Alex Rodriguez
Age: 31 Years Old (Turns 32 in July - Don't forget this; it's not like his career is winding down - this man has plenty left in the tank).

Three-Year History, three-year splits and last year's splits.

SEASON Team G AB H 1B 2B 3B HR R RBI BB SO SB CS AVG
2004 Yankees 155 601 172 110 24 2 36 112 106 80 131 28 4 .286
2005 Yankees 162 605 194 116 29 1 48 124 130 91 139 21 6 .321
2006 Yankees 154 572 166 104 26 1 35 113 121 90 139 15 4 .290
2007 Bill James 159 607 178 106 29 1 42 119 124 91 143 16 6 .293
2007 CHONE   556 164 99 26 2 37 110 104 79 121 13 4 .295
2007 Marcel   521 154 96 24 1 33 100 102 74 119 17 4 .296
2007 ZiPS   589 169 110 26 1 32 108 126 88 138 16 3 .287

SEASON Team BB% K% BB/K OBP SLG OPS ISO BABIP
2004 Yankees 11.7 % 21.8 % 0.61 .375 .512 .888 .226 .313
2005 Yankees 13.1 % 23.0 % 0.65 .421 .610 1.031 .289 .349
2006 Yankees 13.6 % 24.3 % 0.65 .392 .523 .914 .233 .329
2007 Bill James 13.0 % 23.6 % 0.64 .395 .552 .947 .259 .322
2007 CHONE 12.4 % 21.8 % 0.65 .392 .549 .941 .254 .319
2007 Marcel 12.4 % 22.8 % 0.62 .390 .536 .925 .240 .328
2007 ZiPS 13.0 % 23.4 % 0.64 .387 .497 .884 .210 .327

Outlook: First off, let me apologize. It was our fault that A-Rod had the season that he had. Our very optimistic predictions for what he would do last year was the straw that broke the camel's back. He can take a lot...but the burden of trying to reach our expectations did him in. Luckily, he & I have sat down and talked about realistic goals to make this relationship work.

In all seriousness though, last season wasn't a great one for Alex. Still, the man finished with a .290 /.392/.523/.915 line with 35 HRs, 121 RBIs and 140 OPS+. It's only because of A-Rod's stratospheric highs and immense talent that we believe that 2005 was a "bad year". He went through his share of struggles and was (in my mind) unfairly reprimanded by fans, by Joe Torre (#8 slot...that was not very classy, Joe) and MLB (Joe Crede miraculously wins the Silver Slugger).

As a result of all this negativity, I've run into a lot of people who are really down on Alex and what he provides to the Yankees...to which I have to reply...really? You're going to start to devalue A-Rod already? I mean, come on. He had one very bad month in June of last year. Here's an interesting little exercise; take out those 22 horrible, no good games in July and look at his numbers before that stretch (.303/.404/.554/.958 with a HR every 15 ABs) and after (.306/.398/.556/.953 with a HR every 15.16 ABs). Remarkably consistent, no? There isn't a rational fan alive who wouldn't take that performance from his third baseman every single year. Oh, and you know what I recall - there was another guy on the team who had a horrid stretch a couple years back (and for longer than one month too). If you can't cut A-Rod the same amount of slack, fine - at least give him some.

In any case, going into this year, A-Rod's apparently lost a decent amount of weight and honed his approach at the plate with new batting coach Kevin Long. I think that the lower weight will really help him in the defense dept. (as will having his buddy Minky at first instead of Giambi). How it affects his swing is something that I'm probably not qualified to address. However, if a reduction in weight helps him to get the bat on the ball quicker, thus leading to more hits (depending on BABIP of course), harder hits and less Ks (as Steve L. points out, his K rate has been steadily increasing the past 4 years), I'm all for it; now go do your thing Alex.

Please post your predictions for the following stat line in the comments section:

AB R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG