It's not true that U.S. automakers will turn to CC Sabathia for a loan.
Neither is it true that the Milwaukee Brewers suddenly regressed to their pre-2005 state when Sabathia signed with the New York Yankees for roughly the Republic of Kiribati's gross national product. Except that seemed to be the national perception.
Poor, pitiful Brewers.
And, yes, it's true that the Yankees can pretty much do as they please in the free-agent market, up to paying Sabathia and A.J. Burnett a quarter-billion dollars. It's also true that, for its own good, Baseball needs a salary cap.
Except that the Brewers are neither as poor nor pitiful as some seem to want to believe.
The Brewers were a good team before they made the right call to trade for Sabathia. They were a good team in all those games they had to play without Ben Sheets in the rotation.
Chances are they will remain competitive in the National League Central next season, even without Sabathia and Sheets.
The Brewers have continued to prove it's not how much you spend, but how wisely you spend. While money barks, Baseball is still about smart drafts and personnel moves. The Brewers still have one of the best general managers and scouting departments going. They still have a talented everyday lineup. They still have Yovani Gallardo and Manny Parra.
Of course, you cannot replace Sabathia. Neither can you lose what you never really had. Everyone knew Sabathia had to be returned to the rental counter once the playoffs ended. The Brewers got their money's worth by squealing the tires and riding the clutch, a thrill ride their fans will never forget. But moving on, you like Doug Melvin's chances of temporarily filling in the rotation around Gallardo and Parra, even on the outside chance of Randy Johnson signing on for one year.
Certainly, no one knows how the economy will play into the Brewers' ability to stay competitive. Pre-CC attendance numbers made it much easier for Melvin to call all-in before the deadline on the Sabathia trade, but 3 million is no longer a given. No one knows how much principal owner Mark Attanasio, whose day job is investment banking, lost in the market or whether his personal finances will factor into letting Melvin continue to be daring when the opportunity arises.
The Brewers were very efficient last year, squeezing 90 victories out of a $91 million payroll. But the outside perception of a frugal franchise didn't exactly apply, especially after the decision was made to take on Sabathia's salary.
According to union figures, Baseball's smallest market was No. 10 in mean salary last season.
On average, each member of the Brewers earned $3,562,592 in 2008. That was more than the average salary for the World Series champion Phillies. It was more than the average salary paid in several mega-markets, among them Arizona, Toronto and San Francisco.
But as we've seen lately from both New York teams as well as in Chicago, where the Cubs had fewer playoff victories last year than the Brewers, big spending guarantees nothing. Smart spending is why you'd expect the Mets, given their stunning bullpen upgrades to go with that everyday lineup, to have a better 2009 than the Yankees.
As for the Brewers, they still have holes to fill. It was that way before Sabathia. It was that way with him, considering they won just one playoff game. Of course the Brewers don't get there in '08 without him, but to completely dismiss them for '09 would be premature.
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