Yankees and A-Rod - Page 4

junglewarfare · #31 07-24-2006, 09:42 AM

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Does anyone else get the impression that the baseball media is almost "proud" of the fact that they are mentally affecting (as they say), one of the greatest hitters of this generation?

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That's a good point and I agree with it. People who hate the yankees are also having fun getting their rocks off by saying "New York fans are [censored] idiots for booing and suggesting trading him, they are the dumbest/worst, etc".

Last year the people criticizing him were beyond insane, but this year he is actually playing terribly. His OPS is down .153 points to .878, and he has become a laugher in the field. He is pretty much down to the bottom decile of PECOTA's projected forecast, he is either hurt or mentally shattered. If I had to guess, I'd say he was hurt and was letting the fact that he is aware of being hurt affect his mindset. When you are playing hurt you don't just lose that physical range of motion or strength, you play worse because you are concious of that weakness.

Obviously trading him is nuts and he'd veto it anyway, but I have no idea what to think of this. I would never boo him, but I'm really pissed of with how badly he is playing. The overall poor condition of the team and the joke status of the 5th starter aggravates arod's problem, when things have not been going well like this week fans are pissed off and he comes up as the first target. He does get held to a different standard than Jeter/Posada/etc when he is slumping, but this time he is playing relatively badly by any standard of measure, not having an OPS over 1.0 but being "unclutch". who knows, I have faith that in the long run he'll go back to being who he is. This whole thing is such a mess, it started from the minute he got here and went to play 3b. That is such a mindboggling move that I basically don't acknowledge that it happened, it will always piss me off.

JaredL · #32 07-24-2006, 09:45 AM

Speaking of second basemen for the yankees, is there a reason A-Rod isn't playing second? Isn't second more similar to shortstop than third? I stopped playing baseball after Babe Ruth and my freshman year of high school so I could be off here, just wondering why they put him at third instead of second if they felt like moving him was better than Jeter.

Jared

Jack of Arcades · #33 07-24-2006, 10:50 AM

Second base is a pretty physically demanding position. Moving the highest paid player in baseball there would be nuts. They've got the second shortest lifespan of any position player behind catcher. Tons of 2nd basemen just die off after they turn 33 (see Roberto Alomar).

Plus he's got a good arm and it takes a while to get used to the throws, etc. Third base is a lot more seamless, and many shortstops make that transition if they have the arm to.

Jack of Arcades · #34 07-24-2006, 10:52 AM

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but this year he is actually playing terribly. His OPS is [...] .878

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Funny definition of "playing terribly." Yeah,he's had some fielding problems but jesus, the guy's got a .307 EqA.

Kneel B4 Zod · #35 07-24-2006, 11:33 AM

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he is either hurt or mentally shattered

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I do think there are some "mental mismatches" between A Rod and NYC. Just like there are between some guys and Boston. Some people don't mind or thrive under a constant white hot media spotlight, some people are affected by it (which is why I never liked the Bronson Arroyo deal but that's another rant).

I think Yankee fans in particular would respect A Rod more if he stood up and said "[censored] off I'm trying my best out here, if you think you can do better you're a [censored] idiot" and flipped them the bird. instead his sensitivity to the critisicm, or his reaction to it, makes him an easy target.

that said, the panic over his play is a bit overdone. he's still a very good hitter, and this is as bad as it's ever gotten for him.

edited to say: plus Derek Jeter is the best baseball player Peter King will ever see, and A Rod can't live up to that (it makes me sad to see PK say such a stupid thing, b/c I think he's a fun and entertaining writer who actually knows a lot about football. and starbucks and softball)

Dids · #36 07-24-2006, 11:51 AM

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but this year he is actually playing terribly. His OPS is [...] .878

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Funny definition of "playing terribly." Yeah,he's had some fielding problems but jesus, the guy's got a .307 EqA.

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By Alex's standards he's having an off year. That's hard to deny.

During saturday's game fox had an update after every one of his k's. It was insane. It's like the media is freaking out, and then doing stories talking about how the media is freaking out. It's like if I went and spat in your face, and then posted on my blog about what a [censored] outrage it was that Dids was running around spitting on people.

Jackie Onassis · #37 07-24-2006, 11:52 AM

A-Rod is too convenient for people to hate.

98, 99, 00 - all the way
01 - close as hell, pwned by bloop
02 - pwned by those goddamn rally monkeys
03 - the series against the Sox kind've overshadowed the loss
04, 05 - gg

Jack of Arcades · #38 07-24-2006, 11:57 AM

He's 30, and it's not demonstrably worse than his first season as a Yank. He's not gonna ever repeat his last year ever again.

andyfox · #39 07-24-2006, 12:10 PM

That .878 OPS leads all AL third basemen. (All the terrific third basemen are in the NL this year.) Obviously he's not having the year he had last year, but surely some kind of drop-off would have been expected.

As for the booing, it seems the Yankee fans never boo somebody who came up through the system. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't remember Bernie being booed when he started to decline; was Jeter booed the year he was hitting about .150 after the first month or so? Has Rivera ever been booed?

Seems like the swipe at the ball in the Red Sox series and the double play in the 9th inning in game 5 against the Angels last year were the catalysts in the fans' negativity towards him.

The Yankees' overall fielding is terrible this year. Bernie looks particularly horrible wherever they play him ahywhere in the outfield and they might as well put a statue at first base when Giambi is there. The times I've seen him play it doesn't look like A-Rod's reaction time is slower, but he does look awkward both in fielding and in throwing.

He's 30 years old. This too shall pass. I think he's got a pretty good chance to get to 800 home runs and I'd be surprised if he doesn't finish his career with the Yankees. Maybe for next year the Yankees should think about moving Damon to 1st base (or right field, Sheffield will be 90 next year, won't he?), Jeter to center field, A-Rod to short, and getting a 3rd baseman.

Karak567 · #40 07-24-2006, 12:10 PM

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but this year he is actually playing terribly. His OPS is [...] .878

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Funny definition of "playing terribly." Yeah,he's had some fielding problems but jesus, the guy's got a .307 EqA.

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By Alex's standards he's having an off year. That's hard to deny.

During saturday's game fox had an update after every one of his k's. It was insane. It's like the media is freaking out, and then doing stories talking about how the media is freaking out. It's like if I went and spat in your face, and then posted on my blog about what a [censored] outrage it was that Dids was running around spitting on people.

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Completely agree.

RodGate is getting completely out of hand. The media flames anyone who hates on him and then they show all of his errors and Ks... yeah that's making it better guys. They like to set a fire and be the ones to come with the water to put it out. ESPN has pissed me off so much during this whole ordeal... sometimes I think they tell BBT and SC guys to flame A-Rod.