Results? If we could predict results, why play the games?

And Pedro has been paid an average of $12.9 million over the last four years by the Mets. $15 million in the previous four years by the Red Sox. For a big market team, how is $12.9 million for an aging pitcher who was very recently one of the best pitchers in baseball blowing any budget?

Delgado was traded to the Mets for Mike Jacobs, Yusmeiro Petit and Grant Psomas. Who'd that work out?

And unless I'm a moron (entirely possible), how did these three have any effect on the Mets' bullpen sucking balls the last two years?

The Tigers of the last two years, when they added Gary Sheffield, Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the mix that had won a pennant in 2006.

Speaking of sucking balls, did Gary Sheffield put on a Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Robertson and Justin Verlander mask and take the mound without me hearing about it? All three are homegrown talent who collectively threw up on themselves every time they threw a pitch. Oh, I forgot. Phil-math means they were actually league-average on the Phil Homegrown Prospect Adjustment Scale.

Even the Cubs, who are yet to get a playoff victory from the purchase of Alfonso Soriano, Ted Lilly, Jason Marquis, Kosuke Fukudome and Mark DeRosa.

Even? Even! Isn't this Exhibit A? And check out the details of those contracts. They're a backloaded mess. All that money and not even one win in the playoffs. Isn't that the entire premise of the column?

And BTW, wasn't the Johan Santana trade the bestest of bestest moves for the Mets last year in Phil's mind? The Mets gave up four legitimate prospects AND paid him $23 million a year for the next 45 years. If that's not buyin' somethin', I don't know what is. How does Sabathia compare to Santana? And how does that fit into this equation?

The teams that have sustained success in the last two decades were built around players who blossomed into stars during the process: the Braves of the 1990s; the Yankees when they won four World Series in five years...there's little comparison to the franchise that won with guys like Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius and a young Andy Pettitte.

WWWWWHHHHOOOOAAAAA!!!!

This is where we stop. He just rambles on from here about how Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira have never led their shitty teams to the promised land, making them crappy leaders.

You know, typical vague garbage entirely dismissive of the players around them.

We stop here to dispel a myth perpetuated by the likes of Phil and Phil-like dopes.

In some fantasy world I have not visited yet, the Yankees won four World Series in five years with a roster completely populated with Yankee prospects. It's a pretty world with sprites, fairies and unicorns where every baseball player plays with the grit, fire and passion of a David Eckstein or Reed Johnson.

But getting back to the real world, Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera were indeed on the Yankee playoff teams that won four in five. Those are facts.

But...the first championship in '96 had...

Tino Martinez? Bought. Signed as a free agent after being traded to the Yankees.

Wade Boggs? Bought. Signed as a free agent.

Paul O'Neill? Bought. Signed as a free agent.

Four of the five pitchers in the rotation: Jimmy Key, David Cone, Dwight Gooden and Kenny Rogers? Bought. All signed as free agents.

John Wetteland? Traded from the Expos because they couldn't afford him and Yankees could.

Darryl Strawberry, Cecil Fielder, Ruben Sierra, Tim Raines, Bob Wickman, Joe Girardi? All guys who were established stars on the downside of their careers, contributed significantly and were signed or traded for because the Yankees did and nobody else could at that level.

Totally forgot about Fielder.

It doesn't get better. 1998 saw Chuck Knoblauch, Chad Curtis, Scott Brosius, David Wells, Hideki Irabu, Orando Hernandez and Mike Stanton added to the previously bought-or-trade-for list of guys.

1999? 2000? Add Roger Clemens to the previous lists.

I don't know what world exists where Jeter, Posada, Pettitte and Rivera could have won 4 in 5 with league-average talent around them, but I want to visit that world.

Because in that world, the Angels have won eight straight World Series.