Pay No Attention to That Team Up North

Its a trend that's been going on for some time now. I'm not sure when exactly it started, maybe it began with the Jose Contreras bidding, or maybe its part of the post 2004 paranoia that should have been banished last October. Regardless, I will never understand the fixation that most Yankees fans seem to have on the Boston Red Sox.

Whenever we're discussing a potential move for the Yankees, the debate usually starts out pretty reasonable. Arguments are pretty logical and, generally speaking, both paths have merit. Eventually though, you will come across somebody that says, "Don't sign him unless he's going to Boston," or something to that effect.

Shockingly, the Yankees and Red Sox all seem to be on the same players year after year and this year is no exception. Whether it be Jason Bay, Matt Holliday, John Lackey, or even Roy Halladay, rumors are floating around connecting them all to the two AL East rivals. Generally, their seems to be somewhat of a consensus that the Yankees don't really need any of these guys. At least, most people seem to prefer looking at in-house options rather than mortgaging the future with another huge contract or blockbuster trade. As soon as we hear that Boston is looking at them though, suddenly we need everybody.

I know I've kind of beaten this to death but I'm going to ask you to remember this one more time. Go back to August 1st and the panic after the trade deadline. Remember the uproar after Cashman stood quietly by and watched the Red Sox trade for Victor Martinez? People were calling for his firing and claiming that the GM was focusing to much on the long-term rather than the 2009 season.

Well, the 2009 season ended up pretty good for the Yankees, didn't it? They managed to keep all their prospects and still won the World Series. On the other hand, Boston gave up some significant prospects for two months of Victor Martinez that, ultimately, didn't end up making any sort of difference either way. They do have another year of Martinez and the trade may still end up looking goo, but the point is that you can't always be so worried about what your rivals are doing.

If a potential move is a good idea, it should be made irregardless of what the competition is doing and if a potential move is a bad idea it should just not be done.