ConservativeINC

Having played baseball yesterday I know how important every decision off the field can be. See, when I say I “played” baseball yesterday I mean I was in for one batter (two whole pitches) at first base and then I rolled my ankle. It felt like something was slipping out of the joint when I first did it and then the same sensation returned when I tried to put weight on it again. I had to have the other team’s first base coach and batter help me off the field. My day was done with only a swollen ankle and a bruised ego to show for it.

I had played for well over a decade when I was younger and had never suffered an injury that took me out of a game. That was because I took care of myself off the field a heck of a lot better then I do now. Sure, I run some and go to the gym but I pay scant attention to my baseball shape. This tale of personal athletic woe is meant to illustrate what is happening to one of baseball’s most storied franchises.

Joe Girardi, 2006 winner of the NL Manager of the Year award and ex-Yankee catcher, has been signed on as the new manager. This move was suggested by yours truly as the best move the Yankees could have made - well, other then showing some respect to Joe Torre and give him what he’s worth. See, Girardi is a great guy and a great manager but only a couple of guys (Tony LaRussa and Bobby Cox) are in Torre’s league. Mr. Torre is a legend because he’s a proven winner and is almost universally respected by everyone. Men want to play for him because he is the best.

Girardi may very well be a legendary coach in the making but I think it is a little premature ordering him a monument to go into the Yankees new ballpark. This was strike one against the Yankees.

Strike two was letting A-Rod go. No talk about legends is complete without a mention of A-Rod because he is knocking at that door. He has the numbers to warrant more then a handful of MVP awards (he played for bad teams that prevented his due share of MVP awards) and is on a pace to smash Bonds’ not-so-Kosher home run record. A-Rod is a Gold Glove shortstop playing third base with an awesome arm and a still great glove (who knows, he might win his first one this year at third).

The Yankees have lost the best player and manager in baseball all within the span of a couple weeks. And there are others (including: Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera) who may think twice about playing for a team that may very well be headed to organizationally rolling an ankle. Who really wants to be on the first Yankees’ team that doesn’t make the playoffs after the vaunted Joe Torre era? Not many.

And I think that is a pivotal point. A lot of players were drawn to the Yankees because they seemed to offer a chance to play in the playoffs every year. Who thinks that the Yankees are going to be able to lure in that talent any more? That talent could end up going to the Red Sox who just won their second World Series in four years. Who knows, maybe even A-Rod will end up batting in between Big Papi and Manny. It’s not out of the realm of possibility because the Red Sox do need a shortstop (Julio Lugo? Come on.) and A-Rod would fit.

Of course I’m hoping that A-Rod comes a lot further West. Specifically to my little home team that plays in Los Angeles via Anaheim. A-Rod coming to the Angels would make perfect sense from our organization’s perspective. We’re going to offload some useless contracts like Shea Hillenbrand’s and we probably aren’t going to resign Bartolo Colon and his infrequently brilliant arm either. This will free up some money to go after A-Rod but not that much when you factor in raises that will be needed to keep our other players. All-in-all, if we are to snag A-Rod we are going to need to up our budget to around $150 million a year.

Is it worth it? I think so. It will give us a bat that would totally transform our whole lineup. We haven’t had that guy in the middle of our lineup who could instantly change a game with one swing. If we are able to add A-Rod and a good DH to the mix we will be the team to beat out West. Who knows, if we’re able to sign A-Rod and, oh, I don’t know, Barry Bonds as DH (he would be a lot cheaper because most clubs won’t come knocking on his door due to the whole steroids thing) we would have a good chance at taking the whole thing next year.

Our young guys now have a year of seasoning in the Bigs and we have a crop of good young starters in our rotation. Still, we have a long way to go because portions of our roster are aging and have diminishing numbers. Garret Anderson had a great second half but was that a fluke or a harbinger of what is to come? Guerrero is getting older and whenever he runs it looks painful. We’re also going to have to have a catcher that is worthwhile. The two we trusted last year, Napoli and Mathis, weren’t all that good. Sure, they’re young, but get real. Maybe we could roll the dice with them if we get A-Rod or otherwise drastically improve our offense’s slugging ability.

The offseason is still young and we’re a couple months away until things start sorting themselves out. This particular season before the season is going to be especially interesting since big things are actually going to happen. Who’s going to get A-Rod? Where will Bonds go? Which big name pitchers are going to stick around (Clemens and Johnson), change teams (any of ‘em), or be healthy (Prior and Colon)? It’s going to be exciting for us baseball wonks and worth the extra effort needed to keep up with it all. BigT

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