Wednesday, February 18, 2009

sympAthy fOR the Devil


As mentioned in previous posts, their is no love loss here for A-rod.
I once was amongst his biggest supporters. Every time he made out in a big spot I was one of the first to say, give the guy a break, Baseball is a team game. Its not his fault that the pitching staff put the team in a situation where they needed him to come through just to save their hides.

But when Good ol' Scottie Boris instructed him to opt out a little over a year ago, I got out of character and just was fed up with the guy. In a way I felt betrayed.

From that day forth, I no longer supported Alex.
It would be foolish to say that without him the Yankees are better.
Without those "numbers" the Yanx and their lineup wouldn't be what it is.

The thing that does stand out however is that because the team is so accustomed to see him prosper in the regular season, its only natural to rely on him in the post season. So when he doesn't come through its catastrophic for the team and its psyche.

One thing that nobody can argue is that A-rod in all interviews just tries too hard and he comes off as a phony.

He seams like a guy that should have all the confidence in the world.
Hes got the looks , hes got the talent, hes got the money and he can get whatever girl he wants.
Its amazing how he is so self conscious of what the rest of the world thinks of him. I guess its just not that simple....

Which brings me to my point. Alex just doesn't seem like he means what he says. Its so easy to get rubbed the wrong way by just listening to him try to be sincere
In the aftermath of A-rods presser from yesterday when he divulged some more information of his PED use over the 3 year span. I think it could have gone better (why did he bring his cousin into the mix?, that will only make things more complicated) but it also could have gone a hell of allot worse.

There will always be questions and grey areas that we wont get satisfactory answers on. But on a whole, he basically got everything out there and I thank G-D for that. Because otherwise we wouldn't hear the end of it from the media.

I took note to the players faces when he turned to them and apologized. They didn't look to forgiving. But you could read into that whichever way you like...

Its a pipe dream to say that this story will get played out and we can turn the page.
When he pays visits to Boston, Texas, Seattle and even comes home to New York, He will always be a sideshow whether we like it or not.

In a way, I feel terrible for the guy. Every morning he wakes up he knows that where ever he goes he is enemy number one and that he is just not liked. And if he is liked, he has the sneaking suspicion, does this person really like me ? or are they kissing up to me for the money?
Its actually a depressing life come to think of it...

Sunday, February 15, 2009

METS: OFFSEASON GRADES


OK... with the offseason now officially over here are my grades for the Mets and Omar Minaya's offseason...

Please be aware that these are not grades on the overall team but grades on the offseason moves..

Starting Lineup: With the same lineup coming back from last year there is no improvement in this area. Relying on a platoon of Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis in LF and not finding a replacement for Luis Castillo were two areas of failure. But, picking up the option on Carlos Delgado was a good move in my mind however obvious at it may have seemed. Grade C

Bench: Here is where Omar has signed or acquired many players hoping to find a spark with a few of them. You have Ramon Castro and Marlon Anderson returning with Alex Cora as the new backup 2nd baseman as well as the sitting LF. The other two spots are a toss up between Jeremy Reed, Corry Sullivan, Angel Pagan, Nick Evans, Robinson Cancel, Rob Mackowiak, Bobby Kielty, Ramon Martinez and Andy Green. Take your pick. While Omar does have quantity, it is yet to be proven as quality and the bench still lacks a guy with power or that bats right handed. Grade B-

Starting Rotation: While signing Oly over Lowe might have been a mistake, signing so many back-end starters can and i think will be one of the better off-season moves that Omar has made. Every team goes through injuries and I think the Mets are well prepared. With the competition of Freddy Garcia, Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez, Nelson Figueroa, Casey Fossum, Tony Armas Jr, Jonathan Niese and Bobby Parnell, only one will be the fifth starter with one or two being added to the pen. Grade B

Bullpen: Obviously the area that needed the most improvement and boy did Omar come through. With an injured Billy Wagner out at least until mid-August, Omar signed and then traded for the top two closers on the market (FA and trading). K-Rod being the obvious one, but the trade for Putz was the better of the two in my mind. The Putz trade has to be one of the best trades Omar has ever pulled off. Giving up Heilman, a guy most NYers wanted out, Joe Smith, Endy and a bag of balls for Putz (replaces Heilman), Sean Green (replaces Smith) and Jeremy Reed( replaces Endy) really helps this bullpen out and makes it one of the best in baseball. Grade A+

Overall Grade: B+