10/13: More Thoughts on Alex
Posted by: Patrick
I put off this piece a little bit in light of the sad news. But, with thoughts and prayers to everyone affected, it's time to get back at it. The other day, I wrote a piece on A-Rod and Torre. I received a number of comments, which I appreciate. Those comments made me think a bit more and gave me a few more ideas.
Joseph remarked that we need pitching and A-Rod can fetch it. I agree on both points. But, I just don't think that we need to use him to get pitching. Can't we address that need through free agency?
According to mlb4u.com, there is a plentiful amount of starting pitching on the market, especially when it comes to lefties. Pitchers include Mark Buehrle (the White Sox have a $9.5 million dollar option with a $1.5 million dollar buyout), Ted Lilly, Mark Mulder, Andy Pettitte, Barry Zito, Gil Meche and Jason Schmidt. And let's not forget Daisuke Matsuzaka and Mike Mussina (pending us declining his option). And we have Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright (assuming we don't drop him), Chien-Ming Wang, Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner under contract. Plus, Phil Hughes is rumbling (mid or late season call up, perhaps?). I'm not saying that all of these guys are great starters or dependable... Lilly, Meche, Johnson, Pavano, Wright, Karstens and Rasner are certainly iffy and risky. And Hughes can't be counted on for anything, of course. But, my point is, isn't there enough talent out there for us to fill out a 5 man rotation plus have depth incase someone goes down without downgrading at the hot corner? Without trading the best third baseman in the game? I think there is.
One of the benefits of being the Yankees is that we picked our market right. We make money and we spend it. We can afford to keep A-Rod and sign starting pitching. Add to that that we have some big money deals expiring and we should do it.
As far as close and late, that's all fine and dandy, but what makes a run in the first few innings worth nothing? The man drove in over 357 runs in 3 seasons. How many games did we win by the amount of runs that he drove in? A lot. Now, can we replace some of that? Sure. But, that sort of run production is rare. I want someone who hits well with RISP and A-Rod was excellent this year. Who cares if those runners were on in the 5th instead of the 8th? We have so many stats these days and you can find numbers to devalue anyone.
One commenter mentioned that Alex had 24 errors this year. But, he had 12 errors last year in 161 games. The year before that, 13 in 155 games. Those were his first two years playing third base at the major league level.
If defense is a big reason we're getting rid of him, I really feel that we're getting rid of him for the wrong reasons. Considering someone a liability on defense because of one season where he had 24 errors is the sort of thing I was talking about. That is way too quick a thing to decide based upon one season. Especially when we're talking about someone like Alex Rodriguez. This isn't a Tony Womack, Raul Mondesi, Rondell White type of guy. You don't willingly dump someone like this midway through his career because of things like this.
In fact, that's just it, I can't find good, understandable reasons to get rid of the guy. Look at his numbers, he's produced in New York. He had 2 bad postseason series' in a row. That's not a good reason for me. In fact, it really looks like the media is quite possibly playing Yankee fans like a fiddle and we're taking it hook, line and sinker. If he truly is such a cancer, I have no doubt we'll deal him. But, until I see it myself, until Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams or Jorge Posada say it, I'm not going to buy it. I'm not going to take media reports from "sources" and consider it to be definitive.
Joseph remarked that we need pitching and A-Rod can fetch it. I agree on both points. But, I just don't think that we need to use him to get pitching. Can't we address that need through free agency?
According to mlb4u.com, there is a plentiful amount of starting pitching on the market, especially when it comes to lefties. Pitchers include Mark Buehrle (the White Sox have a $9.5 million dollar option with a $1.5 million dollar buyout), Ted Lilly, Mark Mulder, Andy Pettitte, Barry Zito, Gil Meche and Jason Schmidt. And let's not forget Daisuke Matsuzaka and Mike Mussina (pending us declining his option). And we have Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright (assuming we don't drop him), Chien-Ming Wang, Jeff Karstens and Darrell Rasner under contract. Plus, Phil Hughes is rumbling (mid or late season call up, perhaps?). I'm not saying that all of these guys are great starters or dependable... Lilly, Meche, Johnson, Pavano, Wright, Karstens and Rasner are certainly iffy and risky. And Hughes can't be counted on for anything, of course. But, my point is, isn't there enough talent out there for us to fill out a 5 man rotation plus have depth incase someone goes down without downgrading at the hot corner? Without trading the best third baseman in the game? I think there is.
One of the benefits of being the Yankees is that we picked our market right. We make money and we spend it. We can afford to keep A-Rod and sign starting pitching. Add to that that we have some big money deals expiring and we should do it.
As far as close and late, that's all fine and dandy, but what makes a run in the first few innings worth nothing? The man drove in over 357 runs in 3 seasons. How many games did we win by the amount of runs that he drove in? A lot. Now, can we replace some of that? Sure. But, that sort of run production is rare. I want someone who hits well with RISP and A-Rod was excellent this year. Who cares if those runners were on in the 5th instead of the 8th? We have so many stats these days and you can find numbers to devalue anyone.
One commenter mentioned that Alex had 24 errors this year. But, he had 12 errors last year in 161 games. The year before that, 13 in 155 games. Those were his first two years playing third base at the major league level.
If defense is a big reason we're getting rid of him, I really feel that we're getting rid of him for the wrong reasons. Considering someone a liability on defense because of one season where he had 24 errors is the sort of thing I was talking about. That is way too quick a thing to decide based upon one season. Especially when we're talking about someone like Alex Rodriguez. This isn't a Tony Womack, Raul Mondesi, Rondell White type of guy. You don't willingly dump someone like this midway through his career because of things like this.
In fact, that's just it, I can't find good, understandable reasons to get rid of the guy. Look at his numbers, he's produced in New York. He had 2 bad postseason series' in a row. That's not a good reason for me. In fact, it really looks like the media is quite possibly playing Yankee fans like a fiddle and we're taking it hook, line and sinker. If he truly is such a cancer, I have no doubt we'll deal him. But, until I see it myself, until Joe Torre, Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Bernie Williams or Jorge Posada say it, I'm not going to buy it. I'm not going to take media reports from "sources" and consider it to be definitive.
Kyle wrote: