AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > October > 29 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USA-Rod to Boston wouldn’t work
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Denver — It’s customary for day-after stories to begin, “The champagne wasn’t even dry before so-and-so allowed himself to look forward to next season.” On Sunday night, the champagne hadn’t even been uncorked before speculation took wing.
A-Rod to the Bosox.
On its face, the notion has traction. Alex Rodriguez and his mouthpiece Scott Boras will want upwards of $30 million for one season’s work. The Red Sox, who paid $51 million just to negotiate with Daisuke Matsuzaka, are one of the few clubs that could consider such an outlay. Mike Lowell, the incumbent third baseman and the World Series MVP, is about to be a free agent himself.
Perfect fit, right?
Wrong. There’s no perfect fit for A-Rod.
He’s not surly like Barry Bonds, but somehow the totality of player and person hasn’t approached the sum of his stats. If A-Rod were to take up residence in the Sox clubhouse, the Sox would change, and not for the better. What stat geeks never grasp is that a major part of big-league baseball defies quantification. When grown men spend eight months together, the climate of a clubhouse absolutely matters.
In the closed circle of baseball, A-Rod is considered a phony. Yes, he has a nice smile, but so does Isiah Thomas, who’s the phony’s phony. Rodriguez puts up his numbers and collects his awards, but somehow a team never seems saddened when he leaves. So long as he’s around, the team cannot belong to the collective — it’s the property of A-Rod. (Indeed, Boras has floated the idea of Rodriguez becoming player-owner of the Cubs.)
A tiny example: Two summers ago, Jason Giambi hoisted two home runs off the Braves’ Tim Hudson in Yankee Stadium. After the first, a guy in the press box noticed that A-Rod, who was on deck, didn’t shake Giambi’s hand at home plate. He strode up the third-base line instead, his head down. So, when Giambi hit another, the guy made it a point to watch Rodriguez, who did the exact same thing. Is he a teammate or an independent contractor?
The Red Sox have absorbed the outsized personality of Pedro Martinez and the blathering of Curt Schilling and the ongoing saga of Manny being Manny, and they’ve won the World Series twice in four years. But A-Rod is insoluble. Put him among guys used to winning championships — Rodriguez, as we know, has never reached the Series and has been tepid in the playoffs — and the happy crew risks regressing to the old dysfunctional dynamic. (Famous line from the days of Carl Yastrzemski: “The Red Sox — 25 players, 25 cabs.”)
The belief here is that the Sox became champs in large measure because they didn’t get A-Rod before the 2004 season. The hated Yankees got him, and he became the flashpoint of the epic ALCS fold when he slapped the ball from Bronson Arroyo’s glove in Game 6. Boston famously overrode a 3-0 deficit to beat the Yankees, and a week later the Sox were champs for the first time since 1918.
It was fitting that Rodriguez didn’t show up here Sunday to receive the Hank Aaron Award. (He sent word of an unspecified previous commitment.) But then, as the Sox were closing out Colorado, A-Rod grabbed attention in absentia. During the game, the helpful Boras announced his client had opted out of his Yankees contract.
Immediately those who follow the sport began to imagine how much better the Sox might be with the game’s chief collector of statistics in their infield. Only they wouldn’t be better. They’d be worse. They’d go back to being one of those star-spangled aggregations that tripped over itself.
After 86 years of getting it wrong, the Red Sox are finally getting it right. The only way they can mess up is if they get greedy. And the astute Boston fans who had made the trek to Coors Field understood exactly what should be done, and what shouldn’t.
A half-hour after Game 4, they stood behind the third-base dugout and chanted, “Re-sign Lowell!”
And then this: “Don’t sign A-Rod!”
Permalink | Comments (42) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves / MLB, Mark Bradley
Comments
By NASCARfan
October 29, 2007 11:17 PM | Link to this
Mark, you know you don’t even have to fret about the Sox.
Theo Epstein and Tito would never allow this. Larry Lucchino, who’s an egomaniac much like AFraud and Bore-a$$, might try, but John Henry will defer to Theo like he did when he re-hired him (which was a slap in the face of Lucchino).
The Sox aren’t stupid with the money they spend, unlike the Mets, Yankees, Orioles, and Cubs, which is why they are set up to win many more World Series.
