This week, the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a massive trade with the Miami Marlins, bringing in several star players for surprisingly little cost. It has Jays fans like myself feeling a very strange sensation we haven't had in years - what was it called again? - ah yes: optimism.
But baseball commissioner Bud Selig has been taking his time approving the trade, which has people nervous. Yes, it's probably just because it is a spectacularly large trade that will take a while to check for crossed T's and dotted I's. But still, baseball trades are usually just rubber stamped by the league office, so some people - particularly Marlins fans - are thinking he might actually be thinking about rejecting it.
No pressure Mr. Selig, but we will hunt you down if you reject this trade. Yes, it may seem like this trade was a one-sided money shift which detracts from the purity of the game. And you might be surprised that I do have sympathy for the Marlins and their fans; their seemingly promising team is now back to rebuilding mode, with no hope of competitiveness for years.
But the purity-of-the-game/fair-to-the-fans ship sailed a long time ago. Yes, you could cancel the trade because it's all about money. But there have been hundreds of salary dumps, rent-a-player deals, and stratospheric free-agent signings over the years. If you were going to stop it, there have been plenty of chances over the past couple of decades.
Even you Marlins fans have to agree. Yes, it may seem like you just traded half your team for two prospects and a homophobic shortstop. But the fact is your team did essentially buy two World Series titles. You live by the dollar, you die by the dollar.
Baseball decided years ago on a laissez-faire set-up for its economics. You may or may not like that - I don't; I'd rather have an over-centralized, enforced-equality, semi-socialist system like the NFL - but that is the way things have been for years, and it's not fair to change the game on us now, just when it's going our way.
No comments:
Post a Comment