Musings of a Sports Writer

I'm a writer by trade. As such, I've tended to write only when someone has paid me. To break that habit, this blog serves as my personal dart board. When I'm sitting around thinking sports, now and then I turn to the computer and toss a dart — just to get a thought out without trying to find someone who will buy it.

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Location: Connecticut

Monday, October 29, 2007

A-Bomb

Scott Boras says that Alex Rodriguez opted out of the final three years of his contract yesterday because the Yankees’ roster is too unsettled.

Bull.

If that were the real reason, A-Rod could wait ten days to see how negotiations with the other big three – Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte – work out.

Rather, I see a few other more likely explanations:

  • A-Rod is just that selfish, and just that money-hungry. For his sake, I hope this is false. For seven years already, he’s had a tough, tough time playing under the weight of his last contract, which is still the heaviest in baseball.
  • A-Rod stole some signs from those three other free agents; he knows what they're planning, and he just decided to be the first to go.
  • He saw how the Yankees treated Joe Torre this fall, and Bernie Williams this spring, and he doesn’t want to be treated with similar lack of respect and dignity in the future.
Either way, A-Rod owed the Yankees more than this. The team stuck with him for three years of erratic play (before he finally relaxed in 2007), when no one in baseball (including their fans) would have blamed the team for trading away the best player in the game.

Now after just one season of positive predictability, A-Rod simply packs and leaves without even listening to a negotiation? He just fouled out of the hearts of Yankees fans.

Cubs … Giants … Angels … even the Red Sox: You can have him.

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Roster Redux

OK, let's take another swing at a Yankee post-season roster prediction. (The 2007 version.)

Position Players
Jorge Posada
Jose Molina
Doug Mientkiewicz
Jason Giambi
Robinson Cano
Derek Jeter
Alex Rodriguez
Wilson Betemit
Hideki Matsui
Johnny Damon
Melky Cabrera
Bobby Abreu
Shelly Duncan
Bronson Sardinha

Note:
Sardinha, a rookie, a late-season call-up rookie, on the post-season roster of the winningest team in sports? Yes. Because the Yankees hardly ever pinch-hit (why would they with this lineup?), but they do need a fast pinch runner.

Pitchers
Ching Ming-Wang
Andy Pettitte
Roger Clemens
Mike Mussina
Phil Hughes
Mariano Rivera
Joba Chamberlain
Kyle Farnsworth
Edwar Ramirez
Ron Villone
Luis Vizcaino

Note:
Notice how there are more younger pitchers than usual? That's a good thing.