Nov 14, 2007

All but done

According to Pete Abe. Sure it'll be nice to have his production for the next 3-6 years, but what about after that? There's STILL AT LEAST four more years of an aging slugger whose entire game is declining. Some people might look at Barry Bonds for an example of a 40+ great player who remained great. My response is that steroids helped Bonds, and (in my opinion of course), Arod did not or does not juice. (Imagine if his name came out in the Mitchell Report.) He's already a below-average third-basemen, so what's going to happen in five years when he's REALLY bad? Could you imagine a leftside infield of 37-year-old Arod and 38-year-old Jeter? What about when they're both 40?! At some point, Arod's probably going to have to move to corner outfield or firstbase. With his declining bat (at that time) at a premium offensive position, he's really going to be limiting his value.

Why, oh why, did the Yanks give in for 10 years?! No fucking sense. Part of Arod's penance is that they get a little break on the average salary ($27.5 mil) compared to what the Yanks were offering as an extension ($27 mil through 2010, then $150 mil through 2015 = $28.875 mil). I actually can't wait to find out the details of how it went down. Was Boras there? If not, what advice did he give to Arod? Did Arod fire him? Why would Cash give a 10-year deal to a 32-year-old? Is there another opt-out clause, incentives?

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