LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Late night. Chatter echoing. Beers cold and bourbon neat. Psst, wanna know what the industry really thinks of the mighty New York Yankees flexing their considerable financial muscle to trade for Giancarlo Stanton?
"Yeah, they're going to be…hated," one American League executive says in a dark hallway off of the packed lobby above the clinking of the ice cubes at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.
"The game's better when they're hated."
FROM RAGE TO RHAPSODY, amazement to amusement, the Yankees' acquisition of Stanton and their inheritance of the remaining 10 years and $265 million on his deal have sent Major League Baseball into orbit.