Sure, the MLB has its rules about when it is kosher to draw attention to- and from- its showcase games. But try not to hold a grudge against Team A-Rod for announcing the decision to opt-out of their 10 year/$250 million contract with the Yankees in the middle of a ho-hum of a World Series. Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez simply felt like many other fellow baseball fans at the time, including myself, bored.
The excitement of offseason moves and speculation of team and player swaps make the bigger picture quite clear — The MLB offseason is more exciting to watch than the MLB postseason.
This year’s postseason produced 3 out of 4 sweeps in the first round of division series match-ups, 1 out of 2 sweeps in the League Championship Series (the Cleveland/Boston ALCS involved a 3-1 comeback from the eventual champs, and was actually exciting) and a 4-0 sweep in the World Series.
Last season, the division series produced 2 ½ sweeps (San Diego stole a game 3 from St. Louis thanks to Chris Young’s impressive outing), the LCS produced 1 of 2 sweeps and the World Series ended 4-1 in favor of the unexpected champs, the St. Louis Cardinals (despite Kenny Rogers’ Game 2 mysterious “smudge”).
There’s just something extra special about the offseason that brings more life to baseball these days. Turn your head for a brief moment and you may miss out on one of many exciting moments in the MLB offseason –
The Yankees/Joe Torre Managerial Drama
The Yankees insulted Joe Torre with an inadequate contract offer (1 year, $5 million with $3 in postseason incentives) so he high-tailed it to Los Angeles to manage the Dodgers, bumping ex-BoSox coach Grady Little from his role as skipper (though the team allowed him to “resign” instead of clearing out his office and having him awkwardly walk in on Torre and the Dodgers doing the deed). The vacant Yankees skipper job was handed over to former Marlins manager, former Yanks catcher, Joe Girardi. Interviewed but rejected wanna-be Yanks manager, Don Mattingly, will head to L.A. to join Torre’s coaching team.
The World Champs Try To Stay Intact
With Boston catching a discount with Curt Schilling (1 year/$8 mil plus incentives… he could’ve got double elsewhere), will the defending champs be able to work a deal to keep World Series MVP Mike Lowell at third base? Or will they join in on many other MLB teams eyeing a trade with Florida to acquire the big batting third-baseman Miguel Cabrera?
ARod To Sign Another Fat Contract With… Whom?
Without a sure-fire idea of where he wants to go, but knowing that he wants to figuratively eye other hot blondes, A-Rod’s final destination for 2008 is unclear. Will he stay in New York (either side of the subway) or head to Chicago (again, either side), Los Angeles or another team willing to dish out $30mil-plus?
Quality Pitching On The Trading Block?
Is Johan Santana finally going to receive a fat, fat contract to go along with his incredible pitching talent? Or, will he be traded away to someone willing to both pay up and give up quality prospects? Same goes for Florida’s Dontrelle Willis.
As the MLB general manager meetings continue this week in Florida, and team owners and GMs contemplate the future of their respective organizations, the league may want to consider sticking a few cameras inside the hotbed offseason action. Maybe trades and signings won’t necessarily go down this week — although the first trade took place yesterday by way of a 2-for-3 trade sending hot-and-cold closer Brad Lidge from the Astros to the Phillies — but seeds are planted and players’ futures are weighed and decided on. Where’s the harm in allowing a little extra fan access?
At best, fans can get an inside look at the formality or informality of the meetings. Sure, Peter Gammons, Tim Kurkjin and Tom Verducci give great insiders-only information. But wouldn’t it be fun to be a fly on the wall to listen in on half-joking-but-not-really trade talks between Omar Minaya and Theo Epstein, considering great ways to piss off the Steinbrenner family? Or being a fly on the wall as GMs and owners laugh at how much money Team A-Rod expects to earn in ‘08? Hey, I’ll give him $56 mil a year! Ha ha! Yeaaahhhh riiiiggghhttt… I’d have to have downed 3 FULL bottles of this Jack Daniels to even consider giving him $25 mil! Speaking of which, barkeep fill ‘er up!
At worst, GM meeting reality TV can’t be any less anticlimactic than this year’s postseason. Fans who stuck in for postseason yawners deserve to hear at least a few stories about the wheeling and dealing taking place behind the scenes between the league’s puppet masters and decision-makers.
This year I would tune in just to find out what the drink of choice was when Tom Hicks decided to give A-Rod a contract worth the same amount he paid to buy the entire Texas Rangers franchise (my guess: Johnny Walker Blue Label). Maybe then we could survey the cocktail parties for any excessive drinking of that same beverage to get a tip as to where A-Rod will land in ‘08.
Weirdness: A-Rod breaks down, talks dollars with the Yankees all by his lonesome. How upset is Boras right now? Surely A-Rod’s giving a “discount” on what Boras could’ve extorted out of a ball club.
We watch the NBA players on TV, but the experience remains distant. For example, imagine being a fly on the wall in the Dallas locker room after every game of the Mavericks/Golden State Warriors series. Or after the Utah Jazz beat the Houston Rockets in Game 7, witnessing T-Mac at his locker so hurt he couldn’t even speak? How do coaches deal with those situations? How do teams react to tough losses or big wins behind the scenes? Sure we see Dirk embrace Don Nelson before walking off the court, but what happens after that? What transpires during a grueling 82 game season within an NBA family? How hard do NBA coaches really work and prepare for the playoffs? What about the Phoenix Suns? Does Coach D’Antoni just tell everyone to pass the ball to Nash and let Stevie find you? Why is Shawn Marion so miserable he wants to be traded? What went in Raja Bell’s head when he slammed Kobe Bryant to the floor in the playoffs? Or how about the whole story behind Amare Stoudemire’s arthroscopic knee surgery and rehab? Well Jack McCallum’s, :07 Seconds or Less is the open portal we desire.
Michael Jordan on your basketball team from 1991-1999 with all the shoes, jerseys, warm-up clothes, and Luc Longley. No breaks for baseball.
