Plus, in fairness, I pointed to Pavano as one of the rarities yesterday. :smile: Anyway, ARod's deal is completely dependent on whether he hits another 163 home runs. If he does, it doesn't matter what they're paying him in 2015. If he doesn't, well, that's not so good. It's more likely the Yankees will end up regretting Derek Jeter's next deal by the end of the contract.
Seriously declined? Or just having an off year? (Or possibly bothered by his hip?) You can't really say at this point. It seemed like he was starting to heat up a bit when he got to 599, and then he sputtered out. We'll see what happens.
Yeah, interestingly enough, the whole team sputtered simultaneously too. Then ARod crushed #600. Personally, I think his hip has been bothering him more than he's admitting (or he at least fears it.) Watch his stride during his swing. He starts wider and takes a shorter stride. When he gets over the fear of re-injury, he's going to be blasting them again. That might be 2011 though.
Of course it could be just an off year, but I'm less inclined to think so with a 35 year old. That's a given. I think both deals will not look good when it's all said and done.
Well, of course... but you said he's been showing that he's seriously declined. I assume you're basing that off his (somewhat) lackluster performance this year (OPS of .807). Look, he's definitely entering the phase of his career where players see their performance decline. No one is expecting him to get better, and I'm not holding my breath to see him OPS over 1.000 for an entire season again. But I also doubt he's going to put up an OPS of ~.800 - which is 150 points below his career average - from here on out, either. That's just ridiculous.
