OFF-SEASON MOVES

First of all, I love most of the moves that General Manager Brian Cashman made in the off-season. Gary Sheffield and Randy Johnson both needed to go, and the fact that we also were able to get somebody (Baltimore) to take Jaret Wright off of our hands made things that much sweeter. That being said, I also thought that A-Rod needed to go to any one of these teams listed here. In addition to that, I would have loved to have seen Bernie Williams stay because of his clubhouse presence. On one hand, I understand why they didn’t bring “Bernie Baseball” back, since he is in his late 30s and can’t play defense like he used to. I also know that he could play for another team, which is why many of you probably don’t feel too sorry for him; but I have the perfect solution: make him a coach similar to what happened to Jake Taylor in Major League 2.

CARL PAVANO AND HIS MYRIAD OF INJURIES

He has been a complete waste as far as Yankee fans are concerned because he hasn’t pitched in only 1 ½ years as mentioned here. What he really needs to do is to shut up and just win about 15 games, so that the Yankees see some sort of return on the $40 million investment they made on him. If he can do that everyone will get off his back and will give him a second chance. I was thrilled when Mussina put him in his place. I have never really had much respect for Mussina because it doesn’t take much to throw him off his game, after he showed a little spunk by speaking up I started to like him a lot more. 

MARIANO RIVERA’S CONTRACT

The Yankees need to pay Mariano Rivera, who is in the last year of his contract, because there is no way we can lose that guy. Mo and Jeter are the backbones of the team and Mariano is possibly the greatest reliever of all time. I understand where Cashman is coming from because Mariano is in his late 30s, but the man is a Yankee icon and is still bringing it strong, evidenced by his 34 saves and 1.80 ERA last year. I also realize that it is team policy not to negotiate until contracts expire, but there exceptions to every rule. Just show him the money and make this issue go away.

DEREK JETER, THE CAPTAIN V. A-ROD

Jeter is a great baseball player, but I think he is handling the A-Rod situation the wrong way. Derek is the ultimate team player and does whatever it takes to win every time – except for now.  He is letting his pride get in the way here and is wrong when he thinks that he shouldn't tell fans whether to boo or not. Jeter is a Yankee icon and the fans adore him; if he showed A-Rod a little more public support I think that would go a long way in getting A-Rod to succeed the way we all expect him to.

Speaking of Jeter, rants like this one about The Captain are why Yankee fans love Don Zimmer! 

THE MANY ISSUES SURROUNDING A-ROD

How true Yankee fans feel about A-Rod
Regarding A-Rod let me clear up one misconception. All true Yankee fans want A-Rod to succeed because we know how important he is to the team’s success. I know this because I am a die-hard Yankee fan and have a season ticket plan. Most of the so-called booing occurs after the guy practically gets a standing ovation when he goes to the plate. When he comes through he doesn’t get booed, but when he doesn’t he gets booed. It’s a simple as that.  

A-Rod’s contract
Part of that has to do with the jealousy of his contract. All the people who are jealous shouldn’t dog him because if they all had the same option they too would sign that contract. So stop hating because enough is enough!

Will he actually succeed when it matters?
As for whether A-Rod can succeed this year things didn’t look promising when I saw this. I especially loved (note the sarcasm) when A-Rod talked about how the season was rewarding because he was able to put something together at the end…I was baffled by this because this was coming from A-Rod, possibly one of the greatest players of all time, not some regular baseball player. He definitely didn’t put anything together (by his standards) at the end of the year and for him to say that sounds like he was in denial about how the whole season played out. If he was an average baseball player then it probably would have been acceptable for him to be happy with the way the season ended, but he isn’t average, so he shouldn’t be happy with it. 

The verdict?

I personally feel that A-Rod will start succeeding once he stops trying to please everyone which is why I was happy to see some honesty from A-Rod. Once I saw that and saw how he was being honest with everyone, including himself, I envision A-Rod being less like this and more like this. Either way, the only that really matters is what he does in the playoffs. Until then, he will always be number 2 in N.Y.