As we have now crossed the threshold of the first-half of the 2004 Major League Baseball season, we will begin to see the races tighten up amongst the contenders for the various leagues' division titles and the wildcards. This will also include teams making an assessment of what they need to remain competitive for the remainder of this year, while some decide to think about 2005 instead.
Along with that, comes the trading deadline of July 31st, and the rigors GMs will go through to make deals and/or trade players. Since before and after this year’s All-Star Break, most of the chatter from the press and baseball gurus alike has been about the "Randy Watch," better known as speculation that the Diamondbacks have asked pitcher Randy Johnson to drop the "no trade" clause in his contract so they can move him.
Unfortunately, this has overshadowed other players' feats on the field this week, as well as other players deserving of media attention. But primarily the reason this leads the headlines and on sports TV is because it involves the Yankees, and is just one more opportunity for non-Yankee fans to dump on them once again.
The difference this year is that all of a sudden, George Steinbrenner's cash dole may not be nearly enough. The luxury tax has kicked in a couple of times now for George, which has not even caused him to blink, but what is becoming evident this time around is that the small-market teams may have finally leveled the playing field, so to speak, when it comes to dealing this season.
What they have and what George hasn't got is farm prospects or up-and-coming players. The thought of trading established veteran commodities for a 41-year-old Randy Johnson with $24 million left on his contract through next year, borders on insanity. (The Diamondbacks supposedly pitched the idea of acquiring Yankee catcher Jorge Posada as part of a deal for Johnson.)
What has not been given enough attention until maybe this year is that many of these small-market clubs have learned to develop their farm systems and have learned how to make deals with other teams by trading players, rather than laying out cash, which they don't have. And the Texas Rangers, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Milwaukee Brewers, and even the Detroit Tigers are just some of those teams now enjoying the fruit of those efforts.
While the big guys were busy buying up the smaller teams' remaining big stars, which some smaller owners felt they could not unload soon enough, these previously losing teams were left with a well of up-and-coming talent, which they were forced to develop. It will serve them well for the future, too.
Clubs with large payrolls have aged and have run out of reserves to trade or to develop. That is going to become a different kind of problem, which MLB will have to address as a whole. Player development will have to be a high priority for the likes of N.Y., L.A., and Boston. Baseball owners need to appreciate this, and continue to build upon their teams for more than one season at a time.
More specifically as concerns Randy Johnson, let's get serious. Even though he has had a wonderful 2004 season despite playing for the last-place Diamondbacks, who are going to need to rebuild from scratch, and even though there are no apparent remnants of problems from his 2003 knee surgery, he's 41! And all it takes is a tweak here or there and he lands on the DL.
Haven't the Yankees gotten it yet? Note Kevin Brown, who has been on the DL for six weeks at the age of 38. Acquiring Brown was even more ludicrous as he had been on the DL more often in the past few years than he had been on the field. When he performed, he was great, but that was not very often.
Additionally, the Yankee roster is aged and they must start developing their system again. So the only option now available to George Steinbrenner and his serfs is to start trading his active players on the field! This is wasteful and sets a bad precedent for all of baseball.
Finally, we have more parity in baseball, but through one way or another, we will soon be entering another phase of the haves and have-nots. George will have his pile of cash with teams reminiscent of the 1980s when the Yankees never won any championships after winning the AL pennant in 1981.
And, more importantly, there is some incredible baseball being played out there this season. We no longer need to be inundated with what Randy Johnson will or will not do. The game is bigger than any one player or any one owner. That is precisely what explains baseball's longevity. It is a team sport, made up of a collaboration of individual talents, unique in both respects.
Nevertheless, baseball is primarily played as a team and in order for its legacy to remain, its Commissioner, owners, players, and their union must continue to be reminded that the good of the game of baseball should always come first.
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