The big market teams are making it rain on some hos (in this case "hos" refers to free agents).

The baseball off-season has been slow to develop, unless your team was already awesome.  The Yanks got Granderson; the Sawx got Lackey and Mike Cameron; the Phillies traded one ace to Seattle (Lee) for another from Toronto (Halladay); the Angels got Matsui; the Mets will probably land Jason Bay; the Cardinals are desperate to re-sign Holliday.

What is the significance of these moves other than to their respective teams?  The good teams got better, and they’re all big markets except the one with the best player on the planet [Note: the Mets were not good last year, but they are a big market team with a high payroll].  That’s how it goes in recession-era sports.  Want more proof?  Here are the major NBA off-season moves:

LA got Artest; the Spurs got RJ; Dallas got Matrix; the Magic got VC; Atlanta got Crawford; the Celtics got Sheed; Houston got Ariza; and the Cavs got Shaq.

The parallels are all there.  If your team was in contention or close to it, they got better.  If they weren’t, they got worse.  Why?  Winning teams in big markets sell tickets.  Thus they can afford to raise payroll (or in the case of the NBA, afford to pay the luxury tax for exceeding the salary cap).  All of those teams who did/will contend are from big markets with two exceptions 1) Orlando is a small market, but only has one team that is well-supported and contends; and 2) the Cavs/Cardinals: both desperate to hang onto the best player of their respective sports (LeBron & Pujols) with the fear that they will leave town for a team with a higher payroll who can pay for other top players and win titles thus ultimately devastating the team and the city’s economy and perhaps lead to the team having to leave town.

Yes, these are the economics of sports in the current recession.  Yes, the playoffs of both sports will be immensely entertaining due to the arms race of talent signings and trades.  The good teams got better.  The bad teams got worse.  And we may see a series of teams having to relocate in the next few years as a result.  Just like in real life over the last decade, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  Oh, and then there’s my Chicago teams which are in the 3rd biggest market and have tons of money, and yet all of them suck (except for the Blackhawks, but nobody cares about hockey anyway).  At least my fantasy teams are worth rooting for.

It must suck to be from Missouri today. Glad I only live here and get to revel in their misery.

Also, it rained ALL EFFING DAY, without stop, across the entire state. This surely was an Omen?

This is Bud Selig's idea of a party.

For those of you that haven’t seen any of the playoff games, good for you.  I guarantee you were doing something better.  And for those of you, like me, who have watched them closely: I’m sorry.  Seriously.  These games have sucked.  My eyes want a refund.  Here’s my break down:

Rockies at Philly Game 1

BORING!  Normally I like a pitcher’s duel, but I usually like a 1-1 or 2-1 pitcher’s duel.  0-0 is just boring.  Nothing happens.  No big hits, no runs scored, nothing to get excited about.  And this game had that early on, but then the Phillies blew it open in one inning and the game was over.  So first nothing happened for a long time, and then it was pretty much a blowout. What a waste of time.  Cliff Lee did pitch a complete game and was one out away from a shutout.

Twins at Yankees

This game also sucked.  The Yankees pounded the Twins for runs early and often, while CC shut their offense down early and for good.  No fun, unless you’re a Yanks’ fan and wanted to see your team beat up on another team that was still tired from playing an extra innings game the night before just to squeak into the playoffs in the first place.  This game was a dry hump.

Cardinals at Dodgers Game 1

Finally!  A good game!  And I only had to wait til 11PM eastern time on a Wednesday to watch it!  But for serious, this game was fun to watch.  Both teams scored early, with Chris Carpenter giving up an uncharacteristic early homer to Matt Kemp, but they kept it close from there on.  The game was 2-1, then 3-1, then 3-2…  Eventually the Dodgers seemed like they had handled the Cardinals and there wasn’t much action late, no comeback from the Cards.  But at least this game grabbed my interest early and held it for most of the game.  Thanks guys.

Dodgers at Cardinals Game 2

Ha ha!  I love it when my team’s rivals sh*t the bed!  How does that feel Cardinals fans?  Does it hurt?  How do you feel about your shiny new toy, Matt Holliday, after he just shot his new team in the foot right when it matters most?  I want to drink your tears, St. Louis.  In case you couldn’t tell from my gloating, Matt Holliday had a costly error in the 9th inning to rob his team of a win.  I love schadenfreude.

Rockies at Philly Game 2

This game would have been boring at first if it weren’t for the fact that the team that lost the last game was taking revenge and trying to play spoiler to the home team.  Aaron Cook pitched brilliantly, shutting out the Phillies through the first 5 innings.  But then the Phillies made it interesting, pulling within 4-3 when the heart of their massive lineup started driving each other across the plate.  But in the end, this one went to the underdogs.  Now the series is tied heading into Denver.  Consider me excited.

Red Sox at Angels

Fahk, dude.  The fahking Red Sawks put up a stinkah!  This game was as pleasant as a wet fart.  It borrowed from the Rockies/Phillies game 1 blue print.  Nobody scored for a long time, then it was suddenly over.  The big guns definitely stepped up for the Angels, with John Lackey shutting out the Sox in 7+ innings of work and Torri Hunter hitting a three run homer.  On the other side, Boston didn’t even manage an extra base hit.  Way to show up, guys.  Again, just a sh*tty game, unless you’re an Angels fan.  So good for you, all three of you.

I'm pretty sure I know who just farted.

The Cardinals won the Matt Holliday sweepstakes, much to the chagrin of every other team in the tight NL Central.  They traded a good 3B prospect, an outfielder, and a pitcher for the former MVP candidate.  So what are the implications of this trade?  Find out after the jump.

First, my Cubbies are done for 2009.  Not only did we out-think ourselves in the off-season, but we got outmaneuvered during the season.  Now Mark DeRosa is a Cardinal (AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!), along with the best hitter on the trade market.  And we’re stuck with Milton Bradley as our albatross.  Way to go, Hendry.  The Cards can hoist their pennant right now if they want.  They already had the two best pitchers in the division in Carpenter and Wainwright, and now they have the two best hitters as well.  Their outfield looked ok before, and now it looks loaded with four genuine starters that will have to split time.  And now that DeRosa is healthy, their lineup as a whole looks great.  It will probably look like this:

1. Schumaker  2. Rasmus  3. Pujols  4. Holliday  5. Ludwick  6. DeRosa  7. Molina  8. Ryan/Lugo  9. pitcher; with Ankiel mixed in.

Secondly, the Cardinals just proved to Albert Pujols that they are committed to winning and that he should stay put when his contract is up.  I’m not sure this is the best move for that, or is even necessary though.  The Cards can, and have, won during his tenure (see 2006 World Series).  And the 3B prospect that they traded is pretty sick supposedly.  I’m not sure why he would want to force their hand to make a deal that only gives them a half season of Matt Holiday.  But that’s mitigated by two things: One, they genuinely have a shot at the World Series this season now, running away with the division and just topping the Phils in pitching while barely trailing them in hitting.  And two, if they somehow retain Holliday after this year, though there’s little chance of the Cardinals being able to pay him what he can get on the open market, they will contend for the next several years.

Thanks for making this trade happen, God. What? GM John Mozeliak made the trade? Oh. Well thanks anyway.