So I'm watching ESPN and all of a sudden a harmless little message scrolls across the bottom of the screen: Alex Rodriguez to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano and a PTBNL (player to be named later).

Wow. I mean, WOW. The Red Sox had tried to add ARod earlier this offseason, but it fell through. So the Yankees wait a while, pick up Kenny Lofton, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Javier Vazquez (ho hum).....and then add the best all-around player in the game, an inner-circle Hall of Famer, and probably the best shortstop of all time, who just happens to be 28 years old.

Ok. First, the good news if you're not a Yankees fan:

1) Apparently, the Yankees are going to move Arod (an excellent defensive shortstop and Gold Glove winner) to 3B, and keep Derek Jeter (a terrible defensive shortstop who does, however, have a good arm) at SS.

2) They're trading away their only remaining good YOUNG player in Soriano. Yes, Soriano's overrated - he doesn't control the strike zone well, he's only average defensively, and he's too aggressive on the basepaths. But so was Sammy Sosa, and Soriano is only 25, and he's the type of player that's likely to age well. Now: who do the Yankees put at 2nd? Miguel Cairo?? That immediately takes away some of the gain from the ARod deal.

But seriously. Forget all the stats and defense and everything on the field for a second. The Yankees just traded for the best, most marketable player in the game................at a position where they already pay their team captain 16 million a year!!! What the HELL is going on?? Seriously, this is ridiculous.

I understand it from the Rangers point of view, though. Yes, it's ARod. But they're going to save tons of money, Soriano is not a free agent for two or three more years, and ARod has been wanting to play in a national market for a long time. Well, here ya go, Alex. Have fun.

Damn, I hate the Yankees. If one team doesn't play by the same rules as everyone else, I think it's time to change the rules.