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.