The A's Wednesday traded P Andrew Bailey to the Red Sox, and in Oakland, Monte Poole writes the A's “are announcing they're packing it in for 2012 and maybe even 2013” by trading the players “who have represented Oakland in the last three All-Star games, all in a three-week span.” The club traded P Gio Gonzalez to the Nationals last week and P Trevor Cahill to the D'Backs earlier in December. MLB “has an ownership team brazenly deciding to ‘throw’ a season three months before opening day,” and the A's are “doing this under [Commissioner Bud] Selig's nose, practically waving the white flag in his eyes.” Poole: "Any high-minded rhetoric about integrity from the commissioner has to be considered disingenuous at best, downright fraudulent at worst. How can such a naked exhibition of surrender not hurt the game?” (OAKLAND TRIBUNE, 12/29). San Jose Mercury News columnist Tim Kawakami said, "They’ve pulled everything off the table, I believe, in a slightly cynical way to say, ‘Hey, if we can't look to San Jose, look how bad we're going to be. Look how much money we're going to lose'" ("Chronicle Live," Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, 12/28). MLB Network's Larry Bowa said, "This team right here, they’re probably going to play in front of under a million people for the entire season. There’s not going to be a lot of people that are going to spend a lot of money to go watch this product." MLB Network's Bill Ripken said, "What we’re seeing right now is just a trailer for ‘Moneyball 2’" (“Hot Stove,” MLB Network, 12/28).
BARGAIN HUNTERS: In New Jersey, John Brennan wrote fans should not “expect to find a bargain for Sunday night’s Giants-Cowboys game at MetLife Stadium” as this is a “triple-whammy for secondary market buyers.” The game is “effectively a playoff game, with the winner capturing the NFC East title and the loser eliminated.” The Cowboys have “thousands of fans in the New Jersey/New York marketplace, driving up demand.” Sunday is New Year’s Night, but “Monday is the official work holiday,” so for once, most “fans in the stands get to sleep in the next morning without using a vacation day.” Throw in “a decent weather forecast -- low of 34 and only a slight chance of precipitation -- and the elements are there for a bonanza for those looking to sell” (NORTHJERSEY.com, 12/28).
COVERING THEIR BASES: In N.Y., Andrew Keh reports the Yankees asked the team’s Head Physician Chris Ahmad to “research the procedure and the doctor in question, Peter Wehling of Düsseldorf,” from whom 3B Alex Rodriguez planned to receive treatment on his shoulder and knee. Ahmad “also talked to the Lakers’ staff about [G Kobe] Bryant, who was treated by Wehling last summer.” Yankees GM Brian Cashman said the team reached out to MLB “to make sure there was a complete comfort level that there was nothing in this process utilized that violated the drug program.” The research and discussions “were sufficient to satisfy the Yankees’ concerns, and Rodriguez traveled to Düsseldorf on Dec. 5.” He stayed “five days for treatment on his left shoulder and surgically repaired right knee.” Afterward, the Yankees received “a signed statement from Wehling assuring them that no substances banned under the drug programs followed by baseball and the World Anti-Doping Agency had been used” (N.Y. TIMES, 12/29).
