the theory behind an arms race
so…I’m not at all worried about the Spankmees getting A-rod. Not one bit. I don’t even believe that the Red Sox were trying to get him in the first place.
You see, what we have here is an arms race of sorts. But for the Red Sox, it’s not about acquiring the most weapons, it’s about how much money can they make the Spanks spend.
The trade leaves the Yankees’ payroll at about $184 million, with reliever Gabe White still unsigned and eligible for arbitration this week…
New York has four of baseball’s eight $100 million players, and its Opening Day payroll will be six times that of some teams. Yankees president Randy Levine pointed out that the Yankees paid $50 million in revenue sharing last year and another $12 million in luxury taxes.
“There are never any complaints when we write the check for $60 million and that gets distributed,” he said.
I’m all for numbers like that! Let’s break the bank!!
I think that they took the bait…hook, line, and sinker — just like they did with Jose Contreras last year.
February 17th, 2004 at 5:29 pm
Let’s take some comfort from Curt Schilling, who I’d take over A-Rod any day of the week: “Have to laugh at anyone that’s even remotely shocked by this … Hell yes it makes them better. Offensively, defensively it’s not even close, they get much better. You can’t bitch and moan about the lack of effort on the Red Sox end. They reached for the stars on this, and it didn’t fit. I’m more than OK with that. They’ve worked their asses off to make this team a World Series contender, and we are, period. A-Rod to the Yankees, just makes winning this whole thing that much sweeter. It’s another challenge, but after 85 years did any of you think that getting over this final hurdle and winning it all was gonna be a cake walk? No, it’ll be more fun this way … Let’s focus on the fact that the best Boston Red Sox team in the last 100 years takes the field in seven days, for a ride that is guaranteed to be the most memorable of any of our lives over the next 8 months, and enjoy the hell out of it.'’
February 18th, 2004 at 4:00 am
I didn’t really want A-hol… er… I mean A-Rod in the first place. I never thought of it in the way you mentioned but it really makes some sense.
February 18th, 2004 at 7:14 am
Didn’t the Yankees come out ahead in the trade? They said on the news yesterday that the Rangers ended up paying the Yankees to take A-rod.
February 19th, 2004 at 12:58 am
i saw this and i thought of you….
February 19th, 2004 at 4:50 pm
I hate the Yankees with every fiber of my being. I’m from Dallas and most of the time I like the Rangers even though they can’t seem to ever finish a season well. And I’m disappointed that they’re trading away their good players (come on an MVP has to be doing something right) to evil, awful, dreadful teams. My dad used to tell me that you can’t really root for any team, regardless of sport, from New York or California. I tend to agree with him…
Oh and a side note, last fall I got to vist Fenway for the first time. I totally dug it. It was a great off season tour. Although we were there the day after they lost the AL championship game and the paint on the field was still wet.