By Gary Dzen
Sports Columnist


The recent trade that brought Alex Rodriguez to the Bronx in exchange for Alfonso Soriano has all but assured Yankees fans that their team will be on top come October.

Even better, the Red Sox nation is reeling, having failed in their bid to get A-Rod a month earlier. The crisis was epitomized last week by Red Sox poster-fan Ben Affleck, who was seen at the Daytona 500 lashing out at George Steinbrenner. Last I checked Matt Damon’s coattails were beginning to wear thin.

If you are not a Yankees fan, there is a lot to dislike about this trade. The rich have just gotten richer.

The 2002 labor deal, designed to limit New York’s edge over the competition, has affected every team except the Yankees, who last year paid over 53 million dollars to the revenue-sharing pot. Their payroll this season is approaching 200 million. Teams like Kansas City and Minnesota, whose combined payrolls don’t come close to half of what the Yankees spend, have every reason to feel that the this inequity prevents them from competing with the Yankees on the field.

So, that’s it right? The Yanks got A-Rod. Why even play the season?

To put it bluntly, the Yankees have by no means assured a World Series, and may not have even improved their team all that much from last year.

A-Rod is by many accounts the best player in the game, although Bonds, Pujols, and Guererro may take issue with that.

How then, does adding the best player in the game to last year’s AL champion not significantly improve their chances?

First off, the Yankees didn’t exactly trade Enrique Wilson to get Rodriguez. He currently plays second base for the Yankees, which is a whole different issue. Alfonso Soriano is one of the best young players in the game. He is a legitimate threat to steal 30 bases and hit 30 home-runs, and may be the only 40-40 threat in baseball today. Only six players have more homers than Soriano over the past two seasons, and no one has more extra base hits.

When you take Rodriguez away from Texas, where he will no longer be a member of the home team, the numbers are similar as well. Soriano has more homers, more runs scored, and a much higher batting average (.311 to .279) on the road than Rodriguez over the past two seasons. You can look it up.

Speaking of being away from Texas, how is A-Rod going to handle playing in New York?

He has never played in a big market, and will have more pressure put on him by the media, the fans, and Steinbrenner than any other athlete in sports.

What if the Yankees don’t go 140-22 and win it all?

Worse, what if he decides that the best player in baseball shouldn’t play second fiddle to Derek Jeter, and asks to play shortstop?

The blame for every Yankees mistake will fall squarely on A-Rod’s shoulders.

Well, in the end, the blame could ultimately fall on the shoulders of the Yankees pitching staff.

Clemens, Pettite, and Wells are gone, and in their place are Vazquez, Brown, and Lieber. Brown is a physical wreck, having missed 46 starts due to injury over the last four years. Lieber was terrific once, but has not pitched in the majors since having his elbow surgically repaired in 2001. And Jose Contreras, a player Steinbrenner wanted simply to take him away from the Red Sox, has made only nine career starts.

If this rotation fails, the Yankees are just about out of prospects to trade for another big time pitcher. Makes Martinez, Schilling, and Lowe sound awfully good come playoff time.

And who will be the Yankees’ good luck charm this year?

World Series hero Aaron Boone was last year’s Luis Sojo: the seldom used, underappreciated player who came off the bench to get the big hit.

Boone’s good fortune this time appears to have been tearing his ACL playing basketball and requiring the Yankees to pursue A-Rod in the first place.

Well, the Yankees just released Aaron Boone. For a team that puts so much faith in curses, it might have helped to keep at least one guy like that around.

I don’t envy Joe Torre right now.

There are more egos in the Yankees club house than there have ever been, and chemistry is likely to be volatile.

Face it folks, these are not Scott Brosius’ Yankees.

Torre is the best manager in baseball, but has not been treated as such by the organization over the last couple of years. How long will he be willing to put up with this Yankees circus?

The Yankees are still the favorite to win it all in 2004. But weren’t they also in 2001, 2002, and 2003?

If I’m not mistaken, the Diamondbacks, Angels, and Marlins have won the last three World Series.

You can look it up.

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