Hardball Hyperbole: Chapter 19

In today’s edition, with the 2003 season in the books, all eyes shifted to the always interesting offseason, especially an offseason in the George Steinbrenner era when the Yankees weren’t the defending world champion.

Looking back on it now, it’s crazy to think how much Aaron Boone - who played all of 71 games counting the postseason in his half season with the Yankees - contributed to the sheer drama and intensity of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry during 2003 and 2004.

It was Boone who hit one of the most dramatic home runs - not only in Yankees and Red Sox history but Major League Baseball history - the walk-off series-clincher in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series which vaulted the Yankees to the World Series and sent the Red Sox cowering back to New England to clean out their Fenway Park lockers for another long, cold Red Sox winter.

And then a couple months later, Boone struck again, although in a much different way. While playing pickup basketball - an activity that was prohibited in his MLB contract because of the risk of injury - he blew out his knee, creating a hole at third base for the Yankees.

That seemingly innocuous incident set in motion a series of dizzying events that resulted in Alex Rodriguez agreeing to a trade from the Rangers to the Red Sox; then backing out after being advised by the MLB Players Association to do so because he was accepting a pay cut which was a precedent the union did not want to set; to eventually agreeing to a trade to, you guessed it, the Evil Empire Yankees.

It was truly unbelievable how it all went down, another spectacularly momentous chapter in this rivalry, and as A-Rod was holding up his new pinstriped No. 13 jersey and smiling for the cameras at Yankee Stadium, Red Sox Nation was left screaming bloody murder once again. This perceived robbery made the previous year’s 11th-hour pilfering of pitcher Jose Contreras seem awfully inconsequential given who A-Rod was.

By the end of the 2003 season Rodriguez was making $25.2 million per year, more than any player in MLB, yet he was absolutely miserable.

He had signed the richest free agent MLB contract to date when he bolted the Mariners to join the Rangers, a 10-year, $252 million behemoth. He left a Seattle club that had made the playoffs three times since 1996, had just lost the 2000 AL Championship Series to the Yankees, and after his departure would set the all-time AL record for wins in a season but would lose the 2001 ALCS again to the Yankees.

In chasing the unprecedented money, he joined a Texas club that was coming off a 71-91 season in 2000. A-Rod was supposed to be the cornerstone around which the Rangers would rebuild. But three years into the deal the team had three consecutive fourth-place finishes in the AL West and their best record had been 16 games under .500. With no legitimate hope to contend in sight, he was greatly regretting his decision.

A-Rod had been great all three years in Texas as he swatted 156 home runs and had a slash line of .305/.395/.615 with an OPS of 1.011. It was otherworldly production, not to mention he’d won a Gold Glove at shortstop in 2002 and the AL MVP in 2003. He was the best player in the American League and it wasn’t even close, so when he whispered that he would like to be traded, all eyes turned to the AL East because the Yankees and Red Sox were embroiled in an arms race and were two of only a handful of teams willing to take on the final $179 million of A-Rod’s contract.

In mid-December, it looked like Boston had conjured up the right deal. Theo Epstein was going to trade his own superstar hitter, Manny Ramirez, plus promising 19-year-old lefty pitcher Jon Lester to the Rangers. And with A-Rod moving in at shortstop, Epstein was going to trade All-Star Nomar Garciaparra, at the time the face of the Red Sox, to the White Sox for outfielder Magglio Ordonez.

“We wanted to be bold, we wanted to win,” Red Sox president Larry Lucchino said. “So here was a chance after the near misses of 2002 and especially 2003 to give life to that boldness.”

Everything was set, until Red Sox owner John Henry began to run the numbers and decided that for this deal to happen, A-Rod would have to agree to a $4 million per year salary cut. “When we brought up dollars and we said, ‘Alex, we need you to walk away from X’ he said, ‘Yeah, I can do this. We can make this happen.’”

That’s how desperate he was to escape Texas, but that’s when everything fell apart. Gene Orza, deputy director of the MLBPA, told A-Rod to think of his fellow players and how him taking a pay cut would play for future contract negotiations.

Rodriguez, after consulting his agent, Scott Boras, decided Orza was correct, and on Dec. 17, 2003, Lucchino announced, “The deal is dead.” A-Rod could have ignored Orza’s plea, but he didn’t, so he was resigned to probably playing at least another year for the Rangers.

A month later, Boone’s knee gave out, and suddenly the Yankees had an unforeseen problem. Within a week of that happening, Cashman was fortuitously seated next to A-Rod at the annual baseball writer’s dinner in New York as A-Rod was on hand to accept his 2003 MVP award.

“So I spend the entire night sitting having dinner with Alex on the dais and talking to Alex and what happened and why Boston didn’t happen,” Cashman recalled. “Between the Red Sox and the Rangers negotiations, the union’s involvement, and it turned into a little bit of a road map. And that’s when I started to get the idea, that evening, ‘We might have something here we can do.’”

Cashman had been considering using Enrique Wilson or newly signed utility man Miguel Cairo at third, and there was even talk of moving second baseman Alfonso Soriano to the hot corner. But after that night at dinner, Cashman figured what the hell, might as well call his Rangers counterpart, John Hart, to see if there was a deal to be made.

It was interesting because way back in October after the Yankees lost the World Series, when it came to light that the Red Sox were inquiring about Rodriguez, Cashman was asked whether he’d consider trading for him and he said, “Not interested.” Well, that was before Boone’s injury.

So when he made the call, Hart answered, and on Feb. 16, 2004, Cashman sent Soriano and a player to be named later who wound up being Joaquin Arias to Texas in exchange for Rodriguez. Further, he got Hart to pay $67 million of the remaining $179 million on the contract, something the Rangers were willing to do because they were moving $112 million off the books and bringing in Soriano, a budding star who had hit 77 home runs the previous two seasons.

