Guts and money are a winning combination.(Closer)

Did you ever play Monopoly growing up? Didn't you hate it when someone had Park Place and Boardwalk? Didn't you really hate it when that person got up enough money to put hotels on both? Once that happened, it was just a matter of time before the game was over. That's kind of what George Steinbrenner did when he acquired Alex Rodriguez last week.

As a fan, I understand the best player needs to be on the biggest stage to optimize his marketability, but I also have to wonder if that's good for baseball. I'm one of the biggest players association guys you'll meet. I was a player rep during the 1994 strike, so I know a little about the business of baseball. But what does it say about our game when a team can trade an MVP, pay the other team $67 million and be ecstatic about it? None of that makes any sense.

Still, the Rangers had to do this deal. A-Rod's contract might have been the biggest goof, financially, in the history of the sport. Rangers owner Tom Hicks could afford the $252 million he agreed to pay A-Rod, and the market was at a weird point when the deal was signed after the 2000 season, but a contract like that makes no sense in any market. Then again, Rodriguez was the one player, and Scott Boras the one agent, who could have pulled off such a negotiation. To their credit, they got it done. From one player to another, way to go.

Three years later, the Rangers did what was necessary, but why the Yankees? They get everything they want and always will, but did Steinbrenner have to rub ...