Babe Ruth will be recognized as the greatest player of all time even after A-Rod breaks Bonds' HR record. What does that mean?
That's exactly my answer. If signing him did not hamstring the team from signing other players that they need (which is a big if), and if moving Wright to 1B did not hinder his development (which is a possible if), of course I'd like him on the Mets - he's an amazing player. I just think that he's been exposed as a douche.
I expect that Babe Ruth will be recognized as the greatest player of all time as long as baseball is being played, since I'm willing to go on record saying that no other player will have a year where he will hit more HRs than every other team in the league (and all but one team in the major leagues), completely revolutionize how the game is played, while also being a HoF-caliber pitcher for four years.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071029/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bba_yankees_rodriguez_33 MLB blasts A-Rod, Boras for announcement
SJ, Just wanted to respond to your post here since I'd like to keep the other one focused more on Girardi... I completely understand the hole that losing Rodriguez creates. I see Girardi as someone who could perhaps lead a charge of younger players and a more balanced lineup. Rodriguez symbolized the problems of the Yankees of the past 4 years, and I'm not just talking about postseason performance. The overall style of play of the individual players wasn't translating well on the field as a group. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but it could be a step to creating a more balanced roster with players who can do more things than just hit for power.
MM, similar to what you said... http://yankees.lohudblogs.com/2007/10/29/long-term-the-yankees-have-opportunity/
I have to disagree with that. The Yankees' biggest problem over the last 4 years has been quality starting pitching and bullpen depth. They've scored MORE than enough runs. Arod was also 4th in the league in OBP, so he does a lot more than just hit for power. The Yankees as a team lead baseball in runs, hits, AVG, and OBP, so as a team they did more than just hit for power. Simply, they were hands down the best offense in baseball in 2007. On the other hand, they were 17th in ERA, 24th in Ks, had the 6th most walks, 22nd in bullpen ERA, and had 21 blown saves. The problem was very clearly the pitching, and that continued in the playoffs with Wang getting lit up twice. Now with their best pitcher leaving, they're going to need that offense more than ever.
I'd leave Wright and move Reyes to 2nd or trade him and put Arod back at SS. It doesn't matter because the Mets won't sign him. Arod is going to The Big A.
One thing I learned about ARod these past 4 years is you have to watch him and not read his stat line. He put up mostly meaningless #s in '04 and '06 especially '06. he killed us all year, we had so many injuries and it was guys like Jeter, posada and Damon carrying us w/ little help from ARod but of course after we were up 6-7 games in August Alex "turned it on" and had a "great" close to the season but of course int he ALDS he had 1 hit and zero RBI. I don't get pleasure from watching a guy chase a HR record, I get pleasure from winning. it was fun watching ARod last summer b/c he was actually clutch for a change but he reverted back to himself in october- that's not fun. So it's the fan's fault ARod couldn't play in october? it's the fans fault 3 of his 4 seasons he couldn't get clutch hits in the reg season? I always wanted to see the man play well b/c we needed him to, unfortunately he always choked in october except for 1 series against the mighty Twins. ARod is to blame, every year he needed to get comfortable, it was always the ARod watch and ARod proved w/ his announcement it's all about him and we don't need gus like that. Let him go break the HR record elsewhere. We'll move forward and get better w/o him just like we were better w/o him pre '04. The man had 1 RBI in his last 16 postseason games- ONE! Bubba Crosby had as many in that time period(and he only had 8 postseason ABs. Did other players play poorly at times? yep but only Alex played poorly all the time. A couple of hits and we beat LAA, Det and/or Cle. 1 RBI in 16 postseason games- ONE! That's 3+ awful, embarrassing series and blame the pitchg for the collapse in '04 but we didn't score enough and he was a part of that. Everyone went cold so i don't blame him for that series but the next 2 he was most responsible for and this year he played a major role. and how ws he the MVP in the series rpe collapse? he had 1 big game and of course it came in a blowout in Game 3. In the first 2 games he had ZERO RBI. Maybe Lug sucks and isn't clutch but you weren't paying $30 mil for it. ARod will kill that LR(which is a big reason why you guys ar so loose and peform under pressure) and you'll see the clutch hitting gradually drop off just like it did here. By the way, let's compare lugo's "lofty numbers" to ARod's last 16 games: Lugo(14 games in '07): 13-48, .271, 3 RBI, 3 doubles, 0 HR, 7 runs ARod(last 16 games): 8-56, .143, 1 RBI, 1 double, 1 HR, 4 runs Better avg. more hits in less ABs, more RBI(even though he's not an RBI guy), more extra base hits, more runs scored. Getting ARod for the Sox makes zero sense, i hope they do it. coincidence or not we had a great clubhouse until ARod got here- we used to ahve clutch hitting too. How did ARod have better postseason #s than Lugo this year? Lugo his .271, Alex .267, Lugo drove in 3, Alex 1 and keep in mind this was a GOOD postseason for Arod batting .267 w/ 1 RBI. I don't think you realize just how bad ARod has been. We've scored more than enough runs in the REGULAR SEASON but we can't hit in otober led by ARod. our pitching hasn't been great but we've had good enough pitchng to win each series we lost if we only got a few clutch hits. Hands down thebest offense in baseball in the '07 reg season but what happened in october? then against the same pitchng Boston battered cleveland's pitching b/c they have guys that hit when it matters. ther sta sluggers are clutch players, ours is not.