By David
October 29, 2007 11:21 PM | Link to this
I couldn’t agree more! ARod is an awesome player during a 162 game season. Just don’t ask him to play an extra games, like the playoffs or the World Series. If he really wants to win, take A LOT less money and play on a contender. Scott Boras will always lead the players he reps to have only a handful of teams they can play for. Sad to say that this is exactly why Andruw Jones will not play in Atlanta, ARod will not play in New York and the beat goes on….
By Gary
October 29, 2007 11:24 PM | Link to this
I still remember when he first signed that obscene $252 million contract. I thought at the time it was the beginning of the end of Major League baseball. It has nothing to do with whether he’s the best player of his generation. It has more to do with whether the national pasttime has devolved into a money grubbing free-for-all where once you’ve landed that long term iron clad lucrative contract, you no longer have any incentive to bust your butt to be a better player every day or to appreciate the fans. On the other hand, fans no longer feel bound to always support their team’s players through slumps because they feel today’s players are playing for a check, not for the fans or even the love of the game. Baseball is not a team sport anymore. It is big business. Gee thanks, A-Rod. You too, Scott Boras.
By NASCARfan
October 29, 2007 11:56 PM | Link to this
Anyone reading Bradley’s article really needs to read Peter Gammon’s Insider article over at ESPN.com.
Here it is.
Also, Braves to all the Booby Cox worshippers, guess what?
AFraud = Booby Cox.
In the lives of those two men, it’s NEVER October.
By David
October 30, 2007 12:07 AM | Link to this
No article is complete without NASRCARfan’s blathering idiocy. Was starting to think he’d never make it.
By lobster
October 30, 2007 2:34 AM | Link to this
Don’t sign this stat accumulating egomanic . A-Rod is A- Headcase leave him be .
By Coach (Lets Go Braves In 2008)
October 30, 2007 3:02 AM | Link to this
The Red Sox have bigger fish to fry than A-Rod. Schilling , Wakefield and Tavaraz (totaled 78 starts)are free agents , Kason Gabbard was traded. Wakefield continues to have arm problems and of course was unavailable for the World Series (the Sox didn’t need him). The World Champions have Beckett , Matsuzaka and Lester to build around and Theo Epstein has his work cutout for him during the off-season.
By BowieKuhn
October 30, 2007 4:29 AM | Link to this
Apparently Alex Rodrigues thinks he’s A-God and any team that invites him onto their team deserves what they get: a stats w******* prima-dona who waffles like a pancake in October. The man is a walking talking curse, and every team he leaves immediately improves. If the Braves even consider this loser I’ll never pull for them again. Mark Lemke has more value now, in 2007, than A-Rod ever will.
By Matthew at the SLC
October 30, 2007 7:54 AM | Link to this
I am NASCARfan!!! You know who I am. I can’t help but to show all of you dumba$$es that I am the smartest on these blogs.
Excuse me, I have to get back to the SLC.
By Jim
October 30, 2007 8:01 AM | Link to this
Mark, I really don’t give a rat’s a$$ about A-Rod and I really don’t give a rat’s a$$ about whether the Red Sox aquire him. Give us some Braves news, man! (but congrats to Red Sox fans….Your team is definitely the elite team in MLB right now).
By Kenneth Simpson
October 30, 2007 8:11 AM | Link to this
Good article. I hope no team will offer him anything close to what he turned down from the Yankees who are are better off with him gone. I also hope no team will come close to offering Andruw 20 million. I think his agent, Boras was just dangling him around to the braves telling them and Andruw he could get 20 million a year for a long term contract and I don’t think that is going to happen. Andruw I feel will be lucky to get what he made in Atlanta in 2007 and A-Rod turning down 27 million each year for the next 3 years I hope comes back to haunt him. Again, good article.
By fred
October 30, 2007 8:33 AM | Link to this
Your article is right on the money and gives a great perspective on the game and the primadonnas that are sprinkled throughout it. Say what you want about Bobby Cox or the Braves organization, even if they had the money, they ARE smart enough to avoid like players like A-Rod, Milton Bradley and other clubhouse diseases.
