Imagining the Yanks without A-Rod
ByYou don’t need me to tell you that the 2009 Yankees were a very good baseball club. We all know how their season ended. We all know that they won a Major League-leading 103 games and captured those final key 11 postseason victories by the time the first week in November rolled around. Been there, done that.
Let me tell you though about one of the players who helps make the Yankees as good as they are. For 28 games at the start of the season, the Yankees were without one Alex Rodriguez, their high-priced and sometimes high-maintenance third baseman. Through those 28 games, the Yanks were 13-15, spinning their wheels and going nowhere fast. After A-Rod‘s return, the team went 90-44. By the end of the season, the Yanks were 82-42 in games in which A-Rod appeared and 21-17 without him. That turnaround might not be only A-Rod’s doing, but he was no small part of the Yanks’ success.
Yesterday, in an interview with YES, A-Rod spoke at length about his 2009 campaign. Even at the steroid revelations, the year started on a bad note for him as he needed a major hip procedure. For A-Rod, the comparison to other players cut down in their primes by bad hips seemed apt. Albert Belle and Bo Jackson were both destined for greater things than they achieved when hip conditions forced them off the field.
“I think I grew up a lot, both on and off the field. Staring at retirement right in the face, kind of like Bo Jackson. That’s the first thing I thought of,” he said on YES. “It was a commitment that I wanted to do for the team, and it was very scary. I knew I was putting the rest of my career at risk, but I felt that with the team at hand, it was a risk worth taking.”
A-Rod’s retiring at 34 is an idea no Yankee wants to consider. That would have been a disastrous development for the Yankees. Overall last year, A-Rod was a 4.4 WAR player, and the swing from those replacing A-Rod to A-Rod was approximately 5 wins. Although the Yanks are still good enough to have won without him, A-Rod is one of those players who makes the rest of the lineup better. His return coincided with Mark Teixeira‘s breaking out of a slump, and his presence took pressure off the rest of the lineup.
The Yankees could have filled the A-Rod hole easily this off-season by pursuing Adrian Beltre. The Red Sox’s new third baseman is a far superior defender than A-Rod ever has been at the Hot Corner, but except for Beltre’s insane 2004 campaign, A-Rod has been the better offensive player of the two. A-Rod’s three-year combined WAR is 20; Beltre’s is short of 10.
Now, A-Rod is primed for a big 2010. He didn’t need the second surgery, and he says his hip is feeling great. Outside of some rather mundane Kate Hudson developments, he hasn’t made headlines this winter, and I’m glad he’s around. He shed himself of the clutch burden and proved himself in the eyes of some of the game’s most judgmental fans. The alternative — life without A-Rod — is much, much worse.
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i’m feeling a monster 2010 for relaxed, no-monkeys-on-back alex
+4
My pain…is self-chosen
at least, I believe it to be
I could either drown
Or pull off my skin and swim to shore
Now I can grow a beautiful…shell for all to see
-Mad Season, River of Deceit (Covered by Alex Rodriguez)
But weren’t we told that the Yankees were so much better without Arod?
the only thing that worries me about ARod is how many years are left on that deal. sure, he’s a superb player, one of the best of all time. but there are many, many years and many, many dollars to go.
And many, many homers left to hit.
http://www.hiyoooo.com
Obv.
The good part is that he’s only due for $20M in 2017. That’s more bearable than it ballooning at the end.
It is a real concern. I don’t like any player enough to guarantee huge paydays until they’re…42?!
Seriously. 42?!
Except for Bobby Bonilla.
+1
that story never ceases to amaze me.
His salary may be enough to get him a controlling stake in the Mets in 2030. They may be less valuable than $40 million.
Sometimes I wonder if the Dolans and Wilpons get together to discuss business strategies for their respective teams.
In fairness to Dolan, Walsh has some idea of what he’s doing (although I’m still really bummed he passed on Jennings, but whatevs).
At least the annual salaries drop as he ages. #1 it’ll leave more money in the budget, and #2, as long as the recession doesn’t turn into a depression, the annual salaries won’t look too bad based on expected salary increases in baseball. Paying him $30 million this year looks bad all things considered, but paying him $22 million 3 years from now won’t hurt so much (just estimates, too lazy to go to Cots, but it’s something like that.
08:$27M, 09:$32M, 10:$32M, 11:$31M, 12:$29M, 13:$28M, 14:$25M, 15:$21M, 16:$20M, 17:$20M
$30M marketing agreement based on home run milestones ($6M each for reaching 660, 714, 755 and tying and breaking major league HR record)
And don’t forget this:
perks: may purchase 4 best available season tickets for 2008, 4 Legends Suite or comparable season tickets for 2009-17
Nothing like Roy Oswalt’s tractor, though.
Nothing like Roy Oswalt’s
tractorbulldozer, though.My bad. There’s a difference.
http://www.zimbio.com/Roy+Oswa.....+Contracts
Nick Johnson is a human tractor.
His career is defined by a large sample.
/Pete Lusitania’d
That may be a real early candidate for quote of the year.
whats the large sample joke? i missed it
http://riveraveblues.com/2010/.....ent-760689
It’s a classic.
Thanks. The good news is if he is hitting those milestones, that means he’s still producing. While he’s on pace, he’s still a long ways away. If he gets to 755+, the contract will be a success.
