Start spreading the news. Alex Rodriguez is the newest member of the New York Yankees. Commissioner Bud Selig has given his blessing to the landmark deal that will send A-Rod to New York in exchange for Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named later.
Unless that player is Mickey Mantle, it looks like the Yanks got a pretty good deal. The reigning American League MVP will now join the reigning AL champions to play alongside Derek Jeter in one of the most remarkable infield combinations in the history of the game.
Since his first full season in 1996, A-Rod’s statistics have been staggering: six straight seasons with over 40 home runs, six straight seasons with over 100 RBIs, eight straight seasons with over 100 runs scored, and a career batting average of .308. In the history of the game, no shortstop has ever put up numbers like Rodriguez.
Last season, A-Rod led the American League in home runs (47), runs scored (124) and slugging percentage (.600) and was named the American League’s Most Valuable Player. And that was an off year. Rodriguez’s production in each league-leading category was down from the numbers he posted in the 2002 campaign, when he recorded 57 home runs, 142 RBI, 125 runs and a .623 slugging percentage.
A seven-time All-Star and two-time gold glove winner, Rodriguez has taken home the AL home run crown in three consecutive seasons. Now, after three frustrating years in Texas, the top shortstop in the game will gladly move to third base for the opportunity to earn the prize that has eluded him for ten seasons: a World Series ring.
After the Aaron Boone fiasco, the Yankees needed a third baseman. Instead, they signed the greatest player in the game. Adding A-Rod to a lineup that already includes Jason Giambi, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Jorge Posada, Hideki Matsui and Gary Sheffield should give the Bronx Bombers the most powerful offense in the league.
Though they lost Andy Pettite, Roger Clemens and David Wells in the off-season, the Yanks should also have one of the top pitching staffs in the game with Mike Mussina, Javier Vasquez, Kevin Brown and Jose Contreras. To fill the fifth spot in the rotation, the Yankees are going after four-time Cy Young award winner Greg Maddux and his 2.89 career ERA. Even if the Maddux deal falls through, the Bombers can always fill the fifth spot with Jon Lieber, who won 20 games in 2001.
And let’s not forget about the bullpen, which added Tom Gordon and Paul Quantrill to support legendary closer Mariano Rivera.
Things are looking pretty good for the Yankees. Steinbrenner and Cashman have assembled one of the most spectacular teams in baseball history. In the process, they found yet another way to embarrass the Boston Red Sox.
Boston general manager Theo Epstein must be dumfounded by what New York GM Brian Cashman managed to pull off. Epstein and the BoSox placed both Nomar and Manny on the trading block in an attempt to orchestrate a pair of deals that would have brought A-Rod and Magglio Ordonez to Boston in exchange for Garciaparra and Ramirez. After both deals failed to materialize, the Red Sox are left with a pair of betrayed stars who now realize just how little their organization values them.
Meanwhile, the Yankees managed to sign Rodriguez without raising any insulting trade talk involving Jeter, who remains the Yankees’ shortstop and team leader.
Cashman’s stroke of genius will undoubtedly lead every team in baseball to argue that New York has used unfair, unethical, and downright evil tactics to assemble its remarkable team. But what have the Yankees done that is so evil?
Is it evil to win more championships than everyone else? Is it evil to build the most competitive team possible, even if that means spending more than the rest of the league is willing to spend? Is it evil to have an owner who cares more about winning than the bottom line? If so, I am proud to support the most evil empire in professional sports.
The Yankees have picked up a number of superstars and spent a great deal of money this off-season. They have outspent and outmaneuvered every team in the league. They have amassed a payroll that many small market clubs could never dream of. And they have done it all without breaking any MLB rules or regulations.
The Yanks are not trying to destroy baseball or shut down small market teams. They are simply trying to win championships. Don’t hate them just because they are better at it than everyone else.
Hating the Yankees for outspending the league is like hating Shaquille O’Neal for being bigger than everyone in the NBA. Shaq’s size gives him a tremendous advantage over his opponents, but there are no rules against being 7-foot-1 and weighing 340 pounds. Likewise, there are no rules against spending money to enhance an MLB lineup.
What the Yankees have done this off-season is improve their roster through methods that fall well within the rules of major league baseball. It is not the Yankees’ fault that baseball does not have a hard salary cap and that many baseball teams play in markets that cannot support the level of spending that is required to be competitive.
To criticize the Bombers for assembling the most talented team possible is to criticize a team for competing to the best of its ability. To ask the Yankees to stop making trades and signing free agents is to ask them to stop trying to win. To tell Steinbrenner to cut his payroll is to tell the most prestigious organization in sports to forsake the competitive spirit that is essential to the game.