By tram
October 30, 2007 8:48 AM | Link to this
The Braves did all right with clubhouse diseases Gary Sheffield, J.D. Drew and Kenny Lofton. At least A-Rod is good, reliable player.
By BuckheadtoBoston
October 30, 2007 8:53 AM | Link to this
The good news is that Sox management understands how important the clubhouse kharma is - hence they ditched Nomar in ‘04.
By StatsGeek
October 30, 2007 9:21 AM | Link to this
you people are all fools. had the red sox not come back from being down 3-1 to the indians, you would have been talking about clubhouse ‘diseases’ like manny ramirez being a distraction. get a clue people: baseball is about probablility. the ‘firey lockerroom personalities’ don’t mean a thing. thankfully, those ‘stats geeks’ you are referring to are the ones making the right decisions. i’ll take a-rod any day - he’s the most likely player to succeed. you’re all probably the same people saying that juan pierre is the best leadoff man in baseball.
By RayRay
October 30, 2007 11:21 AM | Link to this
Why blame A-Rod for what Boras is getting for his services.He’s the best player in the game today.Unlike football or even basketball to some extent, Baseball is soooo much an individual and not a team oriented sport.With the numbers he puts up,any team would be foolish not to get him.Boras is the one who has priced him to the point of being untouchable by most organizations. The deal he signed with Texas,changed baseball’s whole salary structure,when it didn’t take sacrificing your complete payroll to make that deal. The owners are to blame for A-Rods negitive image.Give the man his props he’s the BEST Our Braves are going to be sorry they let Andruw go.One bad year (when he was hurt/but played everyday) and he was still one of the leaders in most offensive catagories except Batting Avg. How easy we forget the way he carried us a couple of years ago when Chipper got hurt.Plus there is a thing called defense in baseball.Although he’s slowing down I still put him in my top5.
By willdave
October 30, 2007 11:30 AM | Link to this
As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The Red Sox have proven they already have the best team in baseball right now. No need to mess that up by signing a very costly and problematic player like A-Rod, who has never helped any team reach the World Series.
By RayRay
October 30, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this
Baseball w/some exceptions will always be dominated by teams with the highest payrolls. With no kind of salary cap,The Yankees,Bosoxs,Mets to mention a few will always be at the top. It dosn’t garantee championships, but gives you the opportunity to compete. If Time Warner hadn’t tied our hands for the last ten years,The Braves where only a player or two away from 2-3 World Series Championships.If Ted Turner had kept the Braves we would not be looked upon as underachievers.
By Marty
October 30, 2007 12:51 PM | Link to this
I don’t usually engage in the petty bickering that takes place in the blogs on this site, but here it is:
NASCARfan, you are a moron. Go away and leave the blog to people with something worthwhile to say. Spread your venemous bile somewhere else.
You know, the other day, after reading one of your idiotic, Bobby-bashing remarks, I mentioned to a Phillies fan I know that some people around here have been clamoring for Bobby Cox’s exile for years.
His response?
“We’ll take him.”
By FJR
October 30, 2007 12:53 PM | Link to this
The thing about A-Rod is that Boras isn’t even marketing him as someone who, as a player, will be worth his salary in extra wins. Boras is marketing A-Rod as someone who will eventually break the homerun record and all the seats, merch, etc that type of run will sell.
A-Rod is the best player in baseball. Period. But for the price of A-Rod, any team could adress, and adress with all-star type players, several key positions. If we had the money, I’d say sure, go out and get A-Rod. However, if the decision was A-Rod v. a starter and a CF of all-star caliber, then no way.
As far as Boston goes, there are only two questions to be asked. First, will he make the team more money than he costs. That’s nearly impossible to tell, in a place like Boston, I don’t see the fans getting much more into it than they already are. It’s hard to imagine people going out and buying more jerseys or watching more games because of A-Rod. So I say A-Rod is a no-go there. But its easy enough to disagree with that proposition.
The second question is will he help them win more championships? Its not that likely that the Sox are going to miss the playoffs for a good while, especially with the Yankees in rebuilding mode now. Some teams, like the Cubs, might view A-Rod as an auto-ticket to the playoffs, not so with the sox, it’s only a question of how far he helps take them. A-Rod’s struggles in the postseason are well chronicled. I think people tend to put slightly too much stock in them, one good series could easily get the monkey off A-Rods back and launch him into being an October juggernaut. However, when the baseball question about getting the guy is “what will he help us do when october gets here?” its hard to rationalize giviing away a world series MVP, who makes 1/10th of the salary that A-Rod would demand.
