Remember When Randy Winn was Traded for Lou Pinella?
It looks as if the value of managers has never been higher and the Yankees are essentially trading one of the greatest players of all time for their sleepy faced manager who completely lost control of the clubhouse - the only thing at which he was supposed to be good.
If the Yankees trade Alex Rodriguez this offseason, it's a victory for everyone I - and I assume you, since you're reading this site - hate: idiot sportswriters whose own egos and need to create news trump actual facts and reality. Alex Rodriguez being traded is a victory for Mike Lupica, and makes Steve Phillips into the genius prognosticator of 2006.
Let's face facts: Rodriguez would have been run out of town by the Daily News, ESPN, the New York Post, Sports Illustrated, Newsday, and on and on and on. This is what happens when nearly every day one of these sources needs to create controversy and destroy a man's character and distort his accomplishments in order to sell more advertising and get an interview on Baseball Tonight with more idiots.
Has Rodriguez been perfect? No. Has he been "money" in the postseason? No. However he did carry the team single-handedly past the Twins in the 2004 ALCS, a fact that is rarely mentioned. Instead he's a choker, regardless of the fact that without him on the team, it's quite possible neither the 2005 (especially) or 2006 editions of the Yankees fail to make the postseason. Think about that for a second. Would Joe Torre still have a job today if the Yankees were unable to reach the playoffs? I doubt it. In many ways, Alex Rodriguez saved Joe Torre's job. Torre, on his part, never attempted to return the favor and may have left the last image we see of a Hall of Famer in a Yankee uniform as an 8th-spot hitter who is seemingly made to be the sole reason the Yankees did not win the World Series for three years.
This is why it is asinine to choose a manager whose only supposed strength is clubhouse and media management - and who failed in that role - over a future hall of famer in his prime years.
This is not to mention that the one person who could have ended the Rodriguez mess a long time ago never stood up and defended his teammate, which is exactly what a "captain" should do. And yet there is hardly ever a tarnish on the halo of St. Derek, while Rodriguez is not allowed to go to the park with his family.
Congratulations, media whores. It looks like you're going to get what you wanted. Rodriguez will be gone and you've had days of "will they or won't they fire Torre" to sell your papers since there are no "real" stories to print.
Just what do you plan on writing about next season, when Rodriguez is gone? There’s still that big ol’ bus and you’re going to have to find someone else to throw underneath it on a daily basis.
posted by Mr. Faded Glory @ 6:33 AM
9
comments
9 Comments:
maybe once The Great Distraction is gone they'll jump all over giambi again and jeter can go back to defending him?
^^
Comment of the year.
Maybe Scott Brosius will come out of retirement! Yay!! True Yankee Decoder Rings: Activate!
My hope is that since he's on the cusp of a huge milestone (500 home runs, and probably the youngest to ever do it), the Yanks will want to keep him around for that bit o' history. You know, in case that whole 35 homer, 120 RBI thing is somehow lost in the shuffle.
Or that he gets traded, goes back to being a shortstop, and defeats Jeter for the Gold Glove, batting title, MVP and World Series MVP. In the same season. Jeets is my guy, but god damn can he be insufferable with his "aloofness" as my mom calls it. Get over the GQ thing already.
Your most important point is about Torre losing the clubhouse. Nothing else matters if this is the case. In Torre's interview today on the FAN, I
did not see a man who had any interest
in running a tight clubhouse. Yes, Arod gets credit for the 2004 ALDS game, if people also remember that Mariano pitched 2 innings for the win in that 11 inning game from hell. Arod's problem is he hired Scott Boras and he has a bad contract. He is a hopeless case in New York, will never succeed--impossible. We've got to get Torre to take charge of the clubhouse. I guess I'll have to write some more letters.
True Yankee Decoder Rings: Activate!
it's telling me to be sure to drink my ovaltine. :'(
and arod's main problem, susan, is that from the minute he got here the ny media decided to make him their focus and create a distraction. this is NOT on him.
Baseball fans aren't mindless lemmings who jeer A-Rod because tools like Mike Lupica tell them to. Almost every instance of in-stadium A-Rod hatred has come after an A-Rod Event, an error or a strikeout in a clutch situation. And people rarely have a reason to cheer. Why? Because probably 90 of the 120 RBI he has came at inconsequential times in games.
You should also know that sensational sports stories do little to move newsstand copies. Both the Post and the News are losing money, and the newspaper industry in general is on its way out.
Sportswriters and the media create perceptions. When those perceptions are then seen in a microcosm, fans react.
If there's a Daily News cover story about how a certain player is a failure and then that player fails in one particular situation, the crowd is likely to say "hey, that guy is a big failure!"
How many of Sheffield or Giambi's RBI have come in "meaningless" situations? Nobody bothers to check.
What is a "meaningless" situation anyway? No score, second inning? How is that any more meaningless than later in the game?
People put too much weight on late game performance when your team is behind and not enough on early game performance when you need a lead.
Why is the guy who failed early in the game but not late any more valuable than the guy who fails late in the game but not early?
Unless your definition of "meaningless" is huge lead tack-on RBI in which case 90 out of 130 is a silly number
Hey Nik if you don't want him my Twins would be glad to take 30 meaningless home runs and 90 meaninless RBI at third base
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