Can't Wait Until Next Year... Or Next Year... Or Next Year

In 2014, 51-year old Roger Clemens, several years removed from his enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame, will make $1,500,000 sitting on his fat ass, courtesy of the New York Yankees.

Paying Clemens millions for him to buy more atrocious Hummers well into his retirement would probably just be a funny anecdote for Yankees’ fans if New York wasn’t also paying 41-year old Randy Johnson until 2010. In fact, the majority of the Yankees’ starting rotation, Johnson, Carl Pavano, Mike Mussina and an injured Jaret Wright, are all signed through at least 2007. George Steinbrenner and whoever follows him after his descent into hell owe Johnson, Pavano, Mussina and Wright $100 million to keep on losing games to the Devil Rays. God, I love being a Red Sox fan.

The days of the Red Sox and Yankees battling tooth and nail over the American League East are over and won’t be returning anytime soon. With an aging and ridiculously expensive pitching staff and an equally aging and ridiculously expensive lineup, the Yankees not only don’t look likely to overtake the Sox in the A.L. East but are going to struggle just to make the playoffs as a wild card. And the Yankees could find themselves on the outside looking in at the playoffs for the foreseeable future because their bloated payroll and barren farm system don’t leave many options for an infusion of good, young inexpensive talent.

With the Yankees floundering, Steinbrenner aging faster than the Nazi who drank from the fake grail in Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade and Joe Torre either helpless or clueless about how to turn things around, the Red Sox brain-trust have adeptly positioned the Sox to be a perennial playoff team for years to come. While the Yankees seem likely to face the same problems well into the future, Boston has far fewer long term contracts, a relatively younger team and a much better farm system.

This season is just a preview of things to come for the Yankees because 2006 and 2007 are already shaping up to be banner-less years in the Bronx. The Yankees already have $141 million committed to player salaries in 2006 and $81 million in 2007. That doesn’t leave a whole lot of flexibility especially considering that the $81 million already on the books in 2007 only includes nine players, all of whom will be between 31 (Wright and Alex Rodriguez) and 44 (Clemens). Of those nine players, only Rodriguez and perhaps Pavano still figure to be elite players.

But Rodriguez and Pavano account for only $25 million of the $81 million owed in 2007. Who’s left? $22 million goes to a 33-year old Derek Jeter who will be doing his best “Bernie Williams at shortstop” imitation. 43-year old Randy Johnson is still around for the paltry sum of $14.50 million. A withered Jason Giambi will make $21.50 million playing for Columbus- but don’t worry Yankees’ fans; Giambi’s salary is a bargain in 2008- only $20 million.

By 2008, it will hard to tell if someone is from Boston or New York because all of the Yankees’ “fans” will have dropped their “R’s” and sold out to the Red Sox years before.

By comparison, the Sox have only $89 million committed in 2006 and just $41 million in 2007. The Red Sox have only seven players signed through 2007. A 33-year old Matt Clement will take home $9.5 million. Keith Foulke will make $5.25 million. 35-year old Manny Ramirez, who should be setting the major league’s all-time grand slam record around that time, will finally be a bargain at just $18 million. 32-year old Edgar Renteria will make $9 million while 41-year old Curt Schilling will make $13 million if his ankle is still attached to his body.

Oh, and while the Yankees are paying a decaying Giambi $21.50 million in 2007, the Red Sox will be paying their DH/1B David Ortiz the astronomical salary of…$750,000. That fact alone should forever end the debate about whether or not Theo Epstein knows what he is doing.

After the 2008 season, the Red Sox have no one currently on the team under contract. The Yankees- Jeter and ARod make a combined $37 million in 2009 and somehow New York already has $41 million dollars committed to player salaries in 2010. I’m sure a 36-year old Derek Jeter will be worth the $21 million he’s scheduled to make in 2010; I mean, from what I hear from Tim McCarver, Jeter the best leader in all of sports.

But the fun doesn’t stop there for Red Sox fans because the Sox farm system, particularly in AA and AAA, is stocked with major league caliber players who should be ready to contribute almost immediately for very little money. The Yankees- there is some talent in New York’s minor league system but most of it is in single-A and the rookie leagues and will take years to develop.

Basically, the Yankees have three highly rated young players. Robinson Cano and Chien- Ming Wang are already with the parent club and Eric Duncan is a top third base prospect at AAA. Cano and Wang seem like they will be around for a while but Duncan may end up being worked in a deal because the Yanks have no place to put him right now. After those three the Yankees’ minor league system looks pretty bare.

The Sox, on the other hand, are loaded with soon-be-seen-at-Fenway talents. Hanley Ramirez, the five-tool gem of the Sox’s minor league system, could potentially replace Johnny Damon in centerfield or Renteria at shortstop. Dustin Pedroia should be the team’s starting second baseman next season. Outfielder Brandon Moss is a top-100 prospect according to Baseball America while pitchers Jon Papelbon, Manny Delcarmen and Jonathan Lester should make contributions in the next few seasons. The team’s two first round draft picks, Craig Hansen and Jacoby Ellsbury, are both big-time talents and Hansen could end up in the Sox bullpen this fall.

With an infusion of young, cheap talent, the Sox management will have real payroll flexibility and should be able to pursue top-flight free agents and make necessary in-season trades. Payroll flexibility is not something that the Yankees are going to enjoy for a very long time. With so much already committed to players who are producing so little, the Yankees in 2006 and 2007 should face the exact same struggles as the current club. And the results should be just as satisfying to Red Sox nation.

Pretty soon, fathers will have to explain to their kids that as hard as it is to believe that the Red Sox and Yankees were once honest-to-god rivals. Children will be amazed to read that the Yankees actually won championships way back in the 20th century. And new Red Sox fans from all over New York will still be trying to figure out how to pronounce Worcester.

Jamie Chisholm