So I think its a no-go for boston. I see A-Rod going somewhere with flexiblbe salary (duh), a borderline playoff team that wants to be guranteed a slot int eh playoffs and somewhere with a semi-disappointing ticketsales to size of market ratio.
By D. Jeter
October 30, 2007 1:01 PM | Link to this
Shame on you all, I wonder how you all will feel if he ends up with the METS..Remember he only approves the go and Mr.Boras is the one negotiating for his on benefit.
Hey you idiot’s dumb a$$$$e$ do you know how much more fans A-ROD brought into the Stadium this year (all stadium were he played) After all you miserable people and A-hater are only probably making $7.25 an hr. and have no rights to judge this great superstar!!
By 22oz
October 30, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
I’m with Jim, who gives a crap if A-Rod goes to Boston? i hope both the Yanks and the Sawx implode, so we can quit having to hear about them all the time. But that wouldn’t work, because then we would have to hear about why they failed, and how can they be fixed. Its bad enough that we get them shoved down our throat by ESPN and FOX, now our local paper? Geez, let it go! Go Braves!
By PGA
October 30, 2007 1:35 PM | Link to this
If Rodriguez wants to opt out of his contract, then fine. Tom Hicks et al should never have allowed the opt-out clause to be included in the contract in the first place. Of course, that’s history now. My guess is that wherever ARod ends up, his people (and the new team) will put on a massive PR blitz to try and shore up his image & reduce the enormous stigma that’s already attached to him and will be attached to the team that signs him.
By Rowley
October 30, 2007 2:17 PM | Link to this
The trade the braves just made was the worst damn trade in years! Wren is a idiot!
By Lev Brosntein
October 30, 2007 3:41 PM | Link to this
firejormorgan.com, the funniest site on baseball ever, addresses theis very topic today. Mark Bradley isn’t the only one writing silly and irrelvant and unmeasureble assertions about ARod.
HatGuy, Red Sox, Heyman, A-Rod, And Super Special Surprise Guest!
It’s all happening at once, people. Let’s savor this, the day after the final day of baseball, before we all begin obsessively following Memphis Grizzlies basketball and Columbus Blue Jackets hockey and Columphis Blue Grizzlies Lazyjokemashupball.
HatGuy, your entry please?
The Red Sox had generations of teams that were characterized by 25 players taking 25 cabs. No wonder they spent 86 years between championships. Now, they’ve won twice in four seasons by becoming a band of brothers who seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s company. They have stars, but you think of them as a true team.
Of course! Why’d they wait 86 years? Friends are what win in baseball! Friendshipball! Watch out, Red Sox. Your 2008 favorites for the championship: my uncle Steve and his friend Mike. So what if they’re only two guys instead of twenty-five and Mike has a shriveled left arm and Steve drinks crystal meth dissolved in Mountain Dew Game Fuel, the Halo 3-themed Mountain Dew. They go deep-sea fishing on the weekends! They’re friends!
Now let’s readjust our monocles and look at the bread around this idiocy sandwich:
That’s why he won’t end up in Boston. The Red Sox had generations of teams that were characterized by 25 players taking 25 cabs. No wonder they spent 86 years between championships. Now, they’ve won twice in four seasons by becoming a band of brothers who seem to genuinely enjoy each other’s company. They have stars, but you think of them as a true team. To add a person who has never had many friends in the clubhouses he’s inhabited doesn’t make sense.
Zero guesses as to whom HatGuy is referencing. Negative three guesses. Yep, you got it, and I took guesses away from you before you made any. There you have it. Not enough friends = no deal. I like the image of A-Rod calling up his old teammates, begging them to tell the Red Sox that yes indeed, I, Hank Blalock/Jay Buhner/Bobby Ayala/Hideki Irabu, was A-Rod’s friend you better believe it.
I am undecided whether A-Rod will be worth the hundreds of millions of dollars he will be seeking, but the number of friends he has on Facebook will be low on my priority list.
Now you, Jon Heyman, sally forth with your offering!
