The A-Rod question
The biggest question of the offseason is where Alex Rodriguez will end up. It won't be in Redsland, unless he agrees to finance the Banks and be the closer as well as the shortstop.
But it's hard to see a fit for him anywhere at his price. He's the best player in baseball. But there are a lot of better ways to spend $30 million. The Reds starting eight will make about $33 million in 2008, by the way.
The Dodgers, Angels and Red Sox are the clubs talked about. A Miami Herald story says Marlins president Larry Beinfest would not dismiss Florida pursuing A-Rod. With A-Rod, the Marlins would be sure to draw 9,000 for the those late August games.
Where do think he'll end up? The last time around no one was thinking Texas. My guess -- and it's just that -- is the Dodgers.
posted by John Fay at 1:15 PM
24 Comments:
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Post a Comment*I would love to see the market bottom out on the guy. Something like "only" making $20 million/year
2 words - Jody Reed.
May A-Rod suffer a similar fate.
He already was making too much, otherwise the Rangers wouldn't have agreed to eat $67 million. And it should be noted the Yankees didn't want him without the subsidy.
Buyer beware.
The best fit is the Angels, although their owner might be too smart to mortgage the future on one player.
sorry that was more than 2 words.
I think it's going to be difficult for A-Rod to get signed by anyone as long as Boras is calling the shots. Like I said before, this latest opting out shows that loyalty is not high on his/their list of priorities. I think a lot of teams are going to be hesitant to sign him for the $30 million Boras will demand if they think Boras will tell him to jump the team after 3 years
i doubt a-rod will find himself without a contract in the spring like jody reed did.
i think the los angeles / anaheim / orange county / california angels are the obvious fit. it will just be a matter of arte moreno wanting to spend the money or not. they already got their world series, so i think he's not inclined to overspend... i think the idea of the dodgers signing him might be enough to get him to cough up the money.
Chicago Cubs or LA Dodgers
Didn't he play for Lou in Seattle?
And of course Torre now in Dodger blue.
It would be cool to see his agent price him out of baseball, but some owner somewhere will pony up the bucks.
Detroit could use some pop at 3rd, and that's one of the few teams that can deal with Boras. But I don't think A-Rod want to play in that park - it will really cut down on his home runs. The Cubs would be the destination were it not for ownership issues. Boston, no. I don't know what's going on with the California teams, but I'm still wondering if he won't ultimately be a Yankee again, regardless of the harsh words from little Steinbrenner.
I think a lot of teams are dumb enough to pay him this type of money. My bet is on Angels. Although, I could see him playing SS for the Cubs next year.
SF Giants also a possibility. w/o bonds and his 20 m$ they can again afford another superstar
Yeah, Jody Reed belongs in the same sentence as A-Rod, right!
A-Rod will go to the Cubs, Dodgers, Angels, or Marlins.
I hope it's the Marlins...maybe they could trade chubby Cabrera to the Reds to keep Gonzalez company at Skyline?
Too bad the Reds can't land a superstar free agent like A-Rod...
Do you think he would sit out a year if no one matches what he turned down from the Yankees? Pride and all that sort of rubbish you know.
Three Words: Toledo Mud Hens, but the Hens say he'd have to be wiling to play somewhere else besides third base, as Mike Hessman pretty much has that spot nailed down.
Seriously - is any player worth $30 million? And did the Yankees win with him aboard?
i would love to see A-Rod sit out this year because no one signed him - but you're right - someone will put the money with the false hopes of him leader their team to a Championship - when was the last A-Rod WS Championship?
My memory must be fading - i can't remember one!
Boras is all about himself!
anon 3:16
Yes, when it comes to greed A-Rod and Jody Reed deserve to be in the same conversation. And for the record, Reed - after turning down 7.8 million from the Dodgers for 3 years - ending up signing for 300,000 with the Brewers and his career soon thereafter faded into oblivion.
Pay-Rod is all about money. Obviously, he does not care about winning, otherwise he wouldn't sign with the Rangers, nor would he run away from the Yankees.
Thankfully, the Reds don't have the fan base to justify signing him.
That ARod is so much different from other professional baseball players, who play the game for no money whatsoever. They, and their families, exist solely on the good vibes of "loyal" fans (who never, ever boo or bitch about "their" players).
ARod should turn down that extra cash, and leave it in the pockets of humanitarians like George Steinbrenner, Jeffrey Loria, Bud Selig, and Tom Werner. Those guys are the reason I buy the Extra Innings package, anyway.
Next time your boss offers you a raise, tell him you're too loyal for that.
I'd say, hmmm...
Angels - Too smart to spend the cash.
Dodgers - Too smart to strap themselves to that much on one player. Although depending on Torre's relationship with A Rod could be a team interested.
Tigers - Good relationship with Boras (i.e. Pudge, Sheff). But recently traded for Renteria at SS. And Inge didn't really struggle this year.
Red Sox - Possibly to piss off the Yanks. They did spend $51 Mil just to negotiate with a Japanese #3 Starter.
New York - Wright is willing to move to 2nd for A Rod. But they have been outspoken that Posada is their #1 off season target. And with Glavine a free-agent I figure they will spend their money elsewhere.
Does A Rod want to go to the N.L. Does it matter that if a team is interested, but are still a year or two from contending, would he care? Will the ML Brass allow a pleyer to sign a deal worth $350 Million? I remember that they weren't too happy with Texas owners when they bought him for $250 Mil. It seems to me that the only team that will stand to gain anything will be the Rangers. They are now out from under the $30+ Mil that they still owe A Rod.
