So Tex went to the Yankees. Anyone really that surprised?
Despite the headline of this post, I can't really blame Andy MacPhail for not reeling in the All-Star First baseman and Mount St. Joseph graduate. Guys don't take hometown discounts when an extra $30-40 million is on the table for a short train ride.
But it still hurts pretty badly. I was in the Harford Mall yesterday afternoon in a sports store when I heard Buster Olney's report on ESPN. The cashier and I both groaned, and I got the impression curse words would have flown if not for an attempt to maintain the holiday spirit.
The Yankees have now committed more than $400 million to free agents this offseason, and this ain't football folks; all contracts in Major League Baseball are guaranteed.
The Tampa Bay Rays showed that small-market teams can compete in the American League East, despite $200 million payrolls in New York and Boston. But the Rays' approach takes time, patience and a savvy front office that is forced to make almost perfect decisions. The margin for error is nearly non-existant. Frankly, it just doesn't seem fair.
I've never been an advocate of instituting a salary cap in MLB, but I may finally be leaning that way. Is it because I'm bitter that Balmer lost a homegrown talent? Absolutely, and I'm fine admitting it.
If anything good is to come of this offseason, maybe it's that Bud Selig and the other folks in MLB's office take a look at that team in the Bronx and admit that in an economic climate that continues to decline, the Yanks are positively ridiculous. It's absolutely, 100 percent sour grapes from an O's fan ... but that doesn't make it wrong.
It's been a long time since I've rooted for winning baseball. Tex in Balmer in 2009 wouldn't have made the difference, but he would have made me -- and everyone else in and around the beltway -- feel better about the immediate future. Hometown guys mean a lot to us O's fans, it makes us feel like the guys on the field understand our suffering and bleed the colors we bleed.
It's clear now that Tex bleeds green, not black and orange. Heartbreaking, but no one should be surprised.
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