Alex Rodriguez switching positions to join the Yankees was a big deal

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Transcript

00:00I'm sorry, what's all this? No, no, no, that can't be right.

00:05The rich cannot just win everything. That's not the moral of any story with a moral.

00:11And don't the Yankees already have a superstar shortstop?

00:15You gotta be kidding me.

00:18They're never gonna lose again. Damn the Yankees.

00:22The 2004 trade that sent Alex Rodriguez from Texas to New York

00:27was thought to usher in the ruin of the game of baseball.

00:30Or if you're a Yankees fan, usher in untold years of success and happiness

00:34and parades and banners and smiling.

00:37Alex Rodriguez's decision to switch to third base and play for the Yankees was a big deal.

00:47So why'd A-Rod do it?

00:49He certainly wasn't struggling at shortstop.

00:52He was, however, having a rough go stuck on the four-time last place finishing Texas Rangers.

01:00He wanted off that terrible team more than anything in the world.

01:03The way the rest of us want, I don't know, sleep?

01:07Money?

01:08Acceptance for who we are?

01:10A-Rod could not get what he wanted because his most lucrative contract in all of sports and all of history

01:15trapped him in Texas.

01:17I'll explain.

01:18Back in 2000, the Rangers signed free agent Alex Rodriguez,

01:22widely considered the best player in baseball,

01:24to a $252 million 10-year contract.

01:28For context, that's double the previous earth-shattering sports contract.

01:34It's more than the Rangers owner paid for the Rangers.

01:37And the ballpark.

01:39And the land around the ballpark.

01:41It was more than the entire payroll of three teams that year.

01:45Now, a mind-boggling contract comes with some expectations.

01:49That A-Rod would be good, and thus the Rangers would be good.

01:54Half those expectations were met, or exceeded even.

01:58But it didn't matter.

02:00Before the Rangers had A-Rod, they were in last place.

02:02And for the three years they had A-Rod,

02:05they served as a very nice example that baseball is a team sport.

02:09In July of 2003, Rodriguez let it be known he was unhappy.

02:14His numbers were not quite Alex Rodriguez levels.

02:17The team was well below .500, and Rodriguez spoke to USA Today.

02:22He blamed the team for his sub-best-player-ever stats.

02:26He went so far as to say he wanted a trade,

02:29but he tried to phrase it in a way where no one would be mad at him.

02:32Didn't work.

02:33Everyone knew A-Rod was itching for playoff runs and rings

02:37and a legacy of more than just individual stats.

02:41He wanted to be on a title contender.

02:43But there was truth to the idea that leaving would benefit the Rangers.

02:47They needed pitching, and how were they supposed to afford pitching

02:51when they were giving one guy more money than it costs to buy a whole team?

02:55As long as they had to give A-Rod all their money,

02:58they weren't going to get better.

02:59Some in the Texas press were done with him, tired of his greed and his attitude.

03:05A-Rod wasn't a great leader.

03:07He had bad blood with the Ranger pitching coach

03:09because he kept calling pitches from shortstop.

03:12He'd invite some teammates to travel on his private plane,

03:15wounding the feelings of others.

03:17And as owner Tom Hicks would later explain,

03:20he had a way of sucking up all the oxygen in the clubhouse

03:23and leaving none for the other players who were simply trying to breathe.

03:27Also unideal for the clubhouse,

03:30A-Rod feuded with manager Buck Showalter after the 03 season.

03:34Not returning his calls,

03:36and being super pissed,

03:38Showalter okayed the firing of a clubhouse attendant

03:41who kind of served as A-Rod's personal valet.

03:44But all that paled in comparison to the money.

03:48The money was killing the Rangers,

03:50and they needed relief.

03:52They needed to trade Alex Rodriguez.

03:54So, the two parties were in agreement.

03:58A-Rod wanted to be traded to a competitor.

04:00Texas wanted to trade him.

04:02Great, let's do it.

04:03Oh, wait.

04:05You need a third party to be involved.

04:07Another team to take on Alex Rodriguez.

04:10And his ridiculous contract.

04:14Uh-oh.

