A-Rod

It Keeps Getting Worse

12 Apr 2013

7 Comments

The New York Times is reporting that MLB has evidence that Alex Rodriguez bought documents from the PED clinic in Miami that he is said to have used.

I can’t see how buying these documents would be a crime, but it certainly looks very, very bad. What reason would Alex have to buy the documents besides the fact that he didn’t want someone to see his name in them? It certainly looks like a desperate attempt to preserve his credibility and avoid a major suspension from baseball.

Alex has three choices now that this story has broken. He can stand up and deny it, essentially forcing MLB to prove that he did this. He can stay far away from the Yankees and the cameras under the guise of injury rehab and let the fallout from this hit his teammates and anyone else the press can get to. Or, he can stand up and admit to what he has been accused of doing. Does anyone care to bet that he takes option #2?

By: Category: Yankees Tags: ,

Two Statements

9 Mar 2013

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See if you can spot a difference in two statements made by Yankee players today.

“I carry the legacy of Mr. Jackie for all these years. I try to do my best to wear No. 42 and do it with class and honor. That’s what I’ve been trying my best, to carry the legacy of No. 42.

I will continue doing that until the end. Because of what Mr. Jackie Robinson did for us as minorities was tremendous, giving us an opportunity to come here, opening doors for us. Being the last player to wear No. 42 is a privilege. “ 

Mariano Rivera at his press conference today.

“Mariano Rivera is arguably the greatest closer of all time. But beyond that he is a class act and a great human being. It is an honor to be his teammate and his friend.”

Alex Rodriguez in a statement today.

Some get it, others do not.

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More Fun With Alex

2 Mar 2013

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I’m pretty sure there has never been a professional athlete who has damaged his own brand more than Alex Rodriguez. This guy just doesn’t get it. In a story that will probably receive far too little attention because it isn’t a “juicy” scandal, the Boston Globe investigated the charitable foundations set up by professional athletes and found that they don’t contribute a lot of the money they raise to charity. For example, the Josh Beckett Foundation only gives 37 cents of every dollar it raises to charity. (Charities typically give around 70 cents of every dollar raised to charity.)

But Alex is in a class by himself. The Alex Rodriguez Foundation raised $403,862 in 2006 and have a total of $5,090 to charity. After that it stopped submitting financial records to the IRS and was stripped of its non-profit status.

Where did the other $398,000 go? Great question and one that we will probably never get an answer for. But, that’s really beyond the point. The better question is how a guy who was making $25-million a year at the time couldn’t figure out how to make sure that almost all of his foundation’s money got to charity? After all, Alex earned $398,000 in less than 3 games in 2006.

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More Fun With Alex

29 Jan 2013

7 Comments

Just when you thought Alex Rodriguez couldn’t get more interesting, here’s a new PED story linking him and other athletes to an outfit in Miami. It was back in early 2009, ironically during his last hip surgery recovery, that A-Rod admitted to using steroids during a three-year period. The Yankees stood by Alex and supported him at his press conference where he supposedly came clean.

But, that was a different A-Rod.  That guy had won a MVP in 2007 and he hit .302/.392/.573 in 2008. The Yankees needed that player to be productive and their faith was rewarded with a championship in 2009 that would not have been won without Alex. Now, things are very, very different.

Let’s start with the obvious, this isn’t the same player. Rodriguez just had surgery on his other hip. He has not hit .300 since 2008 and his OPS has declined every year since 2007. He has hit 34 homers over the last two seasons and has appeared in only 221 games during that period. Couple that with his contract which has 5 years and $114-million left on it before incentives (we will get to those) and I think it is fair to say that the Yankees won’t be as supportive this time around if these allegations prove to be true.

And this is the where the biggest change from 2009 comes in, the quest to get a payroll below $189-million in 2014. I’ve detailed how hard it will be to accomplish, but if the Yankees somehow could subtract the $27.5 AAV of Alex’s contract, it becomes a lot easier to achieve. Now, I don’t see any way that is possible, but I do think the Yankees will have an argument to make against Alex’s contract incentives.

Alex gets $6-million each time he hits a milestone home run which are defined as home run #660, 714, 755, 762 and 763.  And those bonuses will count against the Yankees’ payroll when they are earned. So, with Alex out until July,  currently hitting a home run about once every 6.5 games and sitting at 647 career homers, there is a very real chance that he won’t hit #660 until 2014. And that would cost the Yankees an extra $6-million in payroll which could completely obliterate their quest to get under $189 million.

So, I expect the Yankees to attack those incentive clauses. A-Rod has already admitted to using PED’s from 2001-2003 when he hit 156 homers. The Yankees could use that and these latest allegations to try and invalidate his 660th homer, arguing that his real total would be less without the use of PED’s. I imagine the Yankees are thinking over their options very carefully right now.  And, at the very least, I imagine Hal has given Hank a huge wedgie, at least I hope he has.

 

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