Thus, Rodriquez became a Yankee because unlike Henry, George Steinbrenner did not ask him to reduce his yearly salary. When the ink was dry, factoring in how much money the Rangers were paying, A-Rod would be getting $15 million in 2004. And what was really funny is that the $15 million didn’t even affect the Yankees budget because the contracts of Soriano, Boone, and prospect Drew Henson - who was quitting baseball to pursue a career in the NFL - amounted to nearly $14 million coming off the books.

Obviously, Rodriguez would cost the Yankees much, much more over the final decade-plus he wore their uniform, but in 2004 he was actually a bargain, and best of all, he was on their team and not the Red Sox, another staggering gut punch to Boston.

Of course, the trade raised an interesting dilemma for the Yankees. A-Rod was without a doubt the best shortstop in baseball, superior as both a hitter and fielder to franchise icon Derek Jeter, who had a different dossier which included four World Series rings. Who would be the shortstop?

Cashman had already sorted this out. When he and Hart negotiated the trade, it was on the condition that A-Rod agree to move to third, and he did without hesitation.

“I’m playing short now,” said Jeter, who was asked by the team to attend the introductory press conference. “That is my job here. (Rodriguez’) job here now is to play third base. He’ll be the first one to tell you that. This only makes a great team even greater.”

The two players had been close friends when they first broke into the big leagues for good in 1996, but their relationship had soured a bit over the years due to some remarks A-Rod had made in the press, so never mind sorting out which positions they were going to play. The other question was, could they coexist on the same team?

“I think the worse thing that could happen for the media is for me and Alex to get along,” Jeter said with a sly smile. “I think everyone wants us to disagree and wants us to battle over who is doing this and who is doing that. That is not the case. Our relationship is fine.”

“I don’t know how this will be played,” Rodriguez said. “All I know is what I’m feeling, and what I’m doing. I’ve always thought of myself as a pretty good team guy. I guess now we’ll see if that’s true or not.”

Not everyone believed them.

Naturally, the rest of MLB rolled its eyes at the Yankees’ ability to pay whatever was needed to procure a player, though the simple fact was this: Baseball didn’t have a salary cap and the Yankees weren’t breaking any rules by signing so many star players. Yes, they had more financial resources than any team, but the hallmark of Steinbrenner’s reign is that he always put those resources back into the team to make sure it was championship worthy every year.

It was particularly rich when Henry himself made reference to this, even though his Red Sox payroll was among the five highest in the sport. “We have a spending limit and apparently the Yankees don’t,” he said. “Baseball doesn’t have an answer for the Yankees. Revenue sharing can only do so much.”

Steinbrenner issued a prepared statement to the media to respond to Henry.

“We understand that John Henry must be embarrassed, frustrated and disappointed by his failure in this transaction. Unlike the Yankees, he chose not to go the extra distance for his fans in Boston. It is understandable but wrong that he would try to deflect the accountability for his mistakes on to others and to a system for which he voted in favor. It is time to get on with life and forget the sour grapes.’’

After that statement, he was tracked down leaving his office in Tampa by reporters and when told that many fans and media were criticizing the Yankees for trying to “buy another championship” Steinbrenner responded sharply, “We didn't buy it! (Critics) don’t know their math. They don’t know what the costs were or were not. We didn’t go out and buy him. Texas got a very good deal. I hated to lose Soriano; he’ll do great in Texas, given the time. He’ll be a great player out there. But you look at the finances before you make that statement.”

Acquiring Rodriguez was the biggest transaction in baseball in 2004, but it wasn’t the only one made by the Yankees. Cashman solidified right field which had been an issue since Paul O’Neil’s retirement after 2001 by signing slugger Gary Sheffield, and he signed first baseman Tony Clark and center fielder Kenny Lofton in order to give Jason Giambi and Bernie Williams some rest by using them more in the DH role.

More pressing, he had to rebuild much of the pitching staff. In the rotation, Andy Pettitte signed a free agent deal with the Astros, Roger Clemens retired but then unretired to join his buddy Pettitte in Houston, and David Wells signed with the Padres, leaving only Mike Mussina and Orlando Hernandez.

The first big move was trading another rotation piece, Jeff Weaver, to the Dodgers in exchange for Kevin Brown who was 39 years old but coming off a rather surprising 2003 season when he posted a 2.39 ERA. Cashman also traded Nick Johnson, Randy Choate and Juan Rivera to the Expos for Javier Vasquez, a 27-year-old who had shown promise in his first six seasons. And he signed veteran lefty Jon Lieber in free agency.

As for the bullpen, gone were Chris Hammond, Antonio Osuna, and Juan Acevedo and in their places came Tom Gordon, Paul Quantrill, and Scott Proctor to join forces with Felix Heredia and the great Mariano Rivera.

It was as big a roster turnover as the Yankees had faced in many years, but the only newcomer anyone was truly focused on was A-Rod.

“It is a good day for the Yankees, yeah, a very good day, but we haven’t won anything yet,” Steinbrenner said the day of the trade.

Over in Boston, it wasn’t a great day for the Red Sox. ‘’We wouldn’t be much of a contender for a title if we couldn’t take a punch,’’ Lucchino said. ‘’This is a haymaker, to be sure, but you still have to win it on the field.’’

Boy, would those two statements prove prophetic by the end of 2004.

NEXT WEDNESDAY: The Red Sox moved on from Grady Little and hired Terry Francona as their manager for 2004, they added Curt Schilling to the rotation, and with their tremendous lineup mostly intact, expectations were soaring and revenge was on the minds of everyone in Beantown.