Sure the Yanks are paying more, but they also didn't give up any players in a trade for him, too. Marte is apparently tearing it up in AAA recently, though he started the year off very slow.

What about adding a comparison of contribution from the lead off spot as well to round out the comparison?

But sabernar is right - $52m has no opportunity cost whatsoever.

Not this year? Please... it's still June! Crisp was batting something like .330 when he broke his knuckle. Sure he's fallen off a bit, but once he catches fire again, and he will, I expect Crisp to be every bit as valuable to the Sox as Johnny Damian is to the bums. Oh and lets not forget that the Yanks are paying three times the salary for their CF as the Sox are, JD is good no doubt, he might even be said to be better than Crisp, for now, but he's not THREE TIMES the outfielder Coco is. Plus, he's a lot older and statistically Crisp is better than Damon was at this age.

Pets.com might have outperformed Microsoft for a stretch, too. Guess where the value was.

It's not a fair comparison because Crisp has been out of the lineup most of the year. He had a hot start, then missed six weeks, and now he's rounding back into shape. The Red Sox' CF numbers include Willie Harris and the early Wily Mo Pena (he took a few weeks to get going). By the end of the year, the Sox' numbers will be significantly better.

Even so, I'm sure Damon will outperform Crisp for the year. But the Sox let Damon go, not because of 2006, but because they didn't want to commit $50 million and four years to him. Over a four-year span, it's highly likely that Crisp will be the better player. The Sox are trying to maintain a competitive team now, while also building for the future. On that basis, substituting Crisp for Damon makes a lot of sense.

True, true, true. Though, we won't be able to fully evaluate the moves until Nov. 2009.

Sabernar: I'm sure you know this, but... Marte was just a trading token.

The real trade was Crisp for Renteria + $16m cash. The $10m and the 1st round pick lost for Renteria's '05 performance was a waste. Crisp is signed through '09 for $17.25m. Net salary (incl. trade cash) of $8.3m/year. Damon is getting $13m x 4. Also, the Yankees lost a 1st round pick, while the Sox gained two.

Seems to me that Damon's '06-'09 performance would need to be substantially better than Crisp's before you could say that the Yankees made the better move in signing Damon.

Money calculations: Renteria will be paid $40m over 4 years (incl. $3m option buyout), or $10/year, plus a $1m trade bonus. Atlanta will only be paying $15m for 3 years of service. Boston pays the remaining $5m/year, plus the $1m trade bonus or $16m total.