February 16, 2004

A-ROD, THE DAY AFTER: SOME

A-ROD, THE DAY AFTER: SOME THOUGHTS:
- The Yankees now have four players with contracts in the nine figures, including the first $100 million player (Kevin Brown) and the first $200 million player (A-Rod). No team with even one $100 million player has ever won a World Series.
- But that said, do the Yankees even need a second baseman? Even if it's Miguel Cairo, who's set to make $850,000, the average 2004 salary of their infield will still be nearly $11 million. And Cairo's '04 salary is still $50,000 more than Alfonso Soriano's.
- Humiliating as A-Rod-to-the-Yankees is to the Sox, there is a silver lining: Had the Yankees' trade not happened, Sox fans would've kept up hope all season that A-Rod-to-the-Sox would eventually happen; now that they know it won't, they can finally accept that A-Rod's not coming. And start coming up with creative new Nomar-and-Manny rumors- how about both to the White Sox for Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez?
- On paper, of course, the Yanks have one of the strongest teams ever- but what about the dreaded "locker room chemistry"? True, it's not like football or basketball when the players "fight over the ball," but what if A-Rod and Jeter clash over who gets to play shortstop? Now that noted assholes Kevin Brown and Gary Sheffield have been added to the team, don't be surprised if things explode behind the scenes. And what if Javier Vasquez succumbs to Ed Whitson/Jeff Weaver-itis, and can't pitch in the Stadium? It's a long season, and a whole lot could go wrong.
- When Rangers owner Tom Hicks knew the Yankees were interested in Rodriguez, why didn't he go back to the Red Sox, in order to lure the rivals into a bidding war and thus get a better deal? Honestly, you've gotta wonder how this guy got rich in the first place.
- Referring to Jose Contreras as "Adebisi"- now that's funny.
- Check out SOSH and Baseball Primer for more.

Posted by Stephen Silver at February 16, 2004 04:44 PM
Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?