Guts and money are a winning combination

Sporting News, The, March 1, 2004 by Todd Jones

Did you ever play Monopoly growing up? Didn't you hate it when someone had Park Place and Boardwalk? Didn't you really hate it when that person got up enough money to put hotels on both? Once that happened, it was just a matter of time before the game was over. That's kind of what George Steinbrenner did when he acquired Alex Rodriguez last week.

As a fan, I understand the best player needs to be on the biggest stage to optimize his marketability, but I also have to wonder if that's good for baseball. I'm one of the biggest players association guys you'll meet. I was a player rep during the 1994 strike, so I know a little about the business of baseball. But what does it say about our game when a team can trade an MVP, pay the other team $67 million and be ecstatic about it? None of that makes any sense.

Still, the Rangers had to do this deal. A-Rod's contract might have been the biggest goof, financially, in the history of the sport. Rangers owner Tom Hicks could afford the $252 million he agreed to pay A-Rod, and the market was at a weird point when the deal was signed after the 2000 season, but a contract like that makes no sense in any market. Then again, Rodriguez was the one player, and Scott Boras the one agent, who could have pulled off such a negotiation. To their credit, they got it done. From one player to another, way to go.

Three years later, the Rangers did what was necessary, but why the Yankees? They get everything they want and always will, but did Steinbrenner have to rub our faces in it? Actually, he was rubbing it in all the other owners' faces. They tried to dream up an economic system that would punish his club. Instead, he agreed to pay $70 million in luxury taxes in order to stack his roster and crush the other clubs. You can't fault him for using the system to beat the owners at their own game.

Within Red Sox Nation, the conspiracy theorists are at it again: The Curse is all you hear about. But the fact is, the stakes are huge if you want to compete with the Yankees. They might think, "Hey, if we win the World Series and it goes seven games, then we might break even." Teams have to risk it all each year to compete, and most owners don't want to do that. They'll hand out bobbleheads and let kids run the bases and have fireworks on the Fourth of July. They'll draw 2.5 million and go home and try it again next year. Hats off to Steinbrenner and everyone else with the most guts--owners and players.

There are no days off if you're pitching against the Yankees. How do you deal with that lineup? I'm telling you, after a while it'll feel like you're going to hear, "Next up, Lou Gehrig," then "Mickey Mantle," and it won't even faze you.

But the Yankees and Red Sox still have to play the games this season. The other clubs aren't going to roll over and try to get autographs. Baseball isn't played on paper, which, for the rest of the American League, is a good thing.

Todd Jones is a reliever for the Devil Rays. E-mail him at tjones@sportingnews.com.