I am by far the least versed in baseball among this esteemed NH staff so I will raise the issue and defer to expertise.
Tell me all your thoughts on A Rod's postseason woes and his future in pinstripes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Sports thoughts from under the Lateral...
8 comments:
I was thinking about this exact subject today. I thought it would be great for someone to sit down and consider what the 2008 New York Yankees will look like from top to bottom. Any volunteers?
What are their outstanding contracts for 2008? Will A-Rod opt out? What team options will be picked up? Will Pettitte exercise his player option? What free agents are on the market and fit the Yankees system? Who will be managing the clubs? Any changes to the Cashman/Levine braintrust? What about ole Georgie? Will his influence continue to wane with his health?
That's crazy that we were on the same page today Chris.
Here are my relatively (quick) thoughts on A-Rod:
He's owed $81M over 3 years by the Yankees from the $252M deal he signed with the Rangers. As part of the trade, the Rangers agreed to pick up $7M per. So, of that $81M owed, $60M comes from NYY and $21M comes from Rangers' owner Tom Hicks. The person most excited about the possibility of an A-Rod opt out is certainly Mr. Hicks who will immediately be free of that $7M per year mistake.
The ONLY way A-Rod returns to NYY is if they hammer out an extension, and thus they get subsidized with Mr. Hick's money. Don't think for one second if A-Rod opts out will the Yanks be even in the conversation.
Suitors for his services are limited as Boras wants (and realistically expects) $30M to $35M per over 8-10 years. Expect the only serious bidders to be the Cubs, Red Sox, Giants, Angels and Dodgers. Each brings something unique to the table. When it is all said and done, I'm predicting that Arte Moreno signs A-Rod to a backloaded $280M deal over nine years with, yes, an opt-out clause A-Rod can exercise in 2013.
I think the actual key to this issue is if they make a decision on Joe Torre before the 10 day opt out deadline. A-Rod will find money, New York will find always be the highest bidder, but he will get paid. But if Torre stays then so do people like Rivera, Pettite, Posada etc. If they are still there then A-Rod will explore his options because he would rather be the only show in town.
If that happens then Mets, Boston, Cubbies, Atlanta, San Diego, Dodgers? All would bring him to teams where he would be the big dog on an immediate contender (Chicago is the only outlier there, but they also have the best team)
But if Torre leaves, then the Yanks have a mass exodus behind him and A-Rod become the only thing the Yankees have other than the young guns. And no incoming free agents will be able to trump A-Rod.
At the end of the day I still think A-Rod will submarine any team he goes to because now that he has choked in the post-season 3 years in a row that is all he is going to hear about in the post season and he obviously does not respond to preassure well.... so as much as Hanley wants a new shortstop Maybe A-Rod isn't the best idea. Although I heard he was raised on a goat farm....
Lineup for NYY April 2008:
1. Cabrera CF
2. Jeter SS
3. Bonds DH
4. Matsui LF
5. Abreu RF
6. Cano 2B
7. Lowell 3B
8. Giambi 1B
9. LaDuca C
SP: Phillip Hughes
Closer: Joba
Gone: Posada, Rivera, AROD, Torre
Opening Day Lineup: CHC
1. Soriano LF
2. Theriot 2B
3. Lee 1B
4. ARod SS
5. Ramirez 3B
6. DeRosa RF
7. Soto C
8. Pie CF
9. Zambrano P
*Joe Torre next manager of the Redlegs?
While Boras might be talking about 35+ million a year and ownership options, I don't think any reasonable team is going to touch those demands. The only team that might come close is a high-revenue team who is lacking any type of draw and excitent.
Ironically, as Flip mentioned, that might be the Yankees next year. But they aren't going to get in a bidding war for him. That leaves my pick for the next home of A-Rod:
Peter Angelos and Baltimore, come on down!!!! You're the next team to tie up hundreds of millions into a player that will handcuff your franchise for years to come.
If Cuban buys the Cubbies, then A-Rod is a North-Sider, no question in my mind.
But I think that's an outside chance.
Based on the feeling in New York, Torre is gone, but every media outlet and most of the fans are a little weirded out by the fact that the axe didn't drop in dramatic Steinbrenner fashion.
Torre's gone, and following him out the door are Petite, Rivera, Clemens, and A-Rod. I think Posada stays.
Barring the Cuban thing, I think A-Rod ends up in Boston, cause Theo wants to slap the Boss and Cashman around a little bit, and he'd be willing to drop 200+ Mil to take a chance that A-Rod breaks a shit ton of records and maybe his postseason jinx in a Sox uni.
I agree that the Yankees will not get into a bidding war over A-Rod however I think they make him a good offer and there's a 70% chance he stays in NY. Otherwise, the fan in me says he wants to prove himself in the playoffs and will go to a team that is a guarantee for the playoffs for the next few years (i.e. BoSox or Yankees). If he stays in pinstripes he is guaranteed to be on a team that will do whatever it takes to get to the playoffs where he is dying to prove himself once and for all.
I do like the idea of SD ponying up some major dough to get A Rod's bat into their lineup to backup the lights out aces on the mound here in Jacqueline Gagne town. I just don't know if they're willing to pay up.
Agreed, if Mark Cuban buys the Cubs, A Rod will likely get an offer he can't refuse--however I don't think Cuban will be an MLB owner next year.
A bat like A-Rod's might get you to October, but it is never going to carry you to a Championship. This A-Rod fiasco is so overblown its crazy. The real question should be how much could Johan Santana command on the open market next year.
Post a Comment