Risky business in world of baseball

By Majesh Abraham

Baseball players are the luckiest guys in America right now. As most of the country was being buried under piles of snow, they packed their bags and headed off to sunny Florida or Arizona for the start of their “day job.”

Spring training has arrived, and most of the country probably didn’t even care. The MLB is struggling, though not as much as the NHL, to stay in the thick of the sports scene. After two boring World Series’ in a row, including last year’s ratings disaster, and the stench of the Steroids Era still hanging around (it will get worse with Bond’s chase of Aaron), the owners decided to shake things up by opening their checkbooks.

I thought the days of obscene spending in baseball were over. A-Rod’s, Manny Ramirez’s, and Derek Jeter’s huge contracts had received lots of criticism, and it seemed like the MLB brain trust had agreed to never reach those levels of spending again.

It all changed in the span of this single offseason, when the spending has become even more ludicrous than those previous contracts because at least those guys were people you actually had heard of. Ted Lilly, Gil Meche, Adam Eaton – these aren’t exactly household names here.

Of course it was all started by the Cubbies, who went out of their way to sign Alfonso Soriano to an 8-year, $136-million contract. Soriano is a great player; he hit for the unique 40-40-40 club last year (home runs, doubles, steals), but will be 39 years old when his contract expires. The Cubs will be lucky if he gets in the 15-15-15 club by then.

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Along with Soriano’s deal, the Cubs have shelled out approximately $292 million with the latest addition of pitcher Jason Marquis. This is the same Jason Marquis who went 14-16 last year with the Cardinals with a whopping 6.02 ERA and was left off the playoff roster. But in this market he’s a bargain at $20 million.

The only reason Marquis is donning a Cubs uniform is because the Cubs were outbid for their intended target, pitcher Gil Meche, that’s right, THE Gil Meche, by the woeful Kansas City Royals. The Royals spent half of their salary cap on a guy with a career 55-44 record and a 4.65 ERA. I’m sorry, Kansas City, Gil Meche will not lead you to the playoffs, especially when the rest of your team is still horrendous.

For Cubs General Manager Jim Hendry, the playoffs will not be good enough; the Cubs intend to win the World Series now. It makes you wonder why the team couldn’t do this any earlier. Is it because Andy MacPhail finally stepped down as president of the team or that Hendry’s job is on the line? Even more intriguing, rumors are swirling that the Tribune Company is getting ready to sell the team, and since they won’t be the ones paying these contracts down the line, the checkbook is wide open.

Imagine how poor Dusty Baker feels. As soon as he gets fired and replaced by Lou Piniella, the team spends $300 million. As a Cubs fan you can’t complain, though, because being proactive is better than what the Cubs brass have been doing for the last 98 years.

Adding Soriano, Mark DeRosa and re-signing Aramis Ramirez, along with Derrek Lee, gives the team a formidable everyday line-up. Lilly, who the Cubs signed to a 4-year, $40 million deal, should be a solid starter.

If starting pitchers Mark Prior and Wade Miller can make successful returns from their injuries, which is a big if, the Cubs will have a deep starting rotation. And if Kerry Wood can establish himself as a reliever, the Cubs will have a strong bullpen.

It’s hard to imagine how the team will re-sign ace Carlos Zambrano with all this spending. He’s commanding more than a $100 million and will become a free agent in 2007.

But for right now, the Cubs are not worried about “next year,” and Lou Piniella’s team is built to make a run at the coveted World Series this upcoming year. After 98 agonizing years, it’s about time.

Majesh Abraham is a junior in LAS. He can be reached at

[email protected].