Tuesday brought about the first legal win for MLB in their fight to enact contraction, as a Florida judge ruled that MLB and the two Florida teams were protected, under their anti-trust exemption, from complying with subpoenas requiring them to turn over information regarding contraction plans. The subpoenas were issued by Florida AG Bob Butterworth to discover to what extent Florida's two baseball teams would be involved in contraction plans. It was his opinion that previous Florida court decisions had repealed the portion of MLB's anti-trust exemption that covered franchise relocation.

The ruling is obviously significant, but it was not the item that most caught my attention about the proceedings. Tacked on at the end of the AP article announcing the verdict was the following paragraph:

"Florida contends that losing a baseball team would cost a community millions of dollars, Lawyers for the sport spent much of the morning calling questioning a study on how much the communities would suffer."

That paragraph leads me to pose this question to our honorable commissioner of baseball:

Mr. Selig, does this mean that baseball clubs really don't add all that much to their surrounding community? I ask, because I seem to remember that you've spent a great deal of your time over the last few years emphasizing just how important a baseball team is to its home city and the nearby areas. As I recall, in your informed opinion, a baseball team is an extremely valuable asset to a community, so much so that said community should be more than willing to shell out for an expensive taxpayer-subsidized stadium. I really hope that one of those studies that you like to cite when making this argument wasn't the same one that your lawyers find so questionable.

Regardless of whether or not this particular study has been one of Mr. Selig's pets in the past, MLB appears to be simultaneously espousing two very conflicting opinions. How can a community not suffer when losing a baseball team, if that team is so vital to their community? Conversely, if the team is not in fact vital to the community, why should that region pay for them to have a new stadium? I would suggest that the commissioner heed the advice titling this article and make up his mind. Otherwise, I believe that he may bite himself in the ass while attempting to have his cake and eat it too.

A Tale of Two Trades

Tuesday brought us two more trades and numerous free agent signings. Both trades and the Danny Bautista signing will be discussed here today.

Tomorrow we'll cover the new homes of Yankee free agents Tino Martinez and Chuck Knoblauch, as well as the Bronx Bombers' decision to re-sign Sterling Hitchcock. It is also highly likely that John Burkett and Moises Alou will have new contracts to discuss. Smaller deals will again be saved until the next slow day.

Trade #1: CLE - TEX
Cleveland trades LHP John Rocker
To the Texas Rangers For
RHP David Elder

GM John Hart now has traded twice for John Rocker. In my opinion, Rocker is not the evil man that so many made him out to be after his unfortunate remarks were published in Sports Illustrated. He's just really stupid for mouthing off while in the presence of a reporter for a major magazine. Sarcasm is something that writers frequently use themselves but love to ignore in the comments of others.

That said, I do believe that as a result of the incident and the media barrage that surrounded it, Rocker has lost a good bit of the cockiness and confidence that not only originally led him to feel he could get away with saying those things but also was crucial in maintaining his dominance as a closer. Unless he can regain that confidence, he becomes at best just another relief pitcher, and at worst, Steve Blass.

Texas has several alternatives if it doesn't look like an off-season of winter ball has restored Rocker to his former glory. We also can't forget that as a lefty pitcher, he will automatically receive more opportunities, even if those opportunities aren't necessarily as a closer.

Looking at the pitcher that Cleveland received in the deal, the Rangers again appear to have limited their commitment to Rocker. David Elder has starting potential, but it will only vest if his command and control of the strike zone continue to mature. Elder improved while pitching at both AA and AAA for Texas last year, but long term the 26-year-old would probably be better off in relief. In the bullpen, he wouldn't have to worry about placing his pitches for several innings on end and could focus on maintaining a ratio of over a strikeout every inning.

Long term, the trade should be either a draw or a steal for Texas.

Trade #2: CIN - COL
Cincinnati trades IF Pokey Reese and LHP Dennys Reyes
To the Colorado Rockies For
LHP Gabe White and RHP Luke Hudson

I'd try to forecast Pokey's roll with the Rockies, but GM Dan O'Dowd has already said that he likely won't have one. Colorado is happy with their infield and will look to turn Reese around for help elsewhere (C or 3B). The Rockies' real interest in the trade revolved around dumping Gabe White's contract and plucking Dennys Reyes off the Reds. The organization is quite fond of Reyes and may even sentence him to a starting job at the bottom of the rotation.

After pitching extremely well for Colorado in 2000, White imploded in 2001 and no one wants to pay for bad relief pitching. It has been suggested that White's tenure with the Reds may also be short lived as the team juggles new payroll constraints, though his performance should improve with his departure from Coors Field. If he stays in Cincinnati, he gives them a quality lefty out of the pen.

Twenty-four year old Luke Hudson probably has the most upside of any player in the deal. He spent a full year at AA last year and put up very respectable numbers. I think he could be starting in the majors before the end of 2002, although a full year at AAA always has its advantages.

Many see this trade as a huge disappointment for the Reds, who had numerous offers for Reese last season and could hardly scrounge up cursory interest this year. I would also probably call the deal in favor of Colorado, dependent upon what they are able to do with Reese.

Danny Bautista will be back with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the next 3 years at a bargain basement price of $8 to 9 million. Seriously, $3 million is a lot to pay someone who shouldn't really be more than a fourth outfielder. This signing will only take playing time away from Erubiel Durazo and the Arizona prospects who should be arriving in the majors in 2002.

Some World Series teams really should be dismantled.