“His contract is going to start looking worse as he gets older and further away from his peak, although inflation will help to mitigate that at least partially. “

That’s all true but also I forget what the exact numbers are, and I’m too lazy to check Cot’s, but A-Rod’s contract is front loaded so he’s making the most money in the first few years of the deal then makes less toward the end.

When your baseline projected OPS is .973, you’re probably doing something right.  As far as players being fun to watch, last year was a toss-up between A-Rod and Joba.

Though SG went into the general “clutchness” of A-Rod, I think it’s further worth noting that he absolutely carried the team during its horrific start - he seemingly single-handedly won a bunch of those early games, enough to keep their head just above water.  And then he kept pouring it on even as they were in a race and the other hitters started producing.  Just an awesome, awesome year.  It was fun listening to the naysayers - mouths full of crow - babble incoherently about A-Rod last year.  WTF!? indeed.

I feel better everyday about the yankees finishing in first place.

Just a quick question - why does it show the difference in hits projected/actual as only being 3%?

That’s all true but also I forget what the exact numbers are, and I’m too lazy to check Cot’s, but A-Rod’s contract is front loaded so he’s making the most money in the first few years of the deal then makes less toward the end.

True, I forgot about that, although the HR milestone bonuses could change that.  $27 million this year, $32 million in 2009 and 2010, then it starts to go down.

Just a quick question - why does it show the difference in hits projected/actual as only being 3%?

I divided everything by plate appearances except for plate appearances and at bats.  So Rodriguez was projected to have 162 hits in 650 plate appearances, .249 H/PA.  He actually had 183 hits in 708 plate appearances, .258 H/PA.  That’s where the 3% comes in.  If I did it by AB then it’d match the 8% difference shown in batting average.

I never had you pegged as a Flair fan, SG. Although I probably should’ve, given the Atlanta thing. Maybe we can get Alex to come up to the plate in some of those robes. I feel like that would help his image.

A-Rod is like good and stuff.

i also expect the media circus to begin to wane a bit as he will never have to negotiate another contract again.  he’s a yankee now. 

oh, who am i kidding?  the guy got criticized by some fans for saying Jeter would have an “MVP season”.

I never had you pegged as a Flair fan, SG. Although I probably should’ve, given the Atlanta thing.

Nah, it’s not an Atlanta thing.  I was a Flair fan before I moved down here.  It’s more the fact that we share the same limousine-riding, jet-flying lifestyle.

A-Rod is like good and stuff.

That was my first draft of this entry.

I think that June 3rd game took about 6 months off my life.  The Cano triple was awesome to tie the score off of Okijhima, but when they couldn’t bring him in with no outs, I was furious, but watching ARod homer off of Paplebon was worth it.

It’s pretty amazing that ARod is “worth” his contract this year, especially when you consider that marginal wins probably are worth more to the Yankees, and that’s not even counting the “star power” revenue he garners.  You also make a good point about concentration of talent, which is important for high-revenue teams.

Yeah, that June 3rd game was awesome, especially since it was on my birthday, of course I only barely remember it.

A-Rod’s MVP comment about Jeter either:

A) reveals A-Rod doesn’t know how to inspire teammates with grit and intangibles
B) was meant to needle Jeter about never winning the award
C) was meant to jinx Jeter because A-Rod’s so jealous of him
D) was meant to predispose writers to vote for Justin Morneau next Septemberinstead
E) all of the above

and he should continue to be the best player on the team for the next few years.

I’m going to go out on a (pretty sturdy I think) limb and say that in either 2009 or 2010, Cano is going to pass ARod as “best player on the team”.  Not really because ARod is going to slip, but because I think Cano will excel.  From a pure #‘s standpoint (e.g. OPS) I think ARod will still have a slight lead, but when adjusting for position and defense, I think Cano will come out on top.  Mind you it’s just a hunch…

A team full of hitters whose 80% projections matched Rodriguez’ 20% projection would be really freakin’ good.  Unless they were all lefthanded or something.  It would be pretty rough having an infield full of lefthanded throwers.

Digging through the mainstream media, it would appear there is a buzz of sorts surrounding LaTroy Hawkins.  The only problem, however, is that his two-seamer might not play as well now that Troy Tulowitzki won’t be manning shortstop behind him.  That being said, he signed a one year deal and allowed Cashman to cut Vizcaino loose - which nets a sandwich pick.

