Boston owner: Rodriguez deal shows system 'woefully out of whack' (Sour Grapes Alert)

SF Gate ^ | 02/18/04 | AP

[saquin]

Actually, the issue was that A-Rod would have been accepting a pay cut to go to the Red Sox & the player's union wouldn't allow it.

Yes, he would have had to accept a pay cut because the Sox didn't want to pay his full salary and the Rangers weren't picking up a lot of his salary like they are doing for the Yankees, for the reasons I noted.

[Prodigal Son]

To me, what's almost as significant as the fact that the Yankees aquired A-Rod, last year's AL MVP, is the fact that they also have two players who placed solid third places in last year's MVP voting from both leagues in Gary Sheffield and Posada. Of the top six MVP candidates from both leagues combined last year- the Yankees now have 50% of those guys.

[bigdog]

I agree that Greg is a class act. Has always been one of my favorites.

I might be wrong, but I heard that the Yanks offered 14 million per year for 2 years. If I'm wrong, I stand corrected.

Still, when your horse is dead, dismount

[#1CTYankee]

"IT'S THE PITCHING, STOOPID"!!!

The Yankees would have done much better if they got some left hand pitching.
A-Rod will probably make as many errors at third as he hits home runs in Yankee Stadium.

Go Sox!

[Bambino]

'woefully out of whack'

That's funny! HE screws up the same deal for the sake of 10-15 million dollars, and now it's a major problem.

There's not a club in either league that wouldn't do exactly what the Yanks are doing if they could.

I'm just glad they can!

[rbmillerjr]

You guys can have your opinion but the vast number of American sports fans disagree with you as they turn the Super Bowl into a de facto national holiday every year.

Maybe baseball should follow the successful model of football and institute the salary cap.

[jwalsh07]

The new commissioner of baseball, Karl Marx, expresses his undying support for John Henry's comments.

[Prodigal Son]

I hope Steinbrenner can get Barry Bonds for DH next year.

[rbmillerjr]

Me too...the guys a great HR hitter and all class...fit right in.

[Snuffington]

I think it's because the Packers and the Giants are merely divisions of the same product (the NFL), whereas MLB has failed to brand itself accordingly.

You are exactly right. Though neither the NFL nor the MLB has truly embraced this notion, the NFL is a lot closer to it, and are reaping the rewards.

If teams were truly independent business entities, some of those in struggling markets would relocate to the NYC metro area to compete for some of that gigantic television revenue. A much smaller league, with comparitively tiny revenues, once had four teams in that market.

[subterfuge]

"The games are yet to be played, but I see the Yankees doing very well this year"

You're really going out on a limb there vollmond. :^)

[RckyRaCoCo]

Baseball, yawn...wake me when it's October

[NYCVirago]

What a whining hypocrite. The Red Sox have the second-biggest payroll in baseball, and they were too cheap, not poor, to pay the extra money (which would have worked out to only $2-3 million a year) to get A-Rod.

[NYCVirago]

You and others a vastly underating the pitching that the Yankees have assembled this year. It's actually an improvement over last year.

Yep. People keep on pointing out that the Yankees lost 60% of their starting rotation. I don't think of it that way -- Clemens was supposed to retire, and nobody expected (or even wanted) the Yankees to re-sign Wells after his book and his meltdown in Game 5. Heck, I'm surprised the Yankees even made him an offer! Of course, San Diego's deal has no weight clause in it, so that sweetened the deal.

The main loss was Pettitte, and I still contend he wanted to go home to Houston for personal reasons, and there was little the Yankees could do to stop him. We'll see what happens with the Yankees' new pitchers -- I'm not too worried just yet, particularly with the enormous upgrade in the bullpen.

[speedy]

Letting Pettitte go was entirely Steinbrenner's fault and the worst act of his ownership, worse even than letting Reggie go. The Boss has never liked Pettitte and thinks he lacks fire because he never gets in brawls or makes the back page. Andy stayed in New York as long as he did only because Michael and Torre were barely able to persuade Steinbrenner to keep him at a few critical junctures. Having said that, the BEST post-season pitching moves the Yanks made was getting rid of Weaver. I always thought the standing offer should have been "Weaver for anybody on your 40 man roster, including the clubhouse attendant." Losing Boone is a blessing too. Like Jack Clark, Jack McDowell, Denny Neagle, Kenny Rogers and Rickey Henderson before them, Weaver and Boone belong on that list of skilled players who simply can't make it with the Yankees. I don't think A-Rod will fall into that category. Weaver could very well fourish with the Dodgers. Great stuff. Headcase.

[NYCVirago]

I'm more positive than you on the loss of Pettitte, but you raise an excellent point about Weaver. I hope he does well in L.A. -- he seems like an okay guy; but he just wasn't suited to be a Yankee.