04:15Let's take a look at A-Rod's extremely limited options.

04:18First up, the Mets.

04:20They weren't exactly a title contender.

04:23But, during all this trade talk,

04:25Alex just so happened to drop that he loved the Mets since childhood.

04:29And I doubt he was just making conversation.

04:32He was interested in them back in 2000 when he was a free agent.

04:35Though, the Mets balked at his price and the special treatment he wanted.

04:40Oh, wonder why.

04:40What could possibly go wrong?

04:42There were some reports that the Mets were interested.

04:45They had a good rookie shortstop to offer.

04:48And look, Texas, a good pitching prospect.

04:51Plus, Mike Piazza said he'd accept a trade.

04:54But, uh, there were also reports that the Mets were not interested

04:58and were kind of bitter and perhaps enjoying some sour grapes

05:02over A-Rod's greed-induced self-imprisonment.

05:05And, realistically, the Mets couldn't afford A-Rod.

05:08Moving on, let's talk about the Red Sox.

05:12They were contenders, runners-up in the 03 ALCS.

05:16So, that checks the box for A-Rod.

05:18They had Manny Ramirez to offer, which could check the box for the Rangers.

05:23And they were actually interested in trading for A-Rod,

05:26which is more than we could say for the Mets.

05:28The one holdup was A-Rod's damn contract.

05:32The Rangers wanted Ramirez and cash for A-Rod.

05:35Texas owed Rodriguez money, Ramirez was fairly expensive himself,

05:39and since he wasn't a pitcher, Texas still needed to buy some pitchers.

05:43The Red Sox did not want to include cash.

05:46But, as we've discussed, the Rangers were eager to offload Rodriguez.

05:50So, they got creative.

05:51How about Ramirez and a young pitcher instead of cash?

05:55Nice idea, but it didn't pan out.

05:58The Red Sox got creative, too.

06:00What if A-Rod restructured his contract so the Sox paid him less money?

06:05Then they'd be willing to offer Texas some cash.

06:09So, they were proposing A-Rod give up money?

06:13The Red Sox, that's not how the world works.

06:16Oh, A-Rod was down.

06:18Wow, he really hates playing for Texas.

06:20So, cool, he's off to Boston?

06:23Absolutely not, said the players' union.

06:25According to union rules, a player cannot reduce his contract without material benefits deemed equal in value in return.

06:33And let's take a look at A-Rod's proposed contract with the Red Sox.

06:37He was going to give up $4 million a year for the next seven years.

06:41Essentially, a 35% reduction in salary.

06:44And the proposed material benefits to balance that out were...

06:48He'd be a free agent after two years instead of four.

06:52But he's never going to get a deal that makes him more money.

06:55So, hard to see how that is beneficial.

06:59He'd get marketing rights to the Red Sox logo.

07:02Okay, he could animate that and pitch it around to networks.

07:06Oh, he'd get good tickets.

07:08That's nice.

07:10And he'd get a private suite on the road.

07:13I'm assuming the hotels will have swimming pools.

07:16Did all that equal $4 million a year?

07:19No, said Gene Orza, associate general counsel of the players' union.

07:24But who cares?

07:25If A-Rod wants to lose money, why not let him?

07:28Because it would fuck over every other player trying to negotiate a salary from then on.

07:33Or maybe anybody trying to negotiate a salary.

07:36A-Rod took a pay cut in this economy.

07:38But you think you should get more money for being a good lawyer?

07:42Come on.

07:43See?

07:44It's a slippery slope.

07:45Do lawyers get raises?

07:47How does the world work?

07:49In the end, the Red Sox were also not an option for A-Rod.

07:53Wait, Tom Hicks, wait!

07:54yelled A-Rod.

07:55What if the Sox pay my full contract, don't offer you any money, but I personally pay you

08:01back $15 million?

08:02Then can we do this trade?

08:04That's how much A-Rod wanted out of Texas.

08:07Or how little he valued money.

08:09Or a combo of the two.

08:11Probably a combo of the two.

08:13Commissioner Bud Selig was made uncomfortable by the idea.

