Am I Crazy Or Does Something Seem Not Quite Right About This A-Rod Situation

Look behind you, gay 1500's Brian Cashman! Boras is standing right there!
Something stinks in Denmark (and the Bronx).

According to various reports, A-Rod is in talks with the Yankees about coming back despite both sides going there separate ways a couple weeks ago and the Yanks stating that never in a million years would they take him back (I think the exact language was that they didn't want him back because "he doesn't want to be a Yankee"). Lost in the sports talk radio elation of Michael Kay and his flock of sheep for the joyous return of their prodigal third baseman to his true home and where he was meant to be his entire life is the reality of the whole situation. If the folks calling up the NY radio stations today were any indication of the pulse of NY on the situation, New Yorkers believe that they duped Boras and are getting A-Rod for 5 cents on the dollar. They believe he's come back because he couldn't bare being out of pinstripes for another second because it makes him look slimmer. But here's the thing...Nothing has changed! There is no difference between this negotiation and the last time the Yanks lost their $30 million subsidy and said they'd never talk about it again. The Yanks, and A-Rod, are back at square one. The Yanks gained no leverage in letting A-Rod walk and finding out that he may not get his $35 million (a completely unrealistic number that Boras NEVER thought he'd get) because they were the only ones willing to pay the $28 million over ten years he's going to get from them ANYFUCKINGWAY! They are STILL bargaining against themselves only this time feel better about it because they've convinced themselves that it's ok because Boras isn't "negotiating." The only thing that is different this time is the perception that the Yankees are in control. But since nothing in the market has changed (check that, nothing in the market other than the fact that the Yanks promised a catcher $13 million on his 40th birthday). The same teams are still out there willing to pay A-Rod whatever they're willing to pay him. No team is going to play their true hand until the Winter Meetings and even then it may take another month after that to get A-Rod signed. So the idea that A-Rod misgauged the market is way off base. He has no idea what the market is right now. The only thing he knows is that he needs the Yanks at the very least interested in order to get his top value. And the Yanks were steadfast against Scott Boras being in the room while that negotiation took place. So essentailly he's getting paid the same amount but Boras isn't allowed in the room. And if you don't think that the guy who couldn't decide whether or not he was Puerto Rican or American is having his strings pulled by the Satan's Super Agent, you are nuts. The Yanks are going to pay A-Rod more money than any player in the history of sport because Boras and A-Rod have given them the impression that they are in control. It's f'n absurd.

This situation reminds me of one of my favorite quotes. French poet Baudelaire wrote (and was later bastardized and immortalized by Verbal Kint in the classic, "The Usual Suspects")

"The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Color the Yanks tricked.