Yankees: October 2007 Archives

Where would Alex Rodriguez go, realistically?  When he left Seattle, he missed being part of a record winning year.  Who knows how far the Mariners would have gone if he had stayed.  In Texas, he put up legendary numbers, but it was clear a lot of rebuilding was going to need to happen for the Rangers to be competitive.  With $252 million securing his financial future (as if that had ever been in doubt), the last thing he needed for his resume was a World Series ring or two.

By choosing the Yankees, A-Rod opted for a club with a proven track record in going after championships.  Maybe not in getting them, but at least in going after them.  The Yankees are nothing if not determined to be competitive; New Yorkers won't have it any other way.

Since his arrival, the Yankees have made the post season every year and A-Rod's been a big help getting there.  Now, getting a ring, that's a different story; A-Rod hasn't been much help on that score.  You can't really lay the blame with any single player.  The Yankees' failure in the post season the last few years has been a team effort.  But, like Tiger Woods, if there was a player of carrying team, certainly it would be Alex.  It's been 3 years now and we really haven't seen the Hall of Fame Alex in the post season.

The Yankees have the biggest payroll in baseball b/c they insist on paying top dollar for top stars.  Sometimes it works (Reggie, David Justice, Bobby Abreu), sometimes it doesn't (Kevin Brown, Carl Pavano, Jared Wright).  Sometimes the results are mixed (Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield).

This year has seen a transformation away from the older, higher paid guys to a bunch of young guys with talent and enthusiasm.  Cano and Melky are here to stay.  Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Joba Chamberlain are names we'll see a lot more of.

Now here we are in A-Rod's walk year.  This season has been different for A-Rod.  All his other numbers from all his other years, great as they've been, are clearly overshadowed by the historic numbers he put up this year in the heat of battle, in NY, in the face of personal criticism (the stripper, his wife's "Fuck You" shirt).  He's matured this year.  He's been a 9th inning powerhouse, a clutch player. 

And here we are in another post season and A-Rod's in his player controlled walk year of his contract.  The numbers being bandied about are obscene.  If he was worth $25 million/year before, there's talk of a number north of $30 million and a 5-7 year extension.

But there's also talk of him leaving NY just to get it.  That's where the Asterisk in the heading above comes in.  Should A-Rod walk, he'll go down in history as a greedy guy just looking for the biggest pay day he could get and he'll earn an Asterisk the same size as Barry's.

If A-Rod wants to be part of baseball history in the best possible light, he should stay in NY.  The Yankees are clearly set to take a new direction as evidenced by the complete transformation the team underwent this season. Out went the old and in came the new.

Who knew the names of Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Melky Cabrera, Robinson Cano back in May?  We know them now.

Andy Pettite's got a little life left in him, Chien-Ming Wang's horse has got a lot of gas, and the young pitchers will fill out the rotation.  Derek Jeter's on a path to possibly surpass Pete Rose as the all time hit leader, plus he's got grit.  Posada's just had a career year and also has grit and he's the guy I want behind the plate calling the game.  Molina's been a huge plus for the Yankees as he's just as good behind the plate and fairly competent with a bat.

That leaves first base.  Mientkiewicz is awesome defensively, but could be improved upon as a hitter.  Mark Teixeira would be huge...

Clemens day is done, the last year of Mussina's contract is going to be very hard to swallow if he doesn't finish out the post season on an up note, the writing is on the wall as far as Rivera is concerned.  He too is going to have to have a solid post season without coughing up any games. 

Nonetheless, unlike many teams, the Yankees can already look forward to 2008 knowing they've already got more than half the team they'll need to make another post season run.

So what does A-Rod do?  He wants a World Series ring.  To get one, you've got to be on a team that can get to the post season.  There's talk of him going to the Cubs.  Good luck, they were 8 games over .500 this year and are only going to the playoffs b/c the NL Central sucks.  Boston?  All depends on Manny and Ortiz.  If either of them start to suffer injuries (Manny already has and Ortiz is so large he's going to) the Boston line-up becomes 100% less fearful.

The Yankees are the team that can almost guarantee another post season run.  If A-Rod works out a money deal with the Yankees (and the Yankees would be crazy not to pony up), he can look forward to more post season chances and a monument next to Babe's, Gehrigs, Dimaggio's, Mantle's.