. . . And Some Guy Named Alex Did Something, Too

First, he upstaged the World Series by (his agent) announcing that he was going to test the free agency waters.

Well, I guess he tested the water and got a chill. Now, he has attempted to upstage another major event - the indictment of Barry Bonds. Although Bonds' indictment is not technically an MLB sanctioned event (or is it?), I am willing to bet that there will be more attention paid to this in one day than there was to all of the World Series games put together.

Back to Alex Rodriguez, whose legal name is A-Rod (not true, but it should be). He and the New York Yankees have "outlined" a deal (read: verbal but not inked) that would give him nearly $280 million over the next ten years. With an incentive to beat Bonds' home run record (or should we start calling it Hank Aaron's again?), A-Rod could get more than $300 million. Some are baffled by this turn of events, but I say that it boils down to money.

Money for A-Rod because the Yankees are one of the only teams with the cash to pay him, and the Yankees uniform brings with it tons of air time, endorsements, ladies, and all that other stuff that you think it means.

For the Yankees, they will make well over $280 million off of this guy in a Yankees uniform, so to them, they get off pretty "cheap." Now, this last statement makes sense only based on the return on investment that A-Rod brings to the Yanks . . . but ONLY from that perspective because in real people terms, that money is RIDICULOUS.

But I digress.

Well, I'm glad that this could work this out amicably. But while A-Rod may eventually beat Bonds or Aaron's home run record, he will not touch the onslaught of the Bonds/BALCO press coverage. I'm tired of writers calling everyting "-gate" (from Watergate scandal, fyi) - Spygate, Coltgate, Bengate. OK, I made that last one up, although that is a village in England. I'm calling this saga BALCO Crest, like the nighttime TV soap opera, Falcon Crest. If you see anyone else using it, remember that you heard it here first.

So A-Rod's looking at second-billing in the sports world for a little while now. Unless, perhaps, he has some secrets of his own . . .