Good Choice, Good Riddance
www.cbc.caThe day after a Red Sox sweep of the World Series will never be easy for a Yankee fan. Fortunately, a couple of annoucements made it a little easier to bear.
First, the Yankees have picked Joe Girardi to be their new manager. Good choice. While I stand by my assertion that LaRussa would have given the Yanks the best chance to win next year, Girardi is definitely the best choice for the long haul.
Second, Scott Boras announced that A-Rod's as big a narcissistic twit as we all thought. OK, actually he announced that Rodriguez would opt out of the last 3 years of his contract with the Yankees, but when you do it in the middle of the final game of the World Series (even when it's Boston), it amounts to the same thing. The Yankees claim they won't pursue A-Rod as a free agent, and I hope they don't. I think he's a great player, but the Yankees probably need to put that money elsewhere. Plus, my impression is that Girardi is a big "team" kind of guy, and I don't think he would have much tolerance for A-Rod's ego.
So next year, the Yankees will be without A-Rod, their highest profile hitter. Last year they lost Randy Johnson, a high profile pitcher. I'm cautiously optimistic. After 1998, Randy Johnson left the Mariners for the Diamondbacks. In 2000, A-Rod left the Mariners for the Texas Rangers. How did the Mariners do in 2001? They tied the regular season record with 116 wins. The Yankees just need to find their Ichiro.
One final sports note -- I hope the Patriots lose, and soon. Preferably to the Steelers. But this whining about how they "ran-up the score" on Washington? Tough. These aren't college kids with potentially fragile egos playing (allegedly) for fun. These are people making millions of dollars to compete. I agree with Ditka -- if you don't want to be scored on, shut up and play better D. Keeping Brady in a game when you're up by 40, however, is a questionable decision.
posted by Joel @ 3:59 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
If we are lucky, A-Rod goes to the Red Sox and the Yankees get Mike Lowell, a better team player and solid "winner", with more money to keep Posada, Pettite, Rivera and their good, young pitching for the long term. Let Boston try to win a world series with all the media questions looking at A-Rod's shot at Barry Bonds record. Remember, when the Yankees were winning World Series, they had few league MVP votes. Now they have the league MVP, and no World Series. Not a coincidence.
I liked the point about the MVP voting vs. World Series title. So I did a little quick research. The last time a team had the MVP and won the Series -- 1988. LA Dodgers and Kirk Gibson. Something about a bad knee an a home run, as I recall.
Prior to 1988, it was a little more frequent. Like 1984, 1983, 1980, 1979, 1976, 1975. Could this say something about costly free agents and salary structure? Hmmmm.
Your right about salary structure. I also wonder if it doesn't say something about the difference between crushing mediocre regular season pitching and fanning on good post-season pitching vs a player like Jeter who insides out the ball and gets consistent hits. Certainly some players (Manny Ramirez perhaps) seem to not care, but I'm not sure you can hit 54 home runs without training yourself to crush fat pitches that are much rarer in late October.
I also heard an interesting article on A-Rod noting that Boras talked him into going to Texas for more money over the Mets, where he wanted to play short and revive their team right after they lost the World Series to the Yankees. The result of that move was eventually he went to the Yankees, where he moved from probably being the greatest shortstop of all time to another great slugger from this era, albeit one with a chance to catch Bonds.
No one else will pay him and now A-rod wants back. NOOOOOOO. Please sign Mike Lowell quickly.
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