A-rod for Vernon Wells?

"he was the Mike Trout of baseball.

Until Mike Trout dethroned him for the title of "Mike Trout."

Hint: He won’t be going to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I don't believe it.

I really don't care one way or the other about A Rod, but he definitely comes off as one of the most vain human beings in sports.

When did the Miami Marlins become a big-market club?

What will this mean for his fledgling relationship with Kyna Treacy?

So she's definitely the one who leaked the whole flirting story, right?

The key question is how much money the Yankees are willing to flush down the toilet. There are plenty of teams who would want Rodriguez if they didn't have to pay him any more than the minimum.

I really don't care one way or the other about A Rod, but he definitely comes off as one of the most vain human beings in sports.

Behind pretty much every owner.

The key question is how much money the Yankees are willing to flush down the toilet. There are plenty of teams who would want Rodriguez if they didn't have to pay him any more than the minimum

It's not about anything but this. The Yankees want him gone; but they don't want to look as stupid as they actually were with regards to the contract. No one is going to eat any substantial part of that contract. Therefore I think that this will be a protracted negotiation.

If A-Rod were a FA right now, what do you think he would get? 3/$36 maybe?

Can they work out a deal where they pay him the remainder of the money over a longer period of time, with interest? Say extend it from 5 years to 20 years, but with 10% interest, or something like that?

The key question is how much money the Yankees are willing to flush down the toilet.

That question is already answered -- the money will be flushed. The only question is whether the Yankees first hand it to another team before it goes into the crapper...

So I haven't actually been paying any attention at all since the Braves were eliminated. Why is A-Rod getting benched? Does he suck now?

I posted this in another thread but what about Philly? If I were Ruben Amaro I'd at least consider it. The Phils need a 3B. Chollie would trot A-Rod out there every single day and not jerk him around. Plus the "hitting guru" side of him would want to take over and work with him on his swing. Making one last run with the big 3 rotation, this core plus A-Rod, in Chollie's last year, seems awfully tempting.

With all due respect to RoyalsRetro and JJ1986, I think it's unacceptable to mention the name of a young woman identified by the media, who has done nothing wrong or asked for any sort of publicity.

Public figures are public figures and they forego some (most?) of their privacy. But a private figure should not be subject to being aired out.

I vehemently hope that you erase the mentions to this young woman's name from this and/or any other thread.

ARod for Ryan Howard.

If the Phils have to carry a shitty $100M contract, might as well be at a position where it's not blocking someone who might be useful.

The key question is how much money the Yankees are willing to flush down the toilet.

Well right now it's in the reported neighborhood of $150 million per year.

This whole thing is so stupid. It's like some spat between high school sweethearts that's escalated into full-blown war that ends the relationship before anyone even has a moment to process what the hell is going on.

I just don't get this from the Yankees' side of things. Unless they really thing A-Rod is cooked, this smacks of using the long-time pinstripe scapegoat to divert attention away from how shitty almost everyone else in the lineup has been.

Think about how quickly this has unraveled. In the span of a week we've gone from seeing A-Rod pinch hit for to him being benched to all of this talk about how the Yankees are going to unload him this off-season. Yankees management must be either really dumb to let this get away from them like it has or this was a premeditated plan made to have the appearance of a sudden development. It just doesn't really make sense otherwise.

15, I thought about this last night. Both teams might benefit from this, but I just don't see it happening.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation.

Also, because they don't want to be seen as non-credible if A-Rod is still on the team next year.

This is just ####### idiotic.

So, A-Rod out, Youkilis in?

I mean, seriously:

"We're spending more than this player is worth, to get above-average production. What we need to do is pay someone else to get that above average production, saving an insignificant amount of money, and then try to find someone to play 3B who will probably be a worse producer. But at least we'll save almost no money."

ARod for Ryan Howard.

It certainly makes a boatload of sense for the Phils, and the awful contracts match up well. I'm not sure the Yanks want to acquire someone as limited defensively as Howard, though.

Rodriguez, his pride and ego damaged beyond repair, is now telling close friends that he won’t stand in the way….

Or maybe he'd just rather play everyday than be on the short side of a platoon.

But ARod is obviously disrupting the chemistry of a team made up of plucky, can-do young guys who came up through the Yankees' system together.

Every time Chavez fails at the plate today, I have to believe that ARod smiles a little bit more inside.
I'm sure he'd like the team to keep winning, but watching Chavez continue to go 0-for-his-Yankee-life-in-the-playoffs makes Girardi look like a real idiot for swapping them out...especially when Chavez makes an error in the field.

The only way it makes *any* kind of sense is if it helps the Yankees stay under the luxury tax in 2014 while keeping Cano.

