Well, what a shocker…
Yanks, Rangers have A-Rod framework
Rangers would get Soriano, financial flexibility
The Rangers and Yankees have finalized a trade that will send shortstop Alex Rodriguez to New York for Alfonso Soriano and a player to be named, ESPN has learned.
A statement will be released at 2 p.m. ET. A news conference is scheduled for Monday, likely in New York.
Yankees captain Derek Jeter would remain the team’s shortstop, meaning Rodriguez would be moved from short to third base to fill the hole created when Aaron Boone hurt a knee last month in a pickup basketball… [ESPN.com]
I’ve been hearing rumors of this at work but haven’t really put much stock in it. Apparently, however, Soriano is worth 14.8 million a year (his 5.8 million salary plus the 9 million or so that Texas is still paying of ARod’s salary). And we know how Soriano is just as good a hitter as Manny Ramirez.
My prediction for this trade: Soriano will come down to earth without the likes of Nick Johnson, Derek Jeter and Jason Giambi hitting behind him. Texas is going to look foolish (again) while the Yankees stumble into the postseason with injured pitching and lots of offense… in other words, they’ll be the 2003 Red Sox.
February 16th, 2004 at 10:51 am
So, alot of people at work have been giving me crap about this trade this morning (because I’m the ONE yankee fan in the office), and I wanted to toss out a few words on the subject.
I don’t love it, but I can see why it was made. Although, I do think that Peter Gammons said it best this morning on SportsCenter. “Its yet another example of the Red Sox missing an opportunity by being unwilling to pay a seemingly insignificant amount in the grand scheme of things.”
As I said above, I don’t love this trade, but I do think that it does exactly what it set out to do:
1.) Gets Soriano off the Yankees bench, a place he would have monogramed for him if he had a similar to start to his 2004 season as he ended his 2003 one.
2.) Gets ARod off the Rangers bench. Period. end of story.
3.) Gets the both the Yankees and George Steinbrenner on top of the “Most Hated Team” and the “Most Hated Owner” lists in sports, and certainly back into the papers in EVERY sports columnists’ additions as what’s wrong with sports.
4.) Further solidifies how useless the collective bargaining agreement was two years ago.
For as much as we bitch about the Yankees being the “Evil Empire” (and believe me, I live in Kenmore Square, I hear it alot!), they are simply using the rules (that the players FORCED the owners into, I might add) to their advantages, and doing what all owers ought to, trying to improve their team through trades and free agency for the ultimate goal of winning a championship. Do I think George is model of a major general? No, but I also know plenty of fans who like his “win at any cost” methods.
I said it above, I don’t love this deal, but it does have its merits, and since George doesn’t mind taking on the contract of arguably the best player in baseball, all the better.
Oh, and Sujal, for the record, I agree. Soriano won’t see as many fastballs, so he’s got much less of a chance for the 40-40 club than he had in each of his first two seasons. I say 25-35 is more likely.
Just a few thoughts…
February 16th, 2004 at 11:12 am
Everyone knew what the collective bargaining agreement was about… it’s about making players lots of money, which this is doing.
The issue is the health of the sport and the situation in baseball is pretty useless when one team can have 6 of the 12 biggest contracts in the sport… but, we’ll see again at the end of the year.
The issue is much worse for Soriano, btw… pitchers figured out how to make him look stupid last year during the postseason. It’s not about fastballs anymore… It comes down to whether he can make the adjustment. If he can, great for him. If he doesn’t, well, 25-35 is a long stretch. He’s got to get on base to steal bases…
We have rules in sports because we believe that the playing field ought to be level… trades like this don’t make anything level. It’s too bad. It would be nice to see ARod in Oakland or in Anaheim or in San Fran or, well, anywhere else aside from the Sox, Mets, and Yankees.
February 16th, 2004 at 1:57 pm
I agree with that last paragraph. I would have loved to have seen ARod in any other uniform than the Yankees.
However, when the players union blocks the deal to the Red Sox (a deal I was pulling for, by the by) because the player (who wanted the deal and didn’t mind losing the money he was going to lose, I, again, might add) was going to lose incentives built into his contract (voluntarily) in the name of “protecting players rights”, well, I don’t know why anyone bothers anymore. The Yankees will still probably lose, but it won’t be for lack of scoring (see the Dallas Mavericks, as my friend Dave would say).
Soriano will need help correcting his swing, and he won’t get it in Texas. Oh well. Good bye, Alf. We hardly knew ya.
Just a few more thoughts…
December 2nd, 2004 at 8:59 am
With this article stating that Giambi admitted using steroids, one would think that George and the rest of the Yankee brain trust would be able to nullify his contract (if in fact, that is his actual testimony).
http://sportsillustrated.netscape.cnn.com/sports/story.jsp?&idq=/ff/story/0001%2F20041202%2F0329349323.htm&sc=2010&photoid=20041004NYY112
But then again, serves the Yankees right to have to pay the entire 120 million dollar contract to a worthless drug addict because Tino Martinez and Nick Johnson… along with the myriad of other first baseman were so much worse.
The only thing that could make this a worse year for the Yankees is if they actually sign that thug Pedro… but with the Boss’ knack for over paying aging players in the twilight of thier careers… Pedro should get about 3 years 50 million out of the Boss… especially with the Mets jumping into the bidding.
December 2nd, 2004 at 9:09 am
okay…so maybe drug addict is too strong, maybe it isn’t… but either way…. it’s time to dump this guy and move on to better days.