THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
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SPORTS 
DIAMOND MUSINGS Freelance sports journalist Jay B. Webster delivers some chin music from the world of Major League Baseball All that money can’t buy First, the numbers: The Los Angeles Angels may not have the highest payroll in baseball &emdash; that distinction belongs to the cross-town Dodgers, who have the highest payroll in baseball history at a wallet-busting $220 million. The Angels rank 7th in the big bucks rankings at a mere $127 million. A year ago owner Arte Moreno outbid the hometown Cardinals by $40 million to lure Albert Pujols to the left coast for $240 million over 10 years. Pujols is making $16 million this year, and that number climbs to $30 million in 2021, the year he turns 41. Of course most of you know the story now. Pujols struggled mightily in the early stages of the 2012 season, as did the team, and the Angels never really recovered and ended up missing the playoffs. There are those that wonder is he will ever be the same player he was in St. Louis again. But when you have landed the biggest fish in the free-agent ocean for most of a quarter of a billion dollars and it’s not quite good enough, what do you do? Well if you are Moreno, you go out and do it again. This time around it was Josh Hamilton, lured from the division rival Rangers for $125 million over five years. So how’s that working out? Well, through the first 10 games of the season Hamilton was batting .179 with 2 doubles, no homers and 14 strikeouts in 39 at-bats, and the team was 2-8. They did manage to take two of their next three games, but that was at the expense of the lowly Houston Astros (Payroll, $21 million. That’s for the whole team, not one player). As of April 15, the Angels were 4-9, tied for last place in the AL West and already 5.5 games behind the division-leading A’s. Hamilton has cracked a couple of homers and Pujols has put up numbers at the plate that we are more used to seeing from him &emdash; though he has been hobbled in the field and on the bases by plantar fasciitis. But is it too early to start worrying if you are an Angels fan? Most likely Pujols and Hamilton will put up solid numbers. That’s the kind of players they are. The question is whether they can make up lost ground with what is looking like a rather ordinary pitching rotation. After throwing money at two of the best bats in the game, the Angels didn’t have much left in the kitty for pitchers, losing Zack Greinke, Dan Haren and Ervin Santana. Their replacements &emdash; Jason Vargas, Tommy Hanson and Joe Blanton &emdash; combined to post a 4.32 ERA their first time through the rotation this season. No starter has completed seven innings yet this season, and ace Jered Weaver is out for at least a month after breaking his left (non-throwing) elbow in a freak fall while trying to avoid a line drive. Money buys talent, but it doesn’t always buy chemistry, and chemistry can’t be underestimated in any baseball clubhouse. Just ask the Boston Red Sox. Similar cases in point are the Dodgers and Blue Jays, two other teams that have splashed the cash but not yet hit their strides. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, are the defending AL West champion A’s, who have a payroll that ranks 27th in baseball, yet a record that is the best in the American League. And baseball’s best team so far is the Atlanta Braves, who have lost just once in their first 12 games with the 16th-highest payroll. Having money to burn is all well and good, and I suppose you’d rather your team have it than not. But at the end of the day, even if you’ve got the dollars, you can’t forget the sense. |