I posted this in another thread but what about Philly? If I were Ruben Amaro I'd at least consider it. The Phils need a 3B. Chollie would trot A-Rod out there every single day and not jerk him around. Plus the "hitting guru" side of him would want to take over and work with him on his swing. Making one last run with the big 3 rotation, this core plus A-Rod, in Chollie's last year, seems awfully tempting.

Yup. I mean, if the Marlins supposedly offer Bell with the Yankees eating the rest, why on earth wouldn't the Phillies get in on that? Offer Rollins, since the team can move Jeter to 3B and claim it's because of the injury and not diminished performance.

The Howard for A-Rod thing won't happen, unless the plan is to DH Howard full-time, and I'm not sure there's evidence Howard would do well in that role... or at least certainly not enough evidence that I'd roll the dice and acquire the only contract in baseball that is possible more unmoveable than the one I'm getting rid of.

EDIT: Editor, heal thyself...

then try to find someone to play 3B who will probably be a worse producer.

This is key. The market for third basemen right now is awfully thin. Unless they think Eric Chavez can suddenly stay off the DL and continue to be productive, your FA options are Kevin Youkilis (if you trust him at third), Edwin Encarnacion (who is a DH now), Mark DeRosa or Brandon Inge. You could get lucky and maybe the Phils turn down Ty Wigginton's option.

I'm not sure the Yanks want to acquire someone as limited defensively as Howard, though.

I figure they get around his defensive shortcomings by having him DH.

Not that it really makes any sense anyway, since finding a replacement 3B is going to be much harder than finding a DH, but then dumping ARod doesn't make that much sense in the first place, and if they're really committed to that, I can see them figuring that bad $100M is better spent on having Howard than massively subsidizing someone else to take ARod.

Edwin Encarnacion (who is a DH now),

Hands off! He's Blue Jay property for another 3 years.

I believe Ian Stewart is available, too!

I just realized I have literally no idea who played 3B for the Marlins the last two months. It appears it was a combination of Greg Dobbs, Gil Velasquez and Donnie Murphy.

your FA options are... Edwin Encarnacion (who is a DH now),

Edwin signed an extension in July. He won't be a free agent until after 2015 or 2016, depending on whether or not the Jays pick up his option. Hopefully he'll never have to play another inning at third.

Could go internal with a Corban Joseph/David Adams platoon.

I believe Ian Stewart is available, too!

Hopefully Valbuena will be also. Not bad enough for them to lose 100 games, I had to watch this schmuck swing the bat?

If the Yankees were throwing games, what would it look like? Wouldn't it have to look something like this, where Girardi is sending out his B-team like this is a split squad spring training game?

It's clear by now that, while Girardi may have started us down this path, the Yankees are clearly on board. The question is why. The gossip about the girl in the stands doesn't really make sense, as this path was started down before that point - ARod had already been benched once and pinch hit for twice - and you don't make playoff baseball decisions that way. Though it would be quite ironic coming from Brian Cashman, a man who allowed a second woman into his marriage who turned out to be unstable, contributing to the demise of his marriage and an embarrassment for the Yankes.

In any event, assuming this is a baseball decision, them benching ARod and not pinch-hitting him means the Yankees have to believe he is just done and can't help them anymore. On what evidence? 25 PA? 0 for his last 18 vs RHP - but with some hard-hit balls and being robbed a couple times?

On what basis can he possibly be said to not be able to hit LHP?

Since the gossip issue doesn't make sense and the baseball reasons don't make sense as far as supporting a complete benching in favor of an 0-14 player and without even pinch-hitting duties, there must be something else going on. But what? The Yankees should say so; because I don't know how as a fan of this team - which I'm not - you can sit there and root for the Yankees when it's clear they're not trying their best to win. If Chavez goes down I would have to believe we will not see ARod.

Can Alfonso Soriano play 3B?

In any event, assuming this is a baseball decision, them benching ARod and not pinch-hitting him means the Yankees have to believe he is just done and can't help them anymore. On what evidence? 25 PA? 0 for his last 18 vs RHP - but with some hard-hit balls and being robbed a couple times?

I think the most supportive argument you can make for Girardi is that A-Rod is just not healthy. He didn't really do much after his return from injury and obviously he's been poor in the playoffs. It's not as visible an injury as Lowell in 2008 but it wouldn't surprise that that is the driver here.

What makes it unlikely that that is the cause is the failure of the Yankees to say anything. Why not just say "hey, he's still hurt" and give the guy some cover?

Can Alfonso Soriano play 3B?

Is he even available? Does anybody know?

He didn't really do much after his return from injury

First 13 games coming back from the injury:

.300/.351/.520 with 3 HR

Since then (September 19):

.202/.299/.214 with 0 HR

If A-Rod were a FA right now, what do you think he would get? 3/$36 maybe?

