Yankee fans have been waiting for four years to see A-Rod get a meaningful hit in the post-season. He couldn't do it on the field, so he and his surrogate father, Scott Boras, figured they'd upstage the World Series to announce what we all already knew: A-Rod was going to opt-out.
That's as close as A-Rod has ever gotten to making an impact in the World Series. Now that he is leaving the Yankees, that is as close as he will ever get.
In some strange way, A-Rod's decision is liberating. I've always felt compelled to defend him in print, particularly since the small sample size of recent playoff at- bats is no way to judge a player. And it's also true that the Yanks don't get anywhere near the playoffs these past few years without him.
A-Rod is without question the best player in baseball and, perhaps, the greatest of all time. There is, of course, no way he can be replaced.
However, A-Rod is also a disingenuous fraud. That's normally a meaningless aside when one is more concerned about his production. But after telling us countless times that he wanted to stay in New York, he doesn't even sit down with the Yanks to hear what they will offer him. He wouldn't return calls from the Steinbrenner family or Brian Cashman, and he has Boras opt-out for him by email.
Okay, so A-Rod is not only a fraud. He is a wimp, too.
I couldn't help but laugh when I heard Scott Boras say today that he was surprised that the story leaked last night because he "only told a few writers."
Boras is no dummy. He knew exactly what he was doing and that the opt-out news would be blasted over the airwaves in a nano-second or less. And so it was.
Major League baseball had strong words for Boras today. MLB's COO, Bob DuPuy, told the Associated Press:
"We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his announcement. There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game."
I'm also sure the champion Red Sox were thrilled to ask question about A-Rod right after they swept the Rockies in the World Series. Hey, my hatred for the Red Sox is pathological, but upstaging the World Series in this manner is extremely disrespectful to the game and it tells us tons about A-Rod, Inc.
And A-Rod wonders why people don't like him.
Boras and A-Rod are spinning this to say that A-Rod was uncertain about the future of the Yanks with the other pending free agents. Nobody believes that. A-Rod was either uncomfortable being the "man" in New York, or he was brainwashed by Boras to see what he is worth on the open market.
Where is he going? My money is he will sign with those blue-collar, gritty, low-payroll Red Sox. They re-sign Mike Lowell, put A-Rod at SS, get rid of Lugo and presto - the Red Sox fan base will be confused for a whole decade. (I'd enjoy that.)
Let A-Rod put up big regular season numbers and then hit .136 with and go 0-fer-whatever with RISP for Boston in the post-season. Then we can go on Red Sox message boards and read about how A-Rod can not be judged my a small sample size of post-season at bats; it'll be fun.
I refuse to believe that the Yanks won't be competitive next year. With the young arms the Yanks have developed, and the money that is now freed up with A-Rod's defection, there is promise.
Also look for the Yanks to somehow, someway, land Johann Santana. They need that ace stud and he would fit the bill.
It will be refreshing to watch the focus be on the team next year, and not on A-Rod. I think Hank said it best:
"It's clear he didn't want to be a Yankee," Hank Steinbrenner told the Daily News. "He doesn't understand the privilege of being a Yankee on a team where the owners are willing to pay $200 million to put a winning product on the field.
"I don't want anybody on my team that doesn't want to be a Yankee."
I'm really starting to like Hank. The training wheels are off and it's time to kick some butt.
Speaking of kicking butt, the decision to hire Joe Girardi over Don Mattingly is also indicative that Brian Cashman is still making the baseball decisions. Reports from many beat writers that Cashman was marginalized were erroneous.
Not to worry, Yankee fans. Bright days lay ahead for the Yanks-not so much for A-Rod, Inc.
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