If you’ve read my columns, then you should know that I am a diehard Yankee fan. Wait, don’t turn the page yet. I’m not here to bask in the success of the last decade, or berate anyone for hating the Yanks. I just want to put something to rest.
The A-Rod trade is historic in that it is the only time a reigning Most Valuable Player has ever been traded. He led the American League in home runs. He and current Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter, friends for years, will make up possibly the best shortstop/third base combination in the history of baseball. Alright A-Rod, enough praising. Let’s see how this trade will effect both the Yanks and Rangers.
The New York Yankees, who already had the highest payroll in the history of baseball, will only see it raise as Rodriguez and his $252 million contract join the squad. The Yanks won’t have to pay the entire salary, but they will have to pay $112 million of the remaining $189 million on his contract. Yankee Owner George Steinbrenner is well aware of what it takes to maintain a winning team these days, so he has no problem shelling out the cash needed to win championships, how ever much that might be.
On the other hand, the trade does help the team. This, after all, is baseball, and the majority of its fans have no idea what any of this economic garbage means. All they care about is winning the ultimate prize in October. With Alex Rodriguez in the mix, the Yankees’ lineup will be, as it was written on yankees.com, “truly scary”.
So, what about the Rangers? What will they do without their star player? Well, they do have former Yankee Alfonso Soriano. He might not be quite what A-Rod is, but he is certainly a lot cheaper. Once Texas finds a place for him, he should fit right into the puzzle as the Rangers try to rebuild. As far as I’m concerned, the Rangers might have gotten the better of the Yankees in this deal. Though Rodriguez is possibly the game’s best player, he has the biggest contract in the history of professional sports. When Texas traded him away, they not only received possibly the best second baseman in the game, but the money in which they can sign multiple high level players.
Despite all of the economic statistics and sentimentality over Soriano packing his bags, this is what had to be done. When Aaron Boone went down with a torn ACL, there were several options. The Boss decided that this was the best. We’ll have to wait and see if he’s right. It’s like Suzyn Waldman of the YES Network said in one of her columns, “Bottom line, when you can get the best player in the game, you get him.”
