Hank Didn’t Like Losing

“I apologize on behalf of Yankee fans everywhere.” — my friend Ryan.

If you haven’t heard, the Evil Empire apparently wasn’t done angering everyone this winter, so they topped off their off-season with a side course of Mark Teixeira. The rumored contract terms are 8 years and $170 million. I had him pegged for 7 years and $171 million back before the off-season started and we realized that this was going to be a pretty big buyer’s market. If this were a normal off-season, we’d call this pretty standard for a free agent contract, but it’s not a normal off-season, and now the Yankees have given out the three largest contracts this winter, and it’s not particularly close.

CC Sabathia: $23 million per year
Teixeira: $22.5 million per year
A.J. Burnett: $16.4 million per year

Ryan Dempster: $13 million per year

With the additions of Teixeira and Sabathia to go along with Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter, the Yankees now have the four highest paid players in baseball. Including their luxury tax payments, the Yankees are going to blow by $250 million in spending on their 25 man roster for 2009. They’re spending in excess of $10 million on each and every single spot on the team.

If you’re a Yankee fan, congratulations, this is what it feels like to root for the casinos in Las Vegas. The rest of baseball are casual gamblers, and you’re the guys rigging the games in your favor. I hope it’s fun for you.

As for what this move means, Teixeira replaces Melky Cabrera in the line-up and pushes Nick Swisher into the outfield. That upgrade should represent something like 3-4 wins for the Yankees (it would be closer to five if Teixeira was replacing a true replacement level player), so they’re paying about $6 million per win for their franchise. Considering that adding Teixeira probably puts them from something like an 88 win team to a 92 win team, that’s a bargain for those four wins, because this signing pushes the Yankees from “contenders” to “best team in baseball” status. That’s a pretty big leap in terms of expected playoff odds, and the Yankees certainly understand how adding Teixeira should help them improve their chances of playing in October.

Teixeira gets to play on the east coast, gets a ton of money, and will have a chance to play on a winner for the rest of his career. The Yankees get an all-star caliber player who hasn’t yet hit 30. And the rest of baseball gets a reminder that the Yankees are playing with a ridiculous competitive advantage, and that they’re really just competing against the other 28 teams for 7 playoff spots.

Screw the Yankees. Go Rays and Red Sox.