First of all, I think your right in your assessment of the deal itself. It's a good trade based on the depth of the sox pitching. Also, Wily Mo is a good power hitter and could potentially explode in time.

My answer to the question of "Did the Red Sox owe Arroyo any loyalty" is yes. The yes isn't specifically for Arroyo but for the future of the team itself. It owes itself the ability to negotiate a good deal in good faith and move forward with that decision. They now don't have that. 90% of the time, you'll never run into a player willing to do this, especially in MLB. They've just assured themselves that no one will ever do it with this team again.

It's okay to be a snake when no one will find out, but the stupidity of this organization blows my mind. Perception is huge and knowing that they could care less about how they're perceived just goes to show that this management team needs to go back to business school. And the driver of the bus should be Theo. He's an arrogant little &*@# whose age or lack there of is starting to make an impact. Jump on this bandwagon boys and girls, it'll be tipping over real soon and going south quickly.

Although, I agree with both you and especially GHR, I also can't help thinking what's good for the goose is good for the gander. Maybe Damon and especially Pedro have taught us the rules we need to play by now.

I love this move by the SOX. Bronson will never be anything more than what he is right now....which in my opinion is just a mediocore pitcher. Pena on the other hand, could blossom into one of the better power hitters in the game.

You have to leave emotion out of this stuff when evaluating it. Both the players and owners are looking out for # 1 and that will never change. No one should ever criticize a player for choosing the team that is going to give the biggest contract. I would do the same thing. The same thing goes for the owners...they have to look at what is best for their team.

It is a good trade. The only way it probably was going to get done is by screwing Aroyo. That's okay, right ATrain? It's not. Let's ask a simple hypothetical quesition. Do you think that if the sox weren't the snakes they were, maybe, just maybe a player like Damon would've stayed put? Maybe taken the hometown discount? You never know will you? I've seen your comments before and I know you could never believe it especially now that he's gone. He's the enemy. Get a grip.

One thing for sure is that every single player on this team moving forward will be out to screw the sox or take the quickest money offer rather then try to work to help them. They made their bed. Now they're going to lay in it. It's business and you don't run a business like that. It nails you in the end.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg, George HR? Did the players screw over the owners first or did the owners screw over the players first? I don't think Sox fans had as much of a problem with Pedro and Damon taking the money, as they did listening to them talk out of their asses about being "disrespected" because the Sox did match offers coming out of New York.

I agree this may prevent other players from taking the home town discount in Boston in the future. But then again, I can't seem to recall ONE superstar baseball player who ever taken the home town discount to stay. Mo Money? Rocket? Pedro? Damon?
It's guys like you and Teddy who are always ready to place the blame squarely on management and nobody else. If you ask Teddy, I'm sure he'll take Pedro's and Damon's side every time. In his eyes, they can do no wrong. Either that, or he's just playing devil's advocate.

Regardless, it takes two to tango ladies. MLB owners and players union deserve each other! And we're the suckers who pay their salaries and sit here and blog to each other about it, while they make millions!

Well, at least Teddy makes millions in advetiisemnts on this site, right Teddy?

The players are just being players. You know, boys will be boys? Accepted and will continue to be forever. The problem here is the parents are acting like siblings instead of parents. How's that for an analogy T2? It's gross and pathetic.

You even said, that you agree it may now prevent players from taking the home town discount. If you can't see that theres a problem there, you never will. No excuse for you. You just can't see it and it's too bad. There's really no need for a debate.

Easy Hillary.

The parents and children analogy makes no sense, as it's the owners who take the financial risks to make an organization succesful. While the players feel as though they are being mistreated while still making their guaranteed millions. Poor guys, tough life. I really feel bad for them. They get paid millions for fame and fortune to play a GAME. What's even more pathetic is the entitlement people like you give these prima dona's.

But then again, you're probably one of those guys who feels he's entitled to all things. Even if you didn't work as hard as the next guy to earn it. Why? Because everybody is created equal, right? What's your excuse?

Okay, Ted Panos, I hope you'll be answering some of these responses and the first one should be to silence T2. Clueless. Doesn't even know what he's talking about. Roots for idiocy.

Don't parents take the financial risk? Analogy makes no sense???? First of all, Aroyo is no primadona. He cut a deal to help his team. It's pretty cut and dry. Black and white, What don't you get??????? They should have kissed him first. It's nothing more then that. It's pretty simple. Good deal if it wasn't done the way it was done. This is pretty basic stuff. How do you not understand?

Why should I be silenced, because I don't agree with you? Unfortunately, it isn't basic stuff, which is probably why you don't get it.

It's become all about the agents and the players and unfair advantages to the larger markets. Once MLB and the player's union get their acts together and try to follow the NFL model of parity, then everybody involved in baseball will benefit. Till then with the Yankees' unlimited payroll, and the Red Sox, Mets and Angels second tier payrolls, there will be no competition and no loyalty when facing the pressures to produce for the afformentioned larger markets. It's just the way baseball has evolved and it's not good for the game. BOTH the players union and the owners need to step up and stop this downward spiral. But with small market owners happy to get paid sitting on poor teams and receiving royalties from the higher revenue teams, there is no motivation to do anything differently. MLB needs a cap and a floor, simple as that.

Simple enough for ya?

Arroyo on Theo:

"We were definitely close, probably as close as you could get as a GM to a player, but the game is business, man," Arroyo said with no apparent bitterness. "It's like playing a chess match, man. It's just pieces on the freaking board.

Arroyo:

Before agreeing to give the Red Sox a hometown discount, Arroyo said, he told the team's negotiators that "I'm not signing this deal to end up in Tampa Bay in two weeks. And they said to me, `There's no deal for you on the table right now and we don't foresee trading you anytime in the near future.' Those were the exact words."

"In my mind this is pretty soon, but they told me there was no guarantee," he said.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-redsox-arroyosfarewell&prov=ap&type=lgns

T2, Don't try to discuss anything in a simple manner with me. I get it. What I get the most is how YOU don't get it. Where do you come from? You know, we're in the 21st century here, not the 1900's.

The fact remains that the Sox Management acted in an ignorant manner that will potentially hurt them in the future. It was a mistake the way they lined it up. It has nothing to do with anything that you're talking about. Stick to the subject. It only has to do with a junior GM not seasoned enough to handle these things. Don't ask him though, he'd let you know that he's the best and knows exactly what to do and if you don't agree with him, he'll quit...............again. One more thing, don't throw quotes out that no one really cares about. Aroyo obviously is being a stand up guy.

Ouch.

I'm not the one second guessing management and babying the players, and that's the point I'm trying to make. It's a business and that's the way they run it. If you want to run it like you run your mouth, I'm sure it would be just as succesful and impressive as your current business endeavor.

It never ceases to amaze me how nobody's, like yourself, can sit back and take pot shots without acknowldgeing that there is always two sides to a story. But what would you expect from simple minded individuals who make excuses for the players with simple analogies like "boys will be boys".

That being said, Arroyo is a stand up guy and I am sad to see him go the way he did. It's unfair. Unfortunately, it was also naive of him to expect better considering the state baseball is in. Sadly, that's the world we live in today as well.

Screw Aroyo. Did anyone see Wily Mo hit last night. He's going to be a monster.

But the media has already prepared us that Wily Mo will strike out more than Mark Bellhorn!