08:16Hicks insisted it not be done in secret.

08:19And in the end, it didn't work out.

08:21The train to Boston was gone.

08:22Now Rodriguez's only option was to end in Texas.

08:27A-Rod had not solved his problem.

08:29He had just made it worse spending the offseason burning bridges with both management and fans,

08:34all but guaranteeing the best player in baseball would be booed at home.

08:39Both he and the Rangers attempted to convince the public it would be fine.

08:42Great even.

08:43A-Rod said,

08:44I definitely think I'm going to be here for a long time.

08:47I'm probably pretty sure it will work out for the best.

08:51Inspiring words.

08:53In further efforts to trick fans into thinking everything was fine,

08:56Buck Showalter named A-Rod team captain.

08:59An unofficial title with no inherent responsibilities

09:02and a position the Rangers had not had for the past 20 years.

09:06Fans were not tricked.

09:08They were angry, actually.

09:09But wait, there was one more option for the shortstop, er, versatile player.

09:17Because Yankees third baseman Aaron Boone tore his ACL in the offseason playing pickup basketball.

09:23Thus, the perennial contender, the 0-3 World Series runner-up,

09:27the team so rich they didn't bat an eye at Rodriguez's larger-than-life contract,

09:31needed a third baseman.

09:33Could Alex Rodriguez play third?

09:35Now, a few people would end up taking credit for coming up with this last option.

09:40Agent Scott Boris.

09:41Yankee GM Brian Cashman.

09:44But either of them could have seen this letter to the editor,

09:47which was published the very same day Boris said he called Cashman.

09:51The Yankees liked the idea, but did Rodriguez.

09:55Shortstop had been his position his whole life.

09:57It was where he won two gold gloves.

10:00It's a more glamorous position than third.

10:02You can even call pitches from shortstop.

10:05And let's consider A-Rod was very, very good at shortstop.

10:09We know this guy thinks about his legacy.

10:11It's conceivable that knocking the word perhaps off this description was part of his legacy to-do list.

10:18Plus, he'd be switching to third to accommodate Derek Jeter,

10:22the Yankees' current face and leader in shortstop who got them to the World Series just last year.

10:27But Rodriguez was a better shortstop than Jeter.

10:32And he'd expressed some jealousy toward Jeter over the years.

10:35Would he really defer to a guy he's competitive with?

10:38This doesn't seem like the easiest decision for A-Rod.

10:43Oh, it was.

10:44One night.

10:45It took one night of thought.

10:47And apparently it wasn't a particularly restless night.

10:51Wait, what?

10:52But the title of this series...

10:55No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

10:56Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

10:57I cannot have gotten this wrong.

10:58I've been talking for like 10 minutes.

11:01He's just saving face.

11:02He'd say or do anything to get out of Texas.

11:05Remember, he was going to personally pay Tom Hicks $15 million.

11:09The fact of the matter is, this decision, this move, was huge.

11:14It looked like it was going to change the landscape of the league, of the sport itself.

11:18Yes, it sure looked like there was a lot of winning in store for A-Rod and the Yankees.

11:25That is a headline from his first year in New York,

11:28after they blew a 3-0 lead in the ALCS against the Red Sox.

11:32Rodriguez faded in the series, thus our headline.

11:36There were no more gold gloves in his new position.

11:39Though there were a few MVPs, and he did get one ring.

11:44So maybe the trade wasn't exactly the big deal we thought it would be.

11:48It didn't result in the evil empire reign we predicted.

11:51But it did change the landscape of the league.

11:55Texas made it all the way to the big show by 2010.

11:57Something that certainly would not have happened if they were still paying Alex Rodriguez all of their money.

12:03And the Rangers actually got there by defeating the Yankees.

12:06The final out?

12:08That'd be Alex Rodriguez looking.

12:09Thanks for watching, everybody.

12:20I know there are a lot of things you could choose to do when you fire up the old internet,

12:24and that you came here means a lot.

12:26Stick around for other videos, join the Patreon,

12:29and for Secret Base, I'm Clara Morris.

12:31Good night and good game.

12:32Good night and good game.

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