Meanwhile, teams like Pittsburgh and Milwaukee insist on signing mediocrities like Derek Bell and Jefrey Hammonds to multiyear contracts worth oodles of cash. Quinn has out-produced both of these players combined this season, yet Pittsburgh insists on having Derek Bell's veteran leadership in the clubhouse. I bet Jeffrey Hammonds adds to the Brewer's chemistry too. I may never take a chemistry class in the college, but I challenge any chemistry major to explain to me how molecular reactions and covalent bonds contribute to run production and relief pitching. So now we've come across baseball's real financial dilemma.
Teams seem to think that cost equals quality.
If I'm shopping for a car, the more I pay, the more power and dependability I expect to get. But baseball isn't about the difference between a Mercedes and a Honda. In Derek Bell's case, it doesn't even mean that he's good. It is this insistence that high salaries correlate to talent which causes poor teams to become even poorer and waste money on expensive and exchangeable veterans. Teams like Oakland realize this and shed the unneeded salary weight every off-season.