A-Rod is OLD-Rod!
A-Rod ends the game. Corey Simken/News
The eulogies have been written. Most of the major sports writers have come to ‘bury’ the Yankees, not to ‘praise’ them. “Changes they need to make for next year”; N.Y. Post. “Yanks pitching didn’t hold up”; Fox News. And so it goes. We don’t mind them getting down on a player or two because that is totally justifiable. But to chastise the team and their entire season is going a bit overboard. This was a team that had the best record in the American League last time we checked. Not to mention the fact that they scored more runs as well. No, the problem clearly is not ‘The Team”.
What to do about Alex Rodriguez…That’s the question. With the exception of the 2004 playoffs when he batted .328 and 2009, when he had a stellar post season, he consistently batted way below the Mendoza line. Injuries have taken their toll on the 37 year old; he missed 63 games this past season alone. The problem is the Yankees are ‘stuck’ with A-Rod for another six years! Why? Because he’s completely untradeable. And unlike fine wine, he won’t be getting any better with age.
No, we don’t think the team’s offense is the issue. They can still pop the ball and drive in runs by virtue of the fact that in their two wins against the Tigers they scored 19 runs…and that was without much help from Rodriguez. And it wasn’t that the Tigers were as dominant as some of the papers will lead you to believe either. Remember that in their two loses Detriot only batted .228.
No, the only tweaking that needs to be done, as far as we’re concerned, is for the Yankees to pick up a starter or two via trade (the best of the free agency starters out there are C.J. Wilson and Mark Buerhle-not exactly Justin Verlander and Roy Halladay…) And they could use another lefty reliever as Boone Logan is their only lefty staple in the ‘pen. That’s it essentially- except that in the meantime, Yankee fans should pray that A-Rod can stay healthy and contribute until 2017, when his contract expires. For now, unfortunately, A-Rod has turned into OLD-Rod.
FANTASY FURNACE 
Sadly, I don’t see A-Rod improving anytime soon, especially with all the injuries he’s had to deal with. Teixeira has gotten a bit of a pass in the media until now despite the horrible offensive numbers he’s put up in the playoffs. I think you’re completely right about the pitching situation…plus, one of these days (hopefully not anytime soon) Rivera will have to retire!
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Agree with you regarding Teixeira. If A-Rod is on another team, Tex would be getting lambasted by the local media- no doubt. As for Mo, (and you’ll find a post on Mo that we’ve done previously), I agree that he cannot pitch forever. As sad as it is to say good bye to Jorge, Mariano’s day will come as well. The Yanks already have a budding star in place for that very occasion; David Robertson.
I too am an avid-diehard fan of the Yanks, Knicks, Giants, and Rangers and while we try not to show partialiaty towards our local teams, there are profiles/posts on Jorge, Mariano, Willis Reed, A-Rod,…well you get the idea…
Thanks so much, by the way, for subscribing and commenting. Wishing you continued sucess on BOTH of your blogs!
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