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Volume CXXXIII, Number 15 |
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A-Rod trade: The Sox, A-Rod, and the Yankee's 'Evil Empire'
BOBBY DESAULNIERS
STAFF WRITER
Let me begin by saying that I am a huge Red Sox fan. I do not want any speculation in this article to make it seem I am not. From "The Gator" Greenwell to Jack Clark, I was there.
Let's start with the proposed deal earlier this winter. Alex Rodriguez wants to get out of Texas. Granted that he is arguably the best player in baseball right now, the finger was pointed at him for much of the Rangers' failures. The money that his quarter-billion-dollar contract ate up could have been used to find a semi-decent pitcher to balance the young talent they have at the plate.
So then this whole deal gets to the media that the Sox might bag A-Rod. Great; good for us. Nomar is a great player, but something beyond the two contract refusals makes me think he wants to finish his career elsewhere. It might have something to do with the ring on his finger. So A-Rod for Nomar, and then we could put the Magglio Ordonez deal through for a left fielder to replace Manny Ramirez.
This was a good deal for the Sox. This releases the Sox from Manny's $17 million contract and gets him out of Boston, as he said he wanted to be.
However, too much was leaked to the media. There was such a to-do about A-Rod's contract and how the team would react if Nomar and Manny were gone that Kevin Millar even went on television and spoke out, encouraging the deal with the Rangers and saying he would love to have A-Rod on his squad.
The Sox did not land A-Rod because they were penny-pinchers. To honor A-Rod's contract, the Sox would have only had to pay $2 million more a year, which is a small price to pay for the best player in ball today.
Millar's comments were beyond stupid. He is a professional and should have handled it more skillfully. Especially for a team built securely on chemistry and some unspoken "Cowboy Up" camaraderie, a comment such as that can kill a team's cohesion. Since then, Millar has said that he smoothed it over with Nomar. It's like saying that you'd rather have Peter Gammons writing this article. No shit, he's the best in the game. Clubhouse turmoil like that can kill the Sox.
Aside from the clubhouse rumors, the success of the Sox relies on two men: Millar and Bill Mueller. Let's start with Millar. Of course, this season was a great one for him and the Sox, lest we forget that he was almost shipped to Japan because no Major League ball club wanted to pick him up. That kind of streakiness scares me. To his credit, he hit .276 with almost 100 RBIs. He is a Fenway Park straight pull hitter. Keeping him in Boston could be good for the Sox.
Mueller is a big question mark. The man who won the batting title last year will be a key factor in the Red Sox' success next season. It took Mueller a couple years, but now that he has broken out, continuing that will be tough for him. Besides last season, he had not hit .300 since 1996. Also, he only cracked over 50 RBIs twice in his eight-year career. As fans, we cannot expect him to hit himself to the top next season. But, if he under-performs immensely, he could be out of Boston like Dave Ortiz in dodgeball.
OK, so the Yankees will have the best lineup in the league next year. Everyone, except for Enrique Wilson, has been to the All-Star Game. To throw salt on the wound, Enrique Wilson is the only player in baseball that can consistently hit Pedro Martinez. The additions of Sheffield and A-Rod to the lineup give them enough firepower to take them as far as their pitching staff can handle.
Pitching will be the demise of the Yankees this season. Kevin Brown and Javier Vazquez were fine additions to the squad. Huge question marks remain in the form of Jose Contreras and the team's fifth starter. Especially in the postseason, not having The Rocket, Andy Pettitte, or David Wells will burn the Yanks. Inexperienced guys throwing a lot of innings will burn out the Bombers. You cannot survive without pitching, even when you have A-Rod.
Pitching is where the Sox have it over the Yankees, and they have it by far. With Schilling and Pedro backing up Wakefield and newcomer Brad Foulke closing, our staff will be dominant. Foulke is the only player out of the new acquisitions that has been inconsistent in his career. With the season he had, especially killing the Sox, I'll take him just so we don't have to face him.
The fact is, having Schilling and Foulke is more valuable than unloading your roster for A-Rod. The blow that the Red Sox could have sustained, both in the wallet and the clubhouse, is enormous. Keeping the same guys around to support the same ra-ra ideology that they did last season is of utmost importance for the Sox.
Let's put this in perspective here. Sox fans criticize the Yanks for building their team around Steinbrenner's cash and picking up the flavor of the week player. It is true that they are the team that can overpay and will, as with A-Rod. But, if the deal went through with Nomar and with Manny gone, the Sox would be left with only one player who was brought up through their farm system, Trot Nixon. Boston would become an evil empire like New York.
You know what? Take A-Rod. There will be too many cooks in the infield kitchen in New York. I would rather keep my soul anyway.
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