The Red Sox disproved the old “crapshoot” theory espoused by a lot of folks who keep losing in the playoffs. The best team won in 2007, and that is no fluke.
Look, I’m not losing in the playoffs. My favorite team isn’t losing in the playoffs. Joe Torre has won a lot in the playoffs. Joe Torre often disagree, but he and I agree on two things: Top Chef is now more enjoyable than Project Runway and as long as the series remain as brief as they are, the playoffs are distinctly, perversely crapshootish. The best team probably won in 2007, but how about just last year? 83-78 sound right to you, Jon? Was that a fluke?
And finally, we grow closer to the emergence of our special guest star for the evening, who appears courtesy of Bob DiCesare:
Rodriguez appeared in the American League Championship Series twice with the Mariners, once with the Yanks, and distinguished himself in none of the three.
Exactly right. None of the three except for the first two, in which he slugged .773 and .516 and slammed a combined 4 HR and 10 RBI. And hey, in that last one he OBP-ed .353 and hit a horrible, team-damaging solo home run.
One number echoes within the mountains of glorious statistics compiled by Rodriguez throughout his career:
13.7, his earth-shattering WARP3!
zero, his number of accrued World Series at-bats.
Oh.
Fact is, the Yankees are in far greater need of a Scott Brosius, a Bernie Williams, a Paul O’Neill than an uninspired (and uninspiring) A-Rod.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Brosius nostalgia tour continues. May his glorious name live on throughout the offseason and for all offseasons throughout eternity!
By Jack
October 30, 2007 4:02 PM | Link to this
A-Rod = Atlanta’s nightmare before Christmas
Pitching!!! We need real pitching!!! Not some big money slugger at third or another old guy named Glavine who wants to relive his glory days as a Braves starter (to rekindle a fading career). Pitching once made the Braves great, and now too few arms makes the team a pumpkin. Jack (Frank Wren) be nimble, Jack be quick, please leap over Glavine’s wishful schtick.
By nolzfaninbamacountry
October 30, 2007 4:33 PM | Link to this
I remember when A-rod signed the contract with the rangers way back when…If I remember correctly the Braves, Mets, & Rangers were the final 3 teams that were in the running. The Braves offered I think 15 million a year, and obviously that wasn’t enough (thank goodness….) A-Rod said with a straight face on an ESPN interview, that he signed with the Rangers & not the Braves, because he thought the Rangers had a better chance of winning than the Braves had……….
Yea right, just like Glavine left because it was about respect, not money……..
I do think that the owners are going to some real soul searching this year, much like they did several years ago when they stopped, albeit briefly, paying these exhorbitant salaries…..
When a 225 hitter (our beloved AJ) demands 20 million a year, and A-fraud walks away from 25 million, I feel that the owners will take notice….
Of course I’ve been known to be wrong before……..
As much as I loved to watch Renteria, this was the best thing for the Braves…….This is going to be a very interesting off-season from now until Christmas…..
By quint
October 30, 2007 5:23 PM | Link to this
Hey geniuses, do you guys remember that the Braves were the runners-up in the last A-Rod Sweepstakes? They reportedly offered a $125 million contract for 6 years (approximately $20 million per year). That is pretty close to what he signed with Texas (about $25 million per year). So he was almost our problem. Yes, I do understand that that is a 25% increase over the Braves offer per year, so don’t try to school me on that. I’m just saying that Atlanta is almost as guilty as any team when it comes to today’s inflated market.
Can’t disagree with what some of you say about JD Drew (didn’t Chipper get him to get off his lazy butt and into a very good season?)and Lofton, but I thought that most of the Braves clubhouse raved about Gary Sheffield. He surely disappeared in the post season, but I don’t remember him causing trouble in ATL. If I’m wrong, give me the links to the articles.
By Thad Mumau
October 30, 2007 5:40 PM | Link to this
I agree wholeheartedly.
Some people like to paint A-Rod as a matinee idol, but I think he is a busher (big stats notwithstanding) in many ways.
Your Giambi-ignoring and glove-slapping examples are prime ones, and then there was the Little League trick of yelling at an opposing infielder on a pop-up.
And the timing of that opt-out announcement, whether from the pompous Scott Boras or the pompous A-Rod was very bush. “Look at me,” it said.
