Exit Sandman?

One of my favorite things about living in the city is walking past the newsstand in the morning before I've turned on a television or checked my email and learning of the latest world news from a blaring and usually tasteless headline slapped across either of the New York daily rags. Today was no exception, as I quickly perked up upon seeing Yankees closer Mariano Rivera pumping his fist on the back of the Daily News next to the headline:

"CLOSING TIME: Mo ready to bolt if Yanks don't show him respect"

I'll have to admit I got a kick out of seeing the old r-word bandied about on the headlines again. I wonder if these pitchers from Central America all go to the same translator for their press conferences, and for some reason "dinero" and "respeto" have had their definitions switched.

One of the things that is always highlighted when talking about the Yankees' ridiculous string of AL East championships is the unbelievable security Joe Torre has when the pinstripes take a lead into the late innings. Imagine if that security is gone going into the 2008 season? Obviously the Yanks would pony up for a top flight closer...but that closer could never be on Rivera's plane.

On the other hand, the Yankees have no desire to see the alleged-37-year-old pitch anywhere but in the Bronx. They put an irrationally high premium on seeing their top stars retire in the same uniform they've spent their entire career; we need to look no further than Bernie Williams to see that they will give up a roster spot and a stipend to guys based exclusively on past performance and willfully ignore the fact that by the end of last season they were carrying approximately 15 outfielders and 3 designated hitters on the major league roster. Williams is also holding out this spring, and the Yanks will probably sign him back up. Why? They'll say tradition, but I don't buy it. If I were a fan of that club, I would want to emphasize the part of tradition where they won championships and not so much the part where their backup center fielder hasn't been able to tie his own shoelaces since Mets trade chip Lastings Milledge was a sophomore in high school.

But, as Rivera points out, this entire issue will come down to "respect." And we all know the Yankees will always be the most "respectful" team in the league when it comes down to crunch time.

Because no one else would use their extra "respect" to lure a Central American first-ballot Hall-of-Famer to their club. No one else would be willing to take a loss in trading their incumbent blue-chip closer with 2 years and $21.5 million remaining on his contract to have "Enter Sandman" as the musical interlude into the bottom of the ninth inning as they play their final season in Shea Stadium. No one else would look at an allegedly-38-year-old free agent closer and place more emphasis on the face that will be splashed across the back pages of some major metropolitan newspapers than on the arm that will have almost 1,000 innings on it by that point. Right?

I can see the headlines already.