Arod and Boras seem to be in big trouble. The hate columns being written today are at an all time high. Some are even encouraging collusion against him. Some sucker probably will pay him but they really better gauge their fans before they do. Seems to me about the only thing Arod could do now is fire Boras and say this isn't wanted he wanted him to do. Otherwise he is going down a very slippery slope. Looks like Torre and Mattingly could end up with the Dodgers. I wonder if that may be where Arod goes too. Seems the Dodgers are trying to get back their identity after Anaheim changed their name to LA.
Junc, you're like an appendix. You had some use in the past, but now all you have potential for is causing pain. I don't know about anyone else, but I, for one, am sick and tired of hearing about how Bubba Crosby has as many RBI in the postseason as ARod over a given period. It's a stupid comment, always was, always will be. It absolutely amazes me that you can sit there and argue for 30 posts that Torre has never been responsible for the Yankee postseason collapse every year, but at the same time manage to blame ARod for every bit of it. My favorite is this though: So it's all ARod? It's not that no one on the entire team, including your boy Jeter, couldn't hit a ball off a tee, it's all ARod's fault. Yeah, that's a great argument junc. This is exactly why ARod opted out, and exactly why I don't hold it against him.
Stupid yet true. You don't seem to get just how embarrassing ARod has been, you defend him over and over(and of course bash a guy like torre who guided us to Championships) yet the man had 1 RBi in his last 16 postseason games while in 8 ABs Bubba had as many RBI. You can call it stupid but it's a fact and it shows just how awful ARod has been in october. Torre as ben a PART of it, everyone shares some blame but no one person gets more than ARod who is our most talented player but has played like our least talented player in october. '04 and '05 were mostly on ARod, he played a large role again this year but guys like jeter and Posada were right there w/ him. The guy was an embarrassment when the stakes were highest, the sooner you can admit this the easier it will be to move on. He opted out for many reasons. he is a greedy bastard and wanted more money, he is all about himself and wanted more attention and he is not mentally tough enough to play here. I wish I could take some credit being part of a group of fans that was responsible for him deciding to opt out but it wasn't the fans, it was the money and attention and being scared to fail yet again on the big stage.
I don't think that is true at all. Like they said on WFAN yesterday, Arod is being led on a leash by Boras. This was all about Boras and his arrogance. He decided that the Yankees wouldn't have the balls to drop out if Arod opted out. He then chose to upstage the WS with his announcement. I am sure Arod had nothing to do with that. Like I said above, Arod is in trouble when the entire sports press is now completely poisoned against him. Even MLB itself is totally pissed. Boras has really overstepped his ground this time. I can't think of anywhere he can go now where he won't get vilified on a daily basis. Certainly no big city where they have more then a single newspaper and what small city could afford him?
You'll get no argument here. On the field of play, our pitching problems overstep any issue with Rodriguez. But by the same token, it's hard to deny his troubles. The thing is, I don't solely blame him for postseason failures like I used to, or junc does. I used to do that, but after this postseason, I kind of got fed up with the entire lineup and realized that although he is no the only problem on offense, he probably is the biggest and holds the most responsibility. Add that on top of his baggage and the egotistical maniac that he is. Everyone tries making the argument that it's not Alex who puts himself in the middle of attention...it's the media and the pressure of the fans, etc. What he did Sunday night is exactly what I'm talking about. It's always about him, and unfortunately there are other players on the Yanks with similar attitudes when they're on the field. Alex's problems are not just on the field of play, but off it, and when you put it all together, running a team becomes ridiculous.
Arod had a better OBP in the playoffs this year, the AVGs were basically the same, and Lugo was a butcher in the field. Getting Arod for the Sox makes perfect sense. It all but wraps up the division for the next three years at least, and, unlike recent Yankee teams, the Sox have the pitching to win once they get to the postseason, regardless of the offense. With Manny and Ortiz in the lineup, even if Arod DOESN'T hit (which I believe he would, since statistically with more ABs he should approach career numbers), the offense would score enough with guys like Beckett throwing the ball.
All year I said if he opts out I think he goes to the west coast. I think that now more then ever. Either SF or one of the LAs. He won't want to be anywhere close to NY. Chicago is out as they don't even know who their new owner will be yet.
Anyone who truly believes that this is "the Fans" fault or is being done because of the uncertainty of the manager/coaching staff is out of their minds and are drinking some Boras kool aid. This is all on Boras and A-rod. This has been planned since Boras first announced the opt-out clause to the media last offseason. Boras has precedence in taking the opt-out clause with JD Drew. While Boras may be a complete douchbag, he is a very smart man and the best agent out there when it comes to getting his clients more than they deserve. Boras knew what he was doing by making the announcement during the series. Boston and the Yankees are not even on the radar for signing A-rod and neither are the Mets. I fully believe that there is an offer already on the table and Boras has probably known about since the middle of the season. If he could of announced the opt-out at the all star game, he would have. Once the 10-day period is over, expect an announcement of his signing with another team. MLB better do a damn good job of finding tampering evidence. It is there but they will have to some serious investigating to find it.
I don't think it will come that quick, that would be too obvious. No, he will try to sell him around to everybody and then announce a deal in late December or early January. However, that doesn't change the fact that there has been tampering. Like I said in an earlier post, the best thing the Yankees can do now is wait for that announcement and then have Hank Steinbrenner say he would have gotten more from us. I wouldn't put it past him to do just that.
