Erstad Mugging

A number of analysts have been bemoaning the financial wastefulness demonstrated by the Angels' signing of Darin Erstad to a four-year, $32-million contract. I agree totally with their analyses: It is highly unlikely that Erstad will be worthy of the money, given that he is not far from replacement level now and has had a poor season in three of his last four.

But I've been k'velling over the whole thing. It's wonderful to see teams spend gobs of money futilely after a year in which everyone in baseball, especially Bud Selig, has been decrying the owners' wasteful ways and warning of the coming apocalypse. I love to seeing a team that reportedly made only $25,000 last year (according to MLB--Forbes estimated that the Angels made $5.7 million) flushing $32 M down the toilet. It kind of makes you think that maybe these guys are not as poor as they put on. Right?