Word: rodriguez
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...conspiring to keep free agent salaries in check in the 1980s, collusion hasn't been a serious issue of concern. And how could it be, given the soaring contracts of the past decade that culminated in the 10-year, $250 million deal the Texas Rangers gave to Alex Rodriguez in 2000? But it's those very same stratospheric salaries - and in particular the new deal that A-Rod and his agent-provocateur Scott Boras are reportedly seeking (how about $350 million over 10 years?) - that has much of baseball suddenly speculating about a return of the illegal practice...
...Smith only half-jokingly suggested a little collusion might be in order considering how much A-Rod was seeking. And when talking about A-Rod's hefty demands, outgoing Atlanta Braves general manager John Schuerholz told a radio interviewer: "I think it's obnoxious. I admire and respect Alex Rodriguez as much as any ballplayer that has played the game. But for someone to suggest that this is a valid salary level for a professional athlete, no matter what kind of voodoo economics they can do in analyzing the books of MLB, it's absolutely asinine. It only takes...
...issue of collusion, moreover, the players may be victims of their own success. Thanks to the absurd deal the Rangers gave to Rodriguez, collusion against the superstar will be difficult to prove. Baseball may be flush with $6 billion in revenues, and Rodriguez is coming off another monster season, but every GM can legitimately make the same case: the Rangers wildly overpaid for him back then. How many division titles did the Rangers win with Rodriguez on the team? Zero. The Yankees traded for that contract after the '03 season (he was set to make about $27 million per year...
...Moreover, such collusion in the '80s was apparently widespread. Stars like Morris, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Kirk Gibson and Carlton Fisk were all mysteriously offered bad deals, if any deals at all. Collusion is easier to prove if a group of players are being shortchanged. Aside from Rodriguez, this year's free agency class is a notably weak. It most likely won't take a conspiracy to hold salaries in check. There's no need to collude against first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz...
...gotten the FDA's nod, went on sale at Nordstrom in April. "We ran out of stock in the first 30 days," boasts Sherif. "And I got phone calls from [potential partners and buyers] after just 20 days of being in business. Can you believe it?" Dee Rodriguez, president of Coastal Products International, the U.S. distributor of ilift, an antiaging device using infrared light, which was originally developed in Italy, also got instant nibbles from "names that you'd definitely recognize," she says, after displaying her product at a trade show. The gadget, which comes with a 30-day supply...