The mid-revenue Padres strongly expect the Marlins to shop and trade third baseman Miguel Cabrera within five weeks. Confident in Kevin Kouzmanoff and prospect Chase Headley – a Double-A star who will play third and left field in spring training – the Padres will sit out the Cabrera auction. The Padres also will sit out bidding for third baseman Alex Rodriguez. The Padres won’t be surprised if Rodriguez, a Miami native, signs with the Marlins in return for an ownership stake linked to keeping the franchise in South Florida.

I like the idea and it’s certainly a new one, but I wonder whether that’s even possible considering the labor situation in MLB. That would make A-Rod essentially part of both the Players Union and MLB Ownership. There are ways to make it work (via a trust, for example) but I’m wasting time thinking about it.

Bottom-line: A-Rod is likely to get $150 million dollars over the next 5 years from someone else (the Angels?) and will probably end up earning nearly half-a-billion dollars over his career (with endorsements) so he can easily buy the Marlins or some other team when he retires.

I know this will never happen, but it’s cool to read this kind of stuff:

Florida has been trying to get a new ballpark for years, and A-Rod – a Miami boy – would be the biggest chip yet. Imagine a lineup topped by these four: Hanley Ramirez, Dan Uggla, Miguel Cabrera, A-Rod. Wow.

Why not? The Marlins are worth $244 million. And even if owner Jeffrey Loria profited $43.3 million last season, according to Forbes – 58 percent more than the next-best team – he has never shown any desire to spend it. Loria makes Scrooge look like a reckless spender.

Can you imagine if Forbes is actually right about the $43.3 Million? A few years like that and the Fish could easily pay their share of the stadium funds which, according to Miami-Dade officials, is one of the few remaining hurdles.