A-Rod is all about himself, and he will likely ride his own shoulders into the Hall of Fame. Every World Series champ does not have a future Hall of Famer, but it normally has a bunch of good teammates … good guys.
I think the Red Sox have a lot of that sort.
Maybe A-Whatever can buy his own team.
By Toby Cash
October 30, 2007 5:51 PM | Link to this
Idiot agents representing the Super Inflated Egos of ballplayers and idiot owners who are willing to depart with millions of dollars is not in the best interest of Baseball or the fans.
By david
October 30, 2007 6:41 PM | Link to this
Mr. April is not worth signing.
By beki
October 30, 2007 7:33 PM | Link to this
On the other blog about Wren’s trade of Renteria many bloggers thought we should go after AROD! The Braves live under a budget that can’t begin to pay for the “Me-Me” AROD for one year! The Braves need pitching;hitting will take care of itself.
By Peter
October 30, 2007 7:34 PM | Link to this
A-Rod is a great player with great season stats………as a Bo Sox fan, I pray they don’t even talk with the guy.
He is a 2 faced looser, with tons of cash…….
He has never ever done anything to speak of in the post season………what do you do with a guy come October bat him 9th ?
I hope he Andru, and Glavin fall flat on their collective greedy faces…
By shawn
October 30, 2007 8:21 PM | Link to this
What is going to be funny is when he gets less than he was making before he opted out. There are maybe two-three teams that want him but none of those NEED him so why bid north of 20 mill a year. Sorry but for 30 a year you can get Tori Hunter and Andruw Jones. 30 million for one player is just stupid. Too many very good ones in the 12-15 mill range to blow that money on him.
By Steve Avery
October 30, 2007 8:24 PM | Link to this
Agree about the Sheffield comment. Everyone said he got along great with everyone in the clubhouse. I wish he had stayed with us. JD Drew, on the other hand…different story. He is a complete jerk and loser. Lofton was also a head case. Remember the radio interview in 97 when he went off?
Let’s get real. A-Rod would cost at least $30 million. That could get you a hell of a lot of pitching and hitting. Also, it would assure us that Tex would be gone.
By Ole Prof
October 30, 2007 9:18 PM | Link to this
A-ROD — SCHMA-ROD…. RED SOX — SMALL POX….
GIVE US SOME GOOD NEWS ABOUT THE BRAVES — AND I DON’T MEAN TRADING FOR 2 MINOR-LEAGUERS
By Frank Coffey
October 30, 2007 9:25 PM | Link to this
But Boras will change! Really.
As criticism mounts for his handling of Alex Rodriguez’s departure from the NY Yankees, a subdued Scott Boras, in an exclusive interview, told eTrueSports: “I’m a real jerk.”
By Ole Prof
October 30, 2007 9:33 PM | Link to this
It looks as though we are slowly eliminating rally-killers…A Jones and Woodward. Now,if we could get Orr and Thorn-man to move on, and could replace them with players who know how and can play, and a couple of pitchers without sore arms, we would see marked improvement in clutch siturations… Seems I am almost suggesting starting over??
Ever notice how many pitchers we trade for either immeduately goon the DL, or can’t get anyone out??
By Ole Prof
October 30, 2007 9:39 PM | Link to this
And Borass us relishing in the publicity he’s getting from being “a real jerk” — means more money his sway.
By A-ville Ranger
October 30, 2007 9:41 PM | Link to this
Even if A-Rod was a champion it’d be nuts to tie up 30 mil a year in one player.He isn’t a champ though,when he left Seattle for Texas the Mariners got better…Texas didn’t.When he left Texas for NY Texas didn’t get worse…the Yankees did though.Let’s hope the Mets take the bait…we’ll be better off for it…Avery,whatever else Lofton is, he’s always been a winner.
By LA SUCKS
October 30, 2007 9:42 PM | Link to this
disagree that there’s no team that can use a-rod.
both the dodgers & angels can use his bat…and they can afford to buy him. with that said, i hope one of the LA teams do buy him and lose.
By Ole Prof
October 30, 2007 11:30 PM | Link to this
Maybe Borass should buy his own team, and could sign all his players at $50 mill per year each..