Well, break is over, and I hope everyone had a great escape from academia.
I hope everyone gave and raked in some great gifts over the holiday break.
Myself, I gave my dad the second “Blue Collar Comedy Tour” DVD, so he should be content with some hillbilly laughs. One of my favorite gifts has to be either the “Happy Gilmore” or the “Major League II” DVD. It’s hard to choose between watching Bob Barker kicking the crap out of Adam Sandler or Tanaka talking about marbles.
In the world of baseball, there was a lot of giving and receiving during the break as well, resulting in the rich getting richer in New York.
In a deal with the devil, the Arizona Diamondbacks traded Randy Johnson to the New York Yankees for Javier Vazquez, a couple of minor leaguers and a lot of cash (nearly $9 million).
This deal pushes the Yankees’ payroll over $200 million for next season, and the taxes they pay alone are more than some teams’ total salaries.
And they still want more.
They are the leading candidates to get Carlos Beltran, who is asking upward of $100 million over seven years.
With the pick-up of Johnson, the Yankees add the top-notch pitcher to a starting rotation that already includes Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright.
That will put New York’s starting rotation salaries at $64 million, which is higher than what 13 other professional teams pay their entire roster.
The Yankees are able to pull in so much money because of their contract with the YES Network and Adidas (they have a $1 billion deal with each).
If this isn’t the demise of baseball, I don’t know what is.
How can baseball and its fans survive when half the teams in the game don’t stand a chance even before spring training starts?
There is no equality among teams, and a lack of a salary cap will continue to hurt the game.
I don’t blame the Yankees for this, though. They continue to play by the rules and spend what they got. I would do the exact same thing if I were in George Steinbrenner’s (very expensive) shoes.
But when a team’s lineup looks like an all-star roster, I think something in the game needs to be changed.
Teams like Tampa Bay might play well in stretches with their good, young talent, but they don’t have the horses to keep up with teams like the Yankees or the Red Sox, and they can’t afford to re-sign their players when their contracts run out.
Granted, teams like the Minnesota Twins and the Oakland A’s have used small markets to be successful, but neither team has won a World Series in more than 15 years.
Yet the amount of money spent doesn’t equal an automatic championship. The Yankees haven’t won a World Series since 2000. They are depleting their minor league system with trades that have sent all their talent to other clubs.
Each year they replace their holes with high-priced free agents and chip away at something that is needed in baseball — chemistry.
The Yankees haven’t won a World Series since they had players that they developed in their own minor league system; like when Andy Pettitte, Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter and so on were leading the team.
But the high-priced players have guaranteed the Yankees regular season success as they have made the playoffs every year since.
I heard an interesting thing while I was listening to sports-talk radio: A caller said he hopes the Yankees start winning championships to prove that their large bankroll gives them an unfair advantage over the rest of the league.
You know small-market team owners are screaming for a salary cap, and if the Yankees start winning, teams like the Red Sox and Mariners (who have decent pay rolls) will join the crusade.
Well, hopefully for the sake of baseball, the Yankees won’t be receiving anymore gifts (i.e. Beltran), and the baseball world can wise up.
Oh, and have a happy new year.

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