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I don't get the Pedro and Vaughn comparisons. They weren't unloaded as headaches. The were free agents whose offers from the Mets the Sox (wisely in both cases) refused to match. The Sox would probably have kept both--at what they thought was the right price.
Look--this is a business. It always has been a business. Anyone who has this romantic ideal that teams used to be run as civic ventures for the fans need only look to the history of the team that traded for Manny yesterday--how its scumbag onwer, miffed that he couldn't blackmail a new stadium at taxpayer expense out of NY City, took the most beloved franchise in professional sports away from the most loyal fans in sports and moved it a continent away--bringing his stooge Horace Stoneham and the Giants with him.
Owners held the upper hand for close to a century and could treat the players like dirt due to the reserve clause--"you'll play for us at our price, or you won't play at all". Now the players have the upper hand, and can force owners to trade them for below market value. But don't kid yourself--it always was just a business.
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