A-Rod: Get Surgery

Once again, the headline in Yankee camp is Alex Rodriguez. Nobody cares that CC Sabathia pitched well in his first start during spring training, or that the Yankees won yesterday. People care about Alex Rodriguez. But guess what? A-Rod may not be here for a while. Personally, I think he should get surgery.

You would know that Alex Rodriguez has a torn labrum in his right hip. Since then we have heard 2 different sides of the story. We have heard A-Rod's brother say that he is getting surgery, and we have heard the Yankees saying they want to take a "conservative" approach to A-Rod. Basically, what they are saying is that they want their third baseman to play through the season, hurt, for 7 months including postseason, and get surgery in the offseason directly after that, take 4 offseason months to recover, and be ready, completely healthy, for opening day in 2010. I have one thing to say to that. Big Mistake. I have many reasons, and if you hear them, it should be an easy decision.

First of all, remember, this isn't the 2008 Yankees. This is the 2009 Yankees. We've added a lot of great guys. Sabathia, Burnett, Teixiera, are all healthy and all be productive in 2009. Yea, Alex is really important, and the lineup really suffers without him. However, We have one of the best rotations in baseball. We don't need a great lineup to win ballgames. Does it help? Of course it does! But is it required? No. The Yankees of 2004-2008 really needed a strong lineup to win because they really had no reliable pitchers. 2004 they had nobody. 2005, they had Mussina, but nobody after that. 2006, they had nobody after Wang and Mussina. 2007, they had Wang and Pettitte, nobody after that. 2008, Mussina, nobody after that. We have had no more than 2 reliable starting pitchers in a season since 2003. Now, we have CC, Burnett (if healthy, which I expect he will), Wang, Joba (if he stays healthy), and Pettitte if he can have a comeback season. That is 4, possibly 5 reliable starting pitchers. Now that we have a powerful rotation, we don't need as much a powerful offense. Basically, my point is that this team is stacked and could swallow the loss of A-Rod for half a season.

Secondly, I think it will be good for A-Rod to get away for a little bit. Selena Roberts book on A-Rod comes out in April. The thought of his steroid use is fresh in everyones mind. Remember, no matter how much Rodriguez just wants to "get back to baseball," fans won't think that way. He will be booed everywhere, and it will be bad. Also, remember that he isn't the most emotionally stable guy in the world. He doesn't handle these things really well. I believe that it might be good for Alex to get away from the game of baseball a little bit. Let the stories die down. Let the thought of steroids go away from everyones mind. I think it would be good for him emotionally to miss a little bit.

Thirdly, remember at the end of 2007 he signed a 10 year, 275 million dollar contract. Thats a lot of time, and a lot of money. If he tries to play through this injury, and his hip blows up, it could end up being a lot worse. He would miss the end of the season rather than the beginning. He would miss postseason. And his future in baseball may start to be questioned. Will he ever be healthy enough to play again? We wouldn't know. I don't think it's worth the risk. This is a big investment. The Yankees shouldn't risk it. Remember, A-Rod is trying to prove himself again. It wouldn't be good if his career ended a year after his steroid episode, would it? All Hall of Fame chances would be destroyed, and 275 million dollars from the Yankees would be wasted.

I also need to say that Mike Lowell, the Red Sox third baseman, also had a torn labrum. He tried to play through it last year. What happened? His production decreased. Also, the pain got to be so much that he missed the postseason! So Lowell played worse than he otherwise would, and missed the playoffs. What if that happened to A-Rod? I would rather have a productive Rodriguez for the second half of the season and postseason, than a less productive Rodriguez for 5-6 months, with no postseason, and a possible chance of permanent injury. Mike Lowell is evidence that something bad is very possible. We wouldn't want that to happen.

Well, when you look at all this, it is an easy decision. We won't fall out of the AL East race without him, and it is too big of a risk. He should have surgery. Will it hurt our team without him? Of course it will! Any time you lose a player like A-Rod for an extended period of time it will hurt your team. But the Yankees have to look at the big picture. Keep him healthy in the long run. It may hurt the Yankees even more if he decides to play. Get surgery, come back in July, have a strong second half, and help the Yankees win a World Series!

