Running 2011 Baseball Thread, Vol. I: Dedicated to spnited

I like the first headline better.

And I have to say ... damn, Albom's good, he even guessed the score right.

 

Cold-blooded and calculating are exactly the reasons they will KEEP him around. If you don't see the value in having him pursue the all-time HR record* wearing pinstripes, you're nuts. Ticket sales, merchandising, brand recognition ... all will see an increase as A-Rod nears 762. They're not going to eat $70 million.

EDIT: unless, as I said, it become obvious that he WON'T pass Bonds. If that happens, then, yes, I can see them trying to cut ties.

 

If A-Roid were a popular (and clean) Yankee, I'd agree the team would do everything in its power to exploit his run for the record.

Considering his history, though, do you think either the Yankees fans or the brass want any part of celebrating A-Roid as he limps toward Bonds on joints that are being slowly eroded by years of PED use?

 

His contract says, yes, yes they do.

 

Yeah, they've got him for six more years, and he isn't going away for anything less than 100 cents on the dollar. He needs 134 more HRs, so figure five years, maybe four. They might as well recoup the money.

 

The A-Roid of 2011 didn't look capable of hitting 34 more HRs, much less 134. He's constantly banged-up and can't even catch up to mediocre fastballs anymore.

Now who knows, maybe his cousin hooks him up with some good stuff and he bounces back physically. Good for him, but a wide swath of the Yankee fan base won't spend a dime to "celebrate" his pursuit of a record most agree still belongs to Henry Aaron. He's pretty well despised by every Yankee fan I know.

I also think you guys are making way too big a deal about money. To the Yankees $100 million is pretty much petty cash.

 

I think Pern (or someone) said at the outset that, yes, if it becomes clear he will not break the record they will dump him. If he has more seasons like this one, then it will become clear. But he was also injured this year, and although the age slide has begun, it's not inconceivable that he gets back to 30 HRs a year. This is especially true if he moves into DHing.

Anyway, baseball would be less fun without the opportunity to see A-Rod run into random bad luck in October, so I hope he sticks around.

 

Fitting ending to see A-Fraud fail in clutch time -- again. I bet he cried last night as his head was plopped upon bags of money full of hundred-dollar bills.

 

I have to agree with LTL, here, that A-Rod was banged up all year. He missed 63 games, so yeah, if he keeps doing that, then the Yankees are going to cut ties with him, as I noted earlier.

But he doesn't have to hit 30 HRs a year to get to the record.

In any professional sport, it's ALL about the money. For the clubs, owners, players and agents, it is ALL about the money. So if the Yankees believe they will make more money with Alex Rodriguez chasing a tainted record in pinstripes than they will if he does so in another uniform, then he's still going to have the NY on his cap every day. If he's playing 90 games a year and isn't going to reach the record, they're going to axe him. It's pretty simple and to argue otherwise is just being stubborn.

 

This. Plus, if there's a viable replacement at 3B for ARod in the Yankee organization, its someone way down in the low minors. I know someone mentioned Eduardo Nunez, right now he's a second rate IF bat who is a complete disaster in the field.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/2011-roster.shtml

But it won't matter because $20 mil to the Yankees does not mean a thing.

 

What a catch!