He might/probably would... but I think I'd be unhappy if my GM paid that much.

The Yanks almost have to get a 3B back in any deal ... or sign Youkilis which would be weird (and that's assuming the Sox decline the option).

So ... AROD and money for Wells & Callaspo is about the closest thing I can come up with. AROD and money for Hanley is conceivable.

Except ... I hadn't thought about Jeter's injury which might require a move to 3B/DH (or gives the Yanks cover to make the move). Some of this nonsense might be fueled by that -- they want to open 3B for Jeter.

Then, yeah, ARod for Rollins starts to make sense although I'm not seeing what problem that solves for the Phils, it just shifts their hole from 3B to SS. Does Amaro really want to dump Howard? Howard & Rollins for ARod I think actually saves the Phils money (while probably making them a worse team) if they want to start their rebuild.

Any ridiculously overpriced SS out there? Besides Jeter.

Can Alfonso Soriano play 3B?

He is all things to all people.

Can Alfonso Soriano play 3B?

He has played third! Years ago.

Weren't Yankee fans calling for his benching during the 2003 post-season? Talk about a guy who has struggled in October...

Thanks, Larry. So at best the Yankees made their decision based on a sample of 17 games of poor hitting. Because by the third game of the ALCS, Girardi was pinch hitting for him.

Eek.

This has truly been a bizarre, WTF story. Ibanez was left for dead a few weeks ago, after having had a .600 OPS for a long stretch. Now we're at the point where ARod can't pinch hit for him in the 9th inning against a LHP with the season on the line.

EDIT: deleted dumb post

Can Alfonso Soriano play 3B?



Is he even available? Does anybody know?

At this point, I'm not sure I'd even want an even-money swap of Soriano for A-Rod... and that's considering the Cubs have an absolutely gaping hole at 3B.

Maybe if the Yankees tossed in a lottery ticket and ate even more contract (meaning - the Cubs get A-Rod for say... 30 mil total -- compared to the 36 mil they still owe Soriano).... but a straight-up at salary neutral for the Cubs?

No thanks... not interested.

Then, yeah, ARod for Rollins starts to make sense although I'm not seeing what problem that solves for the Phils, it just shifts their hole from 3B to SS.

Well, if you have a hole at SS, and you fill it with a defense-first guy, there's more runs to be saved there than at 3B.

If A-Rod were a FA right now, what do you think he would get? 3/$36 maybe?

I saw some ESPN talking head claim that he talked to GMs about it, and the consensus was roughly 1 year for $5M.

Not sure I buy that. At least one fool GM would hand him 2 yr/$16M or something. Maybe up to the 3/36 you mention.

there must be something else going on. But what? The Yankees should say so; because I don't know how as a fan of this team - which I'm not - you can sit there and root for the Yankees when it's clear they're not trying their best to win. If Chavez goes down I would have to believe we will not see ARod.

Yep, this whole thing has a weird feel to it. I was thinking maybe there's something like a pending 50 game suspension under appeal right now or something like that. But since it's the Yankees it seems like that would leak pretty quick. But this reminds me of a combination of the Melky Cabrera and Jose Guillen suspensions ... weird rumblings preceded the big news.

This A-Rod thing is like a crazy version of Tim Lincecum's whole year. Lincecum's gone well into the post-season out of the bullpen until he was announced as the starter for today's game. Granted Lincecum was downright terrible through 2/3rds of the season, but he's been pitching better -- he's only really had 1-2 bad starts since early August and used to be the OFFICIAL STAFF ACE -- but they kept going with Zito.

The team (Bochy, I think, and maybe Sabey-sabes) also bad-mouthed him early in the year when he was struggling, saying "it wasn't mechanics" but rather "conditioning and mental." How did they know? Why were they so sure that they'd say it to the press? I figured maybe they had to bail him out of the drunk tank (or whatever the pot version of the drunk tank is) in the middle of the night and pay someone to keep it quiet. It seemed like they were kicking him when he was down, and why do that unless you think he deserves it?

Regardless, it seems Lincecum continued to get punished for God-knows-what well past the point where his season turned around, to the detriment of the team. There must have been a reason.

Just like A-Rod -- it seems almost a sure thing that he won't be back in the line-up -- like there's been a conversation along the lines of "you're done for the year, and you know why."

P.S. I just want to point out that my commentary in post 49 is part of my own personal 'Let it Rip' segment where I speculate wildly on stories with absolutely no evidence to support my ideas.

(I was in Boston this week on business, and the local Fox morning news had a segment called 'Let it Rip,' -- where they speculate wildly on stories with absolutely no evidence to support their ideas.)