Joe Torre's Legacy Should Not Be Tarnished By His Book

For the last couple of days, we have been hearing a lot of things about "The Yankee Years," Joe Torre's new book which covers his 12 successful years as manager of the New York Yankees. I have been reading and hearing many things that have said that Torre's legacy has been destroyed by his new book because of the insults that he shot at players that are, and were, on the Yankees. Personally, I don't believe a word of it. It's the New York Post people! They are trying to make money, so they put the things that people will be most interested in the paper. I have quite a few reasons why this book shouldn't be made too big a deal of.

It has been reported that in Torre's book, he says that A-Rod was called A-Fraud by teammates. It has been reported that David Wells went out of his way  to make people frustrated with him, and Kevin Brown was just naturally good at making people frustrated. It was reported that Brian Cashman betrayed him on several occasions, particularly the final meeting last year when he was essentially fired. He killed Carl Pavano, and had a number of insults toward Randy Johnson, Kenny Lofton, Gary Sheffield, and more, as it was reported. See a pattern here? Nobody has read the book yet! It has all been reported by New York Post. Am I saying that none of it is true? No. Am I saying that the newspaper blew it out of proportion? Absolutely.

Lets go through the reported insults for a little bit. He said that A-Rod was called A-Fraud during his tenure with the Yankees. Well, we know it wasn't in the last 2 years, because Andy Pettitte said he has never heard it once. Mike Mussina reported that it is possible that he heard it, but that it didn't necessarily mean that he heard it in a bad way, as it might have been a joke. We haven't even seen it in context yet. I don't think this one is a big deal.

He said Brian Cashman never "betrayed" him, and that they had disagreed, but that is normal for 2 different people. This one isn't anything.

He killed Pavano. This one doesn't surprise anyone. Everybody killed Pavano. It's not like he didn't deserve it.

He had insults for Kenny Lofton, Gary Sheffield, David Wells, and Randy Johnson. Well, Sheffield and Lofton insulted him for "treating white players better," which we all know isn't true. He said Kevin Brown just was naturally frustrating, and had insults for Randy Johnson too. Maybe these weren't called for, but what do they expect. They didn't live up to what they were expected to do. He also insulted Cashman for becoming increaingly obsessed with numbers, and didn't like "the feel" of players. I think he is right here, because none of his signings since 2004 have worked out. 

Well, I think the Post makes it a lot worse than it really is. If we wait until we get the book, and see it in context, and listen to what Torre has to say about it when he addresses the media, I think that our opinion of him won't change. Maybe some of the stuff in the book is a little harsh, but once we read it, we will still look at him as a legend, and one of the best managers the Yankees have ever had.

Andy Pettitte to Return

Well, the Yankees and Andy Pettitte will be having a reunion after all. I posted earlier that I didn't think that the Yankees should bring him back because I didn't feel that he wanted to come back for a pay cut. I said that since he rejected the offer, another one shouldn't be on the table. However, another one was, and he took it. He took a 5.5 million dollar offer, and would have to pitch 210 innings and not get injured at all to get 12 million. 

This contract has made me see things in 2 ways. Either the guy is an idiot, or he really wants to pitch for the Yankees. I don't think he can pitch 210 innings next year, being a year older. He may have a better ERA, may have more wins, have a better batting average against, but he won't get 10 million if he doesn't pitch 210 innings. He may think he can, but I'm not sure if anyone else thinks he can. I guess he is an idiot and he wants to pitch for the Yankees. If he is going to take this offer, there is no reason why he didn't take the guaranteed 10 million dollar offer. But also, if he took the lower offer, I guess he does want to pitch here. And no question he helps the team. In my opinion, his return means the Yankees can go two ways.

The first is to go with a deep rotation of CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Chein-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte, Joba Chamberlain. That is a pretty deep rotation when your number 5 pitcher had an ERA of under 3 during his short time as a starter last season. I say Joba is the number 5 because if the Yankees do it this way, Joba will be skipped to keep his innings down. That may very well be the best rotation in the American League. That is the first way they can go.