WOOOOO!....I like the nature boy reference. I hated on Arod for a while until last season. He really opened my eyes as to what is possible to do on a baseball field.

I was in new orleans watching the walk off against chris ray on mlb.tv with my friend who is an orioles fan. A great moment for me last season.

I enjoyed the HR off Borowski myself, as it capped a rally in which the Yankees, down by 4 runs with two outs in the 9th inning, took a game they had no business winning.  In some cosmic way, I felt that was owed to the Yanks after Mariano Rivera inexplicably had given up a two out, three run walkoff HR to Marco Scutaro of all people, in the preceding weeks.

It’s all been said already, but A-Rod took what was a HOF career and catapulted it to the forefront with his 2007 season.  Every at-bat was an experience.  I remember sitting ten rows behind home plate and the crowd just going nuts when he was about to bat.  I’ll never forget that season.  Yeah, the Yankees didn’t win the world series.  But I got to see one of the greatest hitters ever have possibly the best season of his career.  Breathtaking.

he really was awesome last year.

i think the peak of his season was when Seattle rolled into town and they weren’t going away in the WC, and Alex just put them down like a horse with a broken leg.

the Yankees had lost the first game of the series and they were tied in the los column with Seattle, then won the next 2. 

both games were close for 6-7 innings and A-Rod hit clutch HRs in both games, and the eventually broke open both games into blowouts.

the yanks never looked back.

I was listening to that Borowski game while I was working last year, I remember thinking that they should just walk ARod and risk a hit than face him… Then I was really glad that Eric Wedge didn’t take my mental advice.

Great piece, SG.

I am so happy A-Rod decided not to become a heel. That would have irritated me greatly.

Hey guys

i scoped this love-fest and just had to join in. a welcome sight after months of agitated nitpickiness!

my a-rod moment was yup’s. i was at that game where Phil was having what seemed like a rough go against the M’s the first couple innings before he sharpened up, and then Jose Molina hit a homer to keep us close. duncan threw ibanez out at second. rod hit i think 47 and 48 in the 7th. it was magically delicious. joba got his 1st career win and oh vernon wells beasted the sox that night which was the one useful thing he did all year aside from that fake catch he pulled on johnny damon.

I don’t buy A-Rod doing poorly in the 2007 “postseason.”  He had no protection behind him in the order (Torre deserves some blame for that), and they didn’t advance beyond the division series.  He had one bad game, and the rest of it wasn’t too bad.  So, the sample size is too small to put such a bad label on him,  and what we saw wasn’t as bad as the media would lead us to believe.

thurm—

Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA.

Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes it is.

Seein the light are ya lad?

TommyBorasD… Gimme an effin break. Wee alex is blowin dead geese when the leaves turn and everyone here knows it. I refuse to participate in this Nimrod pornfest.
Whats next? Pettite as a drug free righthanded agnostic?
Clemens as someone you would introduce to your sister?

Gee you’re right Thurm.  I guess A-Rod sucks after all.  Thanks for setting us straight.  I wish he’d just taken his no-postseason-talent ass outta New York. I gotta tell you it must be that postseason sample sizes aren’t the smallest things these stastic guys are sporting.

Maybe, but:

Pettite as a drug free righthanded agnostic?
Clemens as someone you would introduce to your sister?

is superb work.

Dave.. I’m not saying he sucks.
I am saying blaming Torre, Matsui and Jorge for his October malfunctions could be a bit unfair.
Alex at this point has a fairly vast postseason portfolio.
Lot of ugly games there.
I believe he has said ” I haven’t got it done”
Stastics doan lye.

In other news…found out today about Phil Hughes’s blog.  Not sure if anyone mentioned it before.  So far at least not exactly a lot of in-depth stuff, but kind of neat.

I’ve seen it… I wonder how it will go as the season progresses.

Thurm - the full body of ARod’s postseason work is still solid, IIRC.  Since game 4 of the ‘04 ALCS, however, it’s pretty bad.  There are some excellent players on the team whose stats since that time are bad too.  Just about the only one who keeps hitting in Oct seems (to me, anyway) to be Cano.

Oh, and 90-minute IPA is powerful, powerful stuff.  Not my thing, IPA, but I recall coming across a “Brown IPA” or somesuch that packed a heckuva punch and was awfully yummy to boot.

I think I saw an A-Rod cover yesterday.  When does the counting start?  Opening Day?

I think we can start it now.  I’ve got two to post.