He’ll be a nice overpaid DH. Not like they cant afford it.
Imagining the Yanks without A-Rod
Hmmmm… nah, I’ll pass.
Yeah, I saw the title of the thread and said, now why would I wanna do THAT?!
I fact, we don’t have to, do we. We saw it already in the Handsome Cody Ransom era.
Imagining the Yanks without A-Rod
http://tinyurl.com/yj59xq6
/works here too.
pat, you have added value.
Good thing we here in America don’t have a V.A.T.
Value-added tax.
Only socialists know what that is!
What’s pat’s VORP?
Rumor has it that A-Rod has demanded a trade. He doesn’t want to be a Yankee anymore due to the offseason moves. I mean, Randy Winn!?!?!?!
ietc
Although the Yanks are still good enough to have won without him
Won games here and there, yes. Good enough to win it all? POSSIBLY…but very highly unlikely. Especially with his clinic he put on in the playoffs last year.
Outside of some rather mundane Kate Hudson developments, he hasn’t made headlines this winter
It’s good to see him out of the headlines for everything he does. But last night I read this:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35.....nt-gossip/
Scroll down and you’ll see. Obviously nothing too important but I thought I’d share.
I can’t blame him. Frankly I don’t know how anyone can resist someone who sleeps in a bodybag.
Centaurs sleep in body bags?
When Chuck Norris is done with them.
http://www.myspaceantics.com/i.....s-mast.jpg (Probably NSFW)
Maybe when they’re with Madonna they do.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....cream.html
How couldn’t resist her after the way she looked at the “Hope for Haiti” telethon.
I know it sucks to get old, but her face looked tighter than the High E string on a guitar.
Somehow they were able to get past the clubhouse cancer and lack of jumping ability to perform better with A-Rod than Ransom.
Sincerely,
Ian O Connor.
SUCKA GOT NO JUICE
/rosenthal’d
and Pete Abraham
Sad part is there are still plenty of fans who will still boo him and think the Yankees are better off without him.
ALDS Game 1, when he didn’t come through in his first at bat I believe it was, I heard some guy behind me yelling ‘I hate A-Rod, worthless’.
I just sighed a bit, that’s all.
If it makes you feel any better, the guy behind you who said ARod was worthless… yeah, he just canceled his season tickets. So, there’s that.
I hate A-Rod. He stinks!
/Bernie Mac’d
He was just following in his dad’s footsteps. His dad, you see, gave up his season tickets when, after winning the WS, the dumbass Yankees let their All-Star closer go, only to replace him some no-name kid.
More than sad . . . it’s just plain ignorant.
Fat, drunk and stupid: no way to go through life
Unless you’re proud to be a red neck . . . especially if you like to brag about your double-wide.
hmmmmm . . .just realized how confusing that statement could be. Is the double-wide referring to his trailer or his girl-friend? It could be either I guess.
Could double as both. I’ve been in some “double wides” I could fit my entire body into quite comfortably. Don’t even need blankets!
lmao
It’s funny because it’s true.
Absolutely.
Interestingly, it’s not the offense that improved when A-Rod came back, but the pitching:
Runs scored in first 28 games: 158 (5.64 per game)
Runs allowed in first 28 games: 178 (6.26 per game)
Runs scored in remaining 134 games: 757 (5.65 per game)
Runs allowed in remaining 134 games: 575 (4.29 per game)
A wonderful example of how correlation does not equal causation.
CC settling down and the bullpen were huge parts of that. But still, have you seen Cody Ransom jump?
remember thought the first 28 games included 3 CMW starts, which resulted in 44 runs scored against in those games alone. still better in the remaining 134 games, just not by as wide a margin.
“The Yankees could have filled the A-Rod hole easily this off-season…” Pause.
However, it’s a known fact that ARod makes his teammates worse because he is a selfish clown. If it wasn’t for ARod, the Yankees would have won the 2004-2008 World Series and would have swept the Phillies in 2009.
If 3 weeks of watching Berroa and Ransom play 3b didnt make fans love A-Rod nothing will.
Get ready for round 3 of that this yr. We’ll see how many want Damon back after 3 weeks of watching gardner and winn hit.
oh you
imagine the yankees with in-yah-face kate hudson and baseball fans having to endure yet another year of arod the centaur and his hollywood needy girl playing the their romance out on the field again, i might give up watching baseball period.
you are my centaur
my only centaur
you make me happy
when you hit homeruns
you’ll never know man
how much I thank you
please don’t take my centaur away…
Ben, help me here. Why do you believe Beltre is a “far superior” fielder compared to ARod?
ARod has always been an excellent fielder — at short and 3B. I have not seen Beltre other than a single game but the stats seem to be nearly identical based on ’09 results: Both played nearly the same number of games at the hot corner; both have nearly identical number on assists and double plays; ARod has significantly less errors (I think 9 vs. 14) and a superior fielding pct.
Don’t know what the stats are over a cumulative period but last year ARod was the better fielder.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sorta.....yStat=FPCT
But the stats you cite don’t really capture defense. Errors and assists consider only the balls a fielder gets to. Newer stats — UZR for instance — contemplates how much range a player has and how many balls they get to, and in that sense, Beltre is a far superior fielder than A-Rod. He covers more ground; he converts more batted balls to outs than A-Rod does at third.