The second, as you may have guessed, involves putting Joba Chamberlain back in the bullpen. Permanently. This is the way I think would be better. I think that the kids need to be developed, and have the potential to be just as good as Chamberlain. I also think that out of all the kids, Chamberlain is the least durable, throws the most pitches to get people out, but is also the most dominant. We've seen what he can do in the bullpen. They only have to fill 7 innings with starters and other relievers, which, by the way, are pretty good. After that, if you have a lead, 99 times out of 100 the game is over (except, unfortunately, the one time it failed happened to be in the postseason). And when Rivera is gone, Joba can be closer and you will still have the end of the game locked down for another 15-20 years. This is the smartest way to go.

Well, Andy's return makes the Yankees better, and gives them different options. Hopefully, whichever option they take, it will be a championship team on the field in 2009.

Yankees Could Get Garcia

The New York Yankees have emerged as top candidates, along with the New York Mets, as favorites to land RHP Freddy Garcia, according to FOXsports.com. The Mets probably need him much more, as after Santana the Mets have nothing but question marks. The Yankees, however, need someone too.

The Yankees need a number 5 starter. The Yankees would like Andy Pettitte back, but as you already know I am against that. They also could use the kids, and have some competition from Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Alfredo Aceves, and even Phil Coke. They could pursue the trade market, and see if teams are fielding offers. They also could go, once again, back into the free agent and pursue guys still available, like Ben Sheets, and, Freddy Garcia.

I, for one, do not believe that he should be a Yankee. I have no problem with him as a person, but his health is a question. He hasn't pitched a full season in 2 years, and the last time he posted a good ERA was 3 years ago. The Yankees are already going to take a chance with AJ Burnett, hope Mariano Rivera has no lasting effects from surgery, and hope Joba Chamberlain can stay healthy as a starter. The Yankees need to start developing these young kids, the sooner they do it, the sooner they will develop. Getting Freddy Garcia will mean another year without the kids having a full year in the majors. Sacrificing young, cheap talent for another injury prone pitcher could wind up being a disaster. If they get him, and he gets hurt, it's another 5-10 million dollars wasted. I think they've wasted enough money the last bunch of years. In the last 10 years or so, every single free agent pitcher they have gotten, with the acception of Mike Mussina, has not lived up to expectations. I did not agree with the signing of AJ Burnett (if I had this blog when they got him, I would have written about it. I would have preferred Derek Lowe. I hope I'm wrong about Burnett), and I don't agree with the possible signing of Freddy Garcia. Go with the kids. Let them develop. They will regret it if they don't.

What do you think they should do?

Yankees Should Not Resign Andy Pettitte

I have been a Yankees fan for years, and I have loved watching Andy Pettitte pitch. He has come up big in so many clutch games for the Yanks, and he is a great person. But I can honestly say that I don't think he will return too the Yankees, and nor do I want him to.

Not because of his second half performance last year, not at all. I have no doubt in my mind that he is capable of turning it around. Watching Mike Mussina in 2008 alone taught me that. No, I don't want him back because I think he does not want to be back.

I believe team chemistry is very important on a ball club. I think that everybody in the clubhouse should be there because they want to be there. Andy Pettitte seems to think that 14-14 with a 4.54 ERA, and an awful second half is worth 16 million. Well, just some news for you Andy, those numbers aren't.

If he really wanted to return, he would have accepted the 10 million offer within 24 hours, not ponder it for a month and then reject it. The Yankees offered him a more than fair deal, and if he wanted to be there, there would be no discussing this right now. Pitchers and catchers report in less than a month, and Andy still isn't signed. I think he is waiting for a team to finally agree with him, and when no team does, he will come crawling to the Yankees trying to work out that 10 million deal.

But that deal isn't there anymore.

And I don't think it should be there again. He should have taken it when he had the chance. So even if he does turn out to want to accept that offer, the Yankees shouldn't give it to him. Go with the kids, have some competition. Let them fill the number 5 slot. Your rotation is good enough now that you can afford that. It's cheaper, younger, and who knows? Maybe they will turn out to be better. My words to Andy Pettitte right now would be, "Thanks for the memories," but good bye.

What do you think?