I think you all missed the boat. I think A-rod ends up with the METS. It is a totally different fan base than the Yankees. The Mets will have a new stadium in 2009,N.Y. is a huge market, the Mets would be able to one-up the Yankees, and the Mets G.M. Omar Minaya is known to love Alex the player. Just my educated guess.
OK, let's look at this impartially. Is A-Rod worth the money as far as the game of baseball goes?
You better believe it. A power hitter with consistency, good glove, good speed. A sure fire hall of famer. If I were running a major league team, I would definitely pay $20-25 million a year for him.
But not $30000000.
You cannot put that kind of money on your roster and not have it be an issue in the clubhouse or become a liability in your ability to acquire the players you need in an emergency. Sounds perverse, perhaps, but no team, not even the Yankees, can pay unlimited amounts.
The other liability is one that several teams have run into when paying for high priced talent and that is when that talent seperates themselves from the rest of the team. The Giants had that problem with Bonds for several years (and Dusty Baker did nothing to stop it). When the superstar considers himself more important than the rest of the team, team morale goes out the window.
In A-Rod's case, Scott Boras fixes it so that this seperation is unavoidable. In the deal with the Rangers, Boras demanded that the Rangers promotional department ran two different ad campaigns----one for the team and one for A-Rod.
Whatever the fairweather fans here like to say about Griffey and Dunn, they can't deny that they are committed to the Reds. They don't have their lockers in a separate room. They don't demand to be traded if things don't go their way and they don't have an opt-out clause in their contracts. They're with the rest of the team on the field and in the clubhouse.
This is just as important to a team as the power hitting, consistency and fielding. This is where A-Rod loses $5 million dollars worth of value
Didn't anyone else notice that 70% of the money going to the Reds starting 8 will be locked up in two defensive-liability-strike-out artists at the corner outfield positions?
I'm not sure where he will end up,but I would think the owners who do go after him would realize they do not have to pay him the $30 million he's seeking. There are few teams able afford that salary so why not squeeze him a little bit? But if I had to choose I'd say red Sox because their owners ego wouldn't mind sticking it to the Yanks.
My question to the owners is would'nt it be wiser to spread that cash out over other areas of your team to make it stronger?
I don't think the Mets are hurting for anyone at 3rd base or shortstop right now. Just can't see if you got two young conerstones in Reyes & Wright why you'd want to move one of them to accomodate A-rod?
Maybe with Stoneman removed in L.A. the new g.m. could talk Moreno into A-rod but I heard Moreno say they don't subscribe to the thought of sinking that much payroll into one player.
Dodgers and the Orioles both have owners that are crazy enough to pull off the deal just to make a splash. But they will become the new version of the Rangers where that won't be able to supply the rest of the team with quality players.
I'd hope the Cubbies would hold off on the signing of the "Rod",they are cursed enough as it is.
But who ever does sign him will probably be bumping up their tix prices and start squeezing the fans out of the ballpark unless they are filthy rich or work for a company that has season seats.
Woody in Reading
Chris @ Redleg.....
Don't you think getting a raise in a regular job that most of us have compare to "The Rod" needing one is a little out of balance? You cannot be serious about making a comparison from and average joe turning down a raise to multi-millionaire.
He's made more cash that he can possibly spend in a lifetime. How much is enough for players to make? How much are you willing to pay to see a game?
If ever there was a time for the owners to show some common sense on salaries this would be a great starting point.
Oh it was nice to see that someone could still take this question/debate to get their shots in on Griffey & Dunn. Well played!
7:55 anon,Dunn certainly should be a better defensive outfielder than he is. While Jr. is not the defensive player he was, he is far from a liability. With regard to what they make, it is a function of the combination of their years of service and production. You can't have a team full of young cheap players. If you do, then they all get pricey at the same time. Even the Rockies with their 51 million payroll had Todd Helton himself taking up 17 mil. And his production is nothing close to what it used to be. You can take any couple of players and make an extreme example. Taking nothing away from Harang, but he and Arroyo will probably make in excess of 90% of the salary of the starting rotation, and about 75% of the entire 11 or 12 man pitching staff. Nobody seems to be complaining about that. Maybe you are assuming the Reds spent enough on players. I thought I heard Castellini say the payroll is going up. Aren't they paying 3.5 mil per year for their manager?
What I smell is some type of collusion type lawsuit by Scott Boras. When no team comes forward with a 30 million a year for 10 year deal, Boras is going to claim some type of collusion. The truth is A-Hole ran from New York because he was scared of the new Manager Girardi. Girardi wouldn't have babied him. Girardi would get in his face and lay down the law! No winning team is built around one player. You can't have one superstar and tell everyone else on the team, that they are his supporting cast! Remember the 1990 Reds? A bunch of darn good team ballplayers. No superstar, just a bunch of good players! You guys are probably right. Some loony owner will probably come forward with some bizarre contract and ruin his franchise for the next ten years.
An article in the NY Times today said a number of agents are actually advocating the owners colluding against Boras. They won't complain at all if Boras gets frozen out. Boras' plan to get A-Rod a $350million starting price makes the other agents' jobs harder. If you're paying A-Rod $35million, you won't be paying even $5million for someone like Sean Casey or Brandon Phillips----good, reliable, evryday players who are either not yet on the superstar level or (supposedly) just past the superstar level. It's high time the money-grubbing union leadership realized that for evry $20M+ contract, 4 or 5 veteran players are forced out of a job
The Reds should pursue A-Rod. The signing would pay for itself. 750,000-1M extra season tickets, higher TV&radio revenues, A-Rod sales, and food/beverage/parking concessions. Worth at least 25M per year.
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