MLB's hot stove season ramps up rivalries, freaks out fans

Bob Nightengale | USA TODAY Sports

NASHVILLE - Let’s face it: Every faithful Boston Red Sox fan despises the New York Yankees.

Every born-and-bred Chicago Cubs fan holds the St. Louis Cardinals in disdain.

You can’t live in San Francisco and dare wear blue because of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

So when someone starts losing out in a rivalry during baseball’s hot stove league, despite four months remaining before opening day, there’s a whole lot of anguish and frustration in the streets.

Pick up the telephone, and you can hear it in the voice of one of the Dodgers’ biggest fans, national talk-show host Larry King, who can’t believe what he’s seeing as the rival Arizona Diamondbacks steal the winter headlines — and the Dodgers’ Cy Young Award runner-up.

“I can’t stand what we’re doing,” King told USA TODAY Sports. “Those people in the Dodger front office, they think they’re still in Tampa. This is Los Angeles. We’re in the second-largest market in the country. We lead baseball in home and road attendance. And we haven’t won a World Series since 1988.

“We are not Tampa, but they’re acting like it. They have all of this money — and nothing. We’ve got to do something.”

The Arizona Diamondbacks stunned the baseball world when they signed former Dodgers All-Star Zack Greinke to a six-year, $206 million contract, when everyone assumed it was a two-team race between the Dodgers and Giants.

“My wife talks almost every day to Zack’s wife,” King said. “They loved it here. They wanted to say here. But (the Dodgers) won’t go to a sixth year on his deal and let him walk away. They will rue that day for the next six years.

“This is such a huge disappointment. It’s looking like a third-place team. To this point, and I know it’s still early, but the Dodger front office has been a failure.”

Welcome to baseball’s version of rivalry week, where the game’s traditional rivalries are playing out in the board rooms at the Opryland Hotel and creating panic in the streets back home.

It’s no different in St. Louis, where Cardinals fans have watched the Cubs steal away John Lackey for $32 million, sign free agent second baseman Ben Zobrist to a $56 million contract and be involved in conversations to grab prized free agent outfielder Jason Heyward.

“In my mind, I’m more intrigued what Jason Heyward ultimately ends up doing than anything else,” said former Cubs outfielder Todd Hollandsworth, a Chicago baseball analyst. “The Cubs think the world of him, and the Cardinals don’t want to lose him.

“It’s the rivalry game, and it plays.”

It’s the dream of every agent, playing rival teams against one another and listening to the panic as opposing general managers want to at least make sure their rival doesn’t land him.

“This is the way it used to be in Boston,” Cubs President Theo Epstein said. “It’s starting to feel that way now, too, with us that we’re getting more active in the free agent and offseason hunts. You try not to get too wrapped up in the Cardinals-Cubs thing, but you always hear from agents, “Well, if you don’t step up, he’s going to the Cardinals.’”

Certainly, that was the case when the Cardinals and Cubs were trying to land ace left-hander David Price, the ultimate prize in this year’s free agent market. They feared that if one of them didn’t sign Price, the other would get him.

“It was obvious with the Giants and Dodgers with Greinke that they wanted him so badly and didn’t want the other guy to get him,” said Bo McKinnis, Price’s agent.

“It was the same element with the Cubs and Cardinals with David. It was like, “If you won’t come here, please go to Boston.’”

They got their wish when Price signed a staggering seven-year, $217 million deal with the Red Sox, easily topping the Cardinals’ $180 million offer.

“I was rooting for the Red Sox in that one,” Epstein said.

It’s playing out in the NL West, too. While the Giants and Dodgers have spent so much time focused on one another, along came the Diamondbacks, signing Greinke and then turning around and acquiring front-line pitcher Shelby Miller from the Atlanta Braves.

And, yes, Diamondbacks GM Dave Stewart acknowledged Wednesday, taking Greinke away from their division rivals sure played a factor. And just in case the Dodgers or Giants had any ideas of landing Miller, the Diamondbacks blew away anyone else’s offer with their star-studded package of outfielder Ender Inciarte, top prospect Aaron Blair and Dansby Swanson, the No.1 overall pick in last June’s draft.

“Was it an overpay?” Stewart said. “Not if it means we’re going to win. Quite frankly, we think that it’s time to try to take it to the next level.

“I value the draft picks just as much as other ballclubs. The difference is, if my gut tells me to do something, then I follow my gut.”

It was that same feeling Zobrist had in choosing the Cubs over the five other teams bidding on him, and one that turned out to be a kick in the gut for the Cardinals. It wasn’t as if the Cardinals aggressively pursued Zobrist, but his reasoning certainly caused shivers in St. Louis.

“I wanted to go to Chicago because I believe they’re going to win, and I want to be a part of it,” Zobrist said. “I’ve been an All-Star. I won a championship (with the Kansas City Royals). Now, what else is there really to play for?

“That’s winning a championship in Chicago just because it’s been so long. It’s going to be a blast.”

The Cardinals insist they won’t respond simply because of the Cubs’ moves. Yet the human and competitive elements tell us that for every action, there has to be a reaction.

The Cardinals know they have to bring back Heyward or at least get free agent outfielder Alex Gordon. And they have to bring in a starting pitcher to make up for Lackey’s departure and Lance Lynn’s elbow surgery.

The Cardinals, just like the Dodgers, are trying to preach patience to their fan base, but no one wants to hear it.

“I don’t think you ever want to just focus on what your neighbors are doing,” Cardinals GM John Mozeliak said. “We have a process in place to how we make decisions and why we make decisions, and we’re going to continue to follow that.”

Well, at least until the Cardinals find out that the Cubs’ interest in Heyward might be genuine and not a bluff.

We’ll soon find out.

Let the panic begin.