God Is Indeed A Yankees’ Fan

Series of misfortunes and luck lead to Bombers signing A-Rod




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
February 19, 2004

If there was ever a case of believing there is an omni-present being overseeing the events that happen on this granite rock called Earth, then look no further than the signing of Alex Rodriguez by the New York Yankees. Personally, I believe God is in control of things and I also believe He is a big fan of the New York Yankees. Tommy Lasorda is famous for his “Blue Heaven” and “Big Dodger in the sky” rants, but let me tell you something Tommy, Heaven is painted with blue alright, but it’s in the form of pinstripes. The guy running Heaven is no Dodger, because I am convinced He watches the New York Yankees.

Let’s go back to the beginning of the Hot Stove season. As usual the Yankees and Boston Red Sox went at each other across the board rooms like Grant and Lee used to go at it on the battlefields. Boston scored the first big blow of the winter by signing Curt Schilling away from the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Yankees were interested in Schill, but I think Curt would rather be against them than for them so he opted for Fenway. Fine. The Yankees counter with the signings of Javier Velasquez of the Montreal Expos and Kevin Brown of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In exchange for those players the Yankees send Nick Johnson, Randy Choate and Juan Rivera to Montreal and beleaguered right-hander Jeff Weaver to Los Angeles.

Additionally, the Red Sox and the Texas Rangers enter into negotiations whereby the Red Sox would send left fielder Manny Ramirez to the Rangers in exchange for Alex Rodriguez. The Rangers, in an obvious money saving move, want the Red Sox to take Rodriguez’ huge salary off their hands, while subsidizing Ramirez’ salary with a $5 million a year tribute. Boston says no. They continue to try and tweak A-Rod’s contract in order to satisfy both sides. They finally think they have it done, when the MLBPA steps in and rejects the trade, saying they will not agree to any significant changes in the crown jewel of all major sports contracts. The talks died.

The Yankees received bad news of their own as newly signed third baseman Aaron Boone injured his left knee in a game of pick up basketball. The injury was extensive enough to guarantee that Boone would not make it to Spring Training and might not play the entire season. So the Yankees scramble and sign journeyman third baseman Mike Lamb from the Rangers to play third.

Meanwhile the signings continue between the two teams. Boston re-signs Trot Nixon, a noted Yankee killer, David Ortiz and Ellis Burks. They also land closer Keith Foulke from the Oakland Athletics. The Yankees weren’t staying quiet. They sign Gary Sheffield, Kenny Lofton and Tony Clark. They re-sign Gabe White, Felix Heredia and add Paul Quantrill of the Dodgers to shore up their leaky bullpen. They also avoid arbitration with Alfonso Soriano by signing him to a one-year $5.4 million contract. Both the Red Sox and Bombers look pretty well set to go into the 2004 season. It appears like the East Division will be a dogfight, with both Baltimore and Toronto making noises during the upcoming campaign.

Up until last Saturday, which was Valentine’s Day, all was quiet on the Boston and New York fronts. The last bit of trade information floating around was the Yankees’ interest in acquiring defensive first baseman Travis Lee, late of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. However, things were soon to erupt. The New York Post broke a story saying the Yankees were making a serious bid to sign Alex Rodriguez from the Texas Rangers. Like a shifty riverboat gambler the Yankees’ brain trust kept calling each Boston Red Sox move. Now, out of nowhere they were raising the stakes. The Post reported, which eventually proved to be all too true, the Yankees would send 2B Alfonso Soriano and a player-to-be-named-later to the Texas Rangers in exchange for the reigning AL MVP. Rodriguez accepted a change to play third base, leaving SS Derek Jeter where he was. That was a huge obstacle in any trade talks. Moreover, the Rangers agreed to send $67 million along with Rodriguez to the Yankees to help offset the cost of A-Rod’s contract. The MLBPA quickly approved of the deal, which then put it on the desk of Commissioner Bud Selig. On Monday, Selig reluctantly gave his approval and the deal was sealed. The Yankees had their man.

Tuesday afternoon at Yankee Stadium Rodriguez’ new team proudly introduced him to the media. Afterwards, the howls from Boston could be heard from hither-and-yon. Red Sox owner John Henry, in an e-mail to reporters said baseball “needed to deal with team that has gone so far insanely beyond the resources of all other teams.” Additionally, Henry stated, “One thing is certain the status quo will not be preserved. There must be a way to cap what a team can spend without hurting player compensation ... without taking away from the players what they have rightfully earned in the past through negotiation and in creating tremendous value. There is a simple mechanism that could right a system woefully out of whack.”

George Steinbrenner, never at a loss for words, fired back. ``We understand that John Henry must be embarrassed, frustrated and disappointed by his failure in this transaction.” The Boss wasn’t finished. ``Unlike the Yankees, he chose not to go the extra distance for his fans in Boston, Steinbrenner said.'' And finally, this little salvo, “``It is understandable, but wrong that he would try to deflect the accountability for his mistakes on to others and to a system for which he voted in favor. It is time to get on with life and forget the sour grapes.''

Since this exchange, the Commissioners Office has issued a gag order to both owners and teams. It is amazing that all the owners say they hate the Yankees spending, but they sure don’t hate it when the Yankees come to their towns. The Yankees, year in and year out, have the best road attendance record in baseball. All those concessions and extra ticket sales bail out a lot of teams. Let’s not forget the Yankees paid around $50 million in revenue sharing and another $12 million in luxury taxes last season. The Yankees pay for their expenditures.
Boston and a lot of other teams cry and whine about New York “buying championships.” Hogwash. The Yankees have more home grown players on their team right now than do the Red Sox. Boston’s tried to buy championships and the reason it doesn’t work is Steinbrenner works harder at it. No owner in any sport wants to win more than the Boss.

So getting back to the omni-presence, better known as God, I truly want to thank Him for being a fan of the Yankees. I want to thank Him for Aaron Boone, who has twice stuck it to the Red Sox. First with his now famous home run and more for blowing out his knee. Without that injury Alex Rodriguez would still be playing in Texas. Thanks for giving us George Steinbrenner, who may have major personality faults, but not wanting to put a winner on the field isn’t one of them. Thanks for John Henry balking at throwing a couple of extra million dollars Texas’ way. Thanks for 100 years of Yankees baseball. Here’s to the next 100 years. The 2004 season is going to be a fun one to watch. I can hardly wait. Can you?


PLAY BALL!



(c) 2004 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

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