Win First, Spend Later

Thought I'd slide into Greg's territory a little bit with an economy-related note found on phillies.com.

The Phillies' payroll increased 25 percent this season to a franchise-record $132.3 million after winning their first World Series title in 28 years.

This is curious because 14 of the 30 Major League teams' payrolls decreased in the midst of the economic recession. However, this article places the credit for the Phillies ability to spend directly on the fans. Luckily for them, the Philadelphia-area hasn't been hit as hard by the recession as some parts of the country, and season ticket sales spiked nearly 19 percent for the World Champs. Add in increased sponsorship interest and merchandise sales, and the Phillies clearly had some money to play with in the offseason.They didn't just sit on it, either. They signed several of their free-agents-to-be to long-term contracts and brought in free agent outfielder Raul Ibanez (3-years, $31.5 million for the 36-year old).

With some other big-time players forced to take lesser deals this year (ie: new Washington National Adam Dunn), it begs the question if bigger is always better. The article notes that the Phillies will need some of their promising minor leaguers to start producing at the big league level soon to keep their payroll from going out of control. Without a salary cap in baseball, the economics of the sport will never truly make sense, but you wonder if other clubs are saying, "If we had only won the World Series, we might've been able to afford to overpay an aging outfielder." (For the record, according to USA Today's salary database, World Series runner-up Tampa Bay's payroll spiked nearly $20 million this year with its median salary jumping more than $800,00.)

Baseball seems to still be going relatively strong. (Monday's Orioles' Opening Day that I attended set a record for Opening Day attendance at Camden Yards.) But there's no doubt players who are free agents to be this offseason will be pushing harder than ever to have the career year that will land them a big contract when there might be fewer big contracts to go around. The Yankees, whose payroll actually went down $8 million this year despite committing more than $400 million to free agents, made their free agent spending binge to coincide with the opening of their new ballpark, so next year's free agents won't be able to fall back on them, either.

But in this economic era of uncertainty, the message right now to Major League teams is clear: Winning cures all woes.

Schilling Retirement the End of an Era in AL East

It's not that I don't remember Curt Schilling's greatness as Mr. Phillie. Of course I do. That nasty splitter. The hard gas. The big old wad of chewing tobacco. I was too young to appreciate his NLCS MVP award and World Series performances in 1993.

But the Curt Schilling I remember vividly was a Yankee killer and a champion late in his career. It all started with the 2001 World Series, when Randy Johnson and he teamed up to form one of the most devastating 1-2 punches in the history of postseason baseball. That final year of the Yankee dynasty had the most exciting Fall Classic I have ever seen, and resulted in a disproportionate number of victories coming in the last at-bat of the game.

Then, of course, as if Yankees fans hadn't seen enough of him, he had to move to the Boston Red Sox, where he shrugged off an 86-year championship drought and re-stratified the division. The bloody sock game (whether theatrics or not) was one of the gutsiest performances I have ever witnessed, and has to be looked at on par with Kirk Gibson's miracle home run. In 2007, he won three more playoff games with no gas left in the tank and led the Sox to another World Series.

As famous for his candid nature as for his determination on the mound, Schilling never shied from the spotlight. He addressed every issue that came up in baseball during his career. I am sure he will continue to do so on his blog, even after retirement. One day, I hope to see him in Cooperstown. He belongs there, and I think that most Yankee fans agree with me. Quoting a memorable scene between Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell from "Anchorman," we hate him, but, damn it, do we respect him. He will be remembered by the game for years to come.