01:34 AM EST on Thursday, March 30, 2006

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Maybe it's the Florida sun, or a case of spring training being too long. But lately, players have been saying the darndest things.

Take Tony Graffanino, who was claimed on waivers by the Kansas City Royals Tuesday and is thus assured of collecting his entire $2.05-million salary this season.

Graffanino, upset after being spending his spring in limbo, told the Hartford Courant Tuesday that the Sox "screwed me, basically.Not only did they mess up this season, but next season, too. They took a decent amount of money out of my pocket and a lot of security and added a lot of uncertainty and a lot of frustration."

The Red Sox' sin? They had the audacity to offer Graffanino salary arbitration. After obtaining Mark Loretta from the San Diego Padres, the Sox believed Graffanino would recognize that he no longer had a starting job with the Sox and would seek a contract elsewhere. In offering him arbitration, the Sox were merely protecting themselves by lining up a draft pick (or two) as compensation for him going elsewhere.

It's part of the business. When a player is virtually guaranteed to go elsewhere, teams routinely offer arbitration in order to stockpile an extra pick or two.

Unfortunately for Graffanino, the Red Sox' decision had some unintended consequences. Graffanino would now come with strings attached -- any team signing him would have to forfeit draft picks in the process.

So, predictably, interest dipped. To protect himself, Graffanino accepted salary arbitration, thus binding him to the Sox, who had no spot for him.

"I had no choice," insisted Graffanino.

Perhaps not. But with the threat of salary arbitration as a wedge, Graffanino was able to command a salary of just over $2 million. Without that sort of leverage, it's doubtful that Graffanino would have commanded anything better than a two-year, $3-million offer.

Remember, this is a player who had never collected as many as 300 at-bats in a single season until last season. Graffanino is a capable, versatile player -- nothing more, nothing less.

If there was so much interest in Graffanino, why was it the Red Sox were unable to move him for a mid-level prospect despite weeks worth of work?

Had the Royals not stepped in and claimed to him for their bench, the Red Sox could have terminated Graffanino's deal yesterday, paid him just over $500,000 and set him adrift just days before rosters are finalized.

Then again, Graffanino's comments were no sillier than some made by Trot Nixon, who, in the aftermath of Monday's eruption by teammate Julian Tavarez, suggested to the Associated Press that the fault might lie with, all of people, Bud Selig.

The commisioner's crime? He installed the dastardly unbalanced schedule in 2000.

"This," said Nixon, "is a prime example of why Bud Selig needs to take a look at teams playing each other 19 times."

Sorry, but Julian Tavarez is fully capable of behaving foolishly against a team he hardly knows. In fact, he did so Monday.

The last time Tavarez pitched in the American League, the Devil Rays didn't even exist. So there was no long-held animosity, no past incidents that contributed to his eruption Monday. Tavarez simply lost his cool -- as he's done frequently in his career -- and, unprovoked, slugged Joey Gathright in the jaw.

Nixon is smart enough to know that the unbalanced schedule -- in which Red Sox fans are treated to three visits to Fenway by the Yankees, rather than two by the Detroit Tigers -- has been a boon for baseball.

The more times the Yankees play the Red Sox, or the Cardinals play the Cubs, or the Dodgers play the Giants, the better it is for the game and for the fans.

If hot-headed relievers can't maintain their composure -- in a spring training game, no less -- that won't change by going back to a balanced schedule. It's too bad that Nixon felt the need to rationalize Tavarez's irrational behavior.

Casey Stengel once famously asked of his inept Mets team: "Can't anyone here play this game?" If the ol' Professor were alive today, he might have to amend his question. "Can't anyone here take responsibility?"

"It's a 'victim' culture," sighed one baseball executive, "not a 'responsibility' culture."

Sad, but true.

smcadam@projo.com / (401) 277-7340