Circus Maximus

by Geoff Young on Feb 17, 2004

So A-Rod and a boatload of cash go to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and a PTBNL.

My thoughts on this deal are complex and not terribly well formed just yet, so we’ll go with fragments today.

  • How does Tom Hicks own a MLB franchise? Giving the best player and a bunch of money to the richest team in baseball seems an exhorbitant price to pay for irresponsible spending. There should be some accountability for this sort of thing. If I were a Rangers fan right now, I’d be livid. I’d probably cancel my season tickets if I had them. If Hicks can afford to throw $67M at the Yankees, then why would he need my money?
  • You think the Red Sox are kicking themselves right now for not offering a little more money to the Rangers? Or kicking the players’ union for blocking their deal? Or the Yankees for outhustling them in the end? Or the Rangers for dealing with the Evil Empire? Or someone, just because? Talk about demoralizing.
  • You think the Red Sox are demoralized; how about the poor Devil Rays? This has been one of the worst-run franchises in MLB since its inception and now look what they’re up against. Check out this influx of talent to the AL East: 
      Kevin Brown
  Keith Foulke
  Tom Gordon
  Ted Lilly
  Javy Lopez
  Kenny Lofton
  Rafael Palmeiro
  Sidney Ponson
  Curt Schilling
  Gary Sheffield
  Miguel Tejada
  Javier Vazquez

    Add to this the fact that there are three very shrewd GMs in the division, and there’s almost no hope.

  • Bearing the Devil Rays’ plight in mind, does anyone think that geographic location as a determinant of divisions has outlived its usefulness? Maybe it’s time to think about grouping teams by payroll or the previous season’s record? Yeah, it would be a pain in the rear to realign every year or two and the schedule-makers wouldn’t be real happy, but how long can the Tampa Bay franchise continue to exist in an environment where their season is effectively over by February every year? It will be interesting to see how long folks in that part of Florida keep coming out to games. Then again, as long as the Yankees and Red Sox each keep coming to town several times a year, they’ll probably be able to stay in business. The Yankees, in an arrangement decidedly better than that of the Expos, will enjoy the advantage of having two home venues.
  • If I hear someone blame A-Rod for this mess, I’m going to scream. It isn’t his fault that Hicks couldn’t afford to pay A-Rod for his services.
  • If I hear someone blame Scott Boras for this mess, I’m going to scream. It isn’t his fault that A-Rod is arguably the best player in the game and Hicks was willing to pay him as such.
  • If I hear someone blame George Steinbrenner for this mess, I’m going to scream. Much as I hate defending Steinbrenner for anything, it isn’t his fault that Hicks panicked and dropped A-Rod in his lap.
  • Moving Rodriguez to third base to accommodate the defensively challenged Derek Jeter is an idiotic move. But it won’t hurt the Yankees because both players are stellar hitters and they’re surrounded by a team of All-Stars. The only folks it will hurt are possibly Kevin Brown, who serves up a ton of grounders, and fantasy geeks such as myself, who will bemoan Rodriguez’ move to a less scarce position. On the other hand, I don’t own A-Rod in any of my leagues, so what do I care?
  • Brian Cashman is brilliant. Yeah, he’s got more money than everyone else, but he doesn’t act like it. The guy does his homework and he pounces when sees an opportunity. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: It’s scary that the Yankees have a guy this good running things.

Here are some links:

We’ll talk about Padre stuff tomorrow or the next day. Meantime, enjoy the circus…

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