The Yankees blamed the luxury tax for failing to sign Carlos Beltran in free agency. John Iacono/SI
	MAILBAG Tom Verducci will answer select questions from SI.com users in his Baseball Mailbag. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Do you buy into the excuse of the luxury tax as to why the Red Sox made zero effort to get Bobby Abreu? The Red Sox management has brainwashed the fans and media here into buying this crap but what are your thoughts?
-- Paul Baranofsky, Waltham, Mass.

Well, yes and no. I mean, even the Yankees blamed the luxury tax when they didn't sign Carlos Beltran, so it is a factor. I just think they didn't like Abreu enough to commit $22.5 million for this year and next --- even without the luxury tax ramifications -- when they feel like they can better use that kind of dough, at least for 2007. And you know what? They're probably right. Abreu is a luxury himself, like a big yacht, only the Yankees could afford at that money. But the problem is it left the Sox short for 2006. So while I think the tax was a concern, the biggest worry was about how Abreu's contract might hinder their plans for 2007.

I was wondering your thoughts on Theo Epstein saying that he doesn't have the resources to compete with the Yankees? Yet you never hear the Twins or the A's complaining about the lack of resources they have. I would give anything to see what Twins GM Terry Ryan could do with a $130 million payroll!
-- D, Minneapolis

Yes, you're right about that. But remember, the Twins and A's don't have to be better than the Yankees. They can get into the postseason by beating teams with payrolls similar to theirs. They don't even have to play the Yankees as many times as the Red Sox. So that's what I think Epstein was talking about. And just wait until the Yankees get their new stadium, when they have a boatload more money coming in from higher ticket prices and more luxury boxes and they can write down their stadium expenses against their revenue-sharing tax bill. If Theo thinks it's tough now, just wait until the Yankees get their own cash cow.

Will Chipper Jones' time playing left field detract from his consideration for the Hall of Fame? Also, will his fielding hurt his chances?
-- Gil, Blairstown, N.J.

I don't think his time in left field hurts him much at all. He's played about 75 percent of his career games at third base, an overwhelming majority. While he won't get any extra credit for his glovework at third base, I don't think his defense harms him so much that it's the reason he would not get in.

It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that Mike Hargrove is in his last couple months managing the Mariners. One name that comes up often for his replacement is Dusty Baker. This would seem like a curious choice for the Mariners in that the future of the franchise seems to rest squarely on the right shoulder of young Felix Hernandez. Given Baker's history of riding pitchers hard and the injury problems that Mark Prior and Kerry Wood have endured in the past few years (not that sole responsibility for their injures can be placed on Baker), do you see the Mariners going after Baker? Do you think hiring Baker would have catastrophic consequences on a team whose future is so closely tied to its young pitchers?
-- Chris Neilson, Olympia, Wash.

If the job opens up I think Seattle would have to take a look at Dusty, who I think would be interested. I'm not assigning the injuries of Wood and Prior to Baker. People first blamed Jim Riggleman on Wood's problems, and now they want to blame Baker, too? What about Carlos Zambrano? The guy could win the Cy Young Award. Does Baker get any credit/blame there? A more legitimate concern about Baker is his refusal to see the importance of getting runners on base. He has complained about "clogging up the bases" if teams don't get runners home with home runs. This is a guy who batted Juan Pierre and Neifi Perez at the top of his lineup. That would concern me more than how he has handled pitchers.

If you put up Carlos Guillen and Derek Jeter's stats side-by-side you would see that Jeter's stats are only slightly better. Defensively call it a wash. Last I looked, Detroit had the best record in baseball, and Carlos Guillen was getting zero MVP talk. Can we put an end to this idiotic, Jeter-for-MVP talk once and for all?
-- Roger, New York

Good point on Guillen, but I don't think it's idiotic to consider Jeter a strong contender. He's right there with Jermaine Dye, David Ortiz (though Boston's freefall will cost him), Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Guillen, and maybe even Johnny Damon. There are a lot of good candidates this year, and we still have five weeks to get it sorted out.

With clubs such as Boston and Philly relying on unproven role-players or dwindling staples, (Trot Nixon, Pat Burrell) why hasn't there been more interest in those who were once in the majors but are now playing in the independent leagues? I'm looking specifically at Juan Gonzalez. There's a guy who has proven that he can hit in the clutch. Plus, he's been healthy all year.
-- Walter, Perkaise, Pa.

Remember, the Red Sox thought they had a deal with Gonzalez in spring training and then he backed out of it. People are so afraid of his injury history that they just don't think he's worth the aggravation.

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