SI cover story on A-Rod

[vaticanplum]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...925/index.html

This is a pretty interesting article about A-Rod and his current season. I personally have great respect for A-Rod, whom I consider to be perhaps the most talented ballplayer on the field today...but I don't know that the public will ever have a handle on him as a ballplayer or a person. I certainly have never been able to remotely figure him out, and while this article doesn't go deeply in-depth (I don't know that any article can), it tries, and it's an interesting read. If nothing else it's a small piece of a picture of a clubhouse dynamic, with somewhat surprising tidbits from Giambi, Rivera (not so surprising, but good), and Reggie Jackson. A-Rod himself is more candid than I've heard him in a lot of places before.

Yankees fandom aside, I hope for his sake that his career lives up to his talent. I do think it would be a shame if he never got a ring, if he crumbled under pressure at a lot of key moments...but I don't really expect that to happen either. He's young and I fully expect him not only to have a great career, but to finish with some truly great moments as well -- not just stats, but moments.

PS Thanks for jinxing the Yankees, SI. Nincompoops.

[redsfan4445]

how about Dunn in a deal for A-Rod?? Dunn will make 10 million next year, the yankees only pay 12million of A-Rods contract(texas the rest)

please see the next post.. i think A-Rod is WAY out of the Reds salary structure.. i say go get Tejada!!!

[vaticanplum]

how about Dunn in a deal for A-Rod?? Dunn will make 10 million next year, the yankees only pay 12million of A-Rods contract(texas the rest)

The talk of A-Rod trades is largely moot in my opinion. He has a no-trade clause, first of all (unfortunately, I see no reason why he'd approve a trade to the Reds), but beyond that, leaving New York at this point would be essentially admitting "failure". He would suffer as much if not more in a new city for that...I really don't think he's going anywhere.

[redsfan4445]

i was looking at the contracts (per http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com) of A-Rod and Tejada..I am amazed at what
A-Rod gets..see below: (Tejada's contract below A-Rods)

Alex Rodriguez
10 years/$252M (2001-10)

$242M in annual salaries
$10M signing bonus (paid $2M/year, 2001-05)

Salaries:
01-04:$21M/year, 05-06:$25M/year, 07-10:$27M/year

In December 2001 (a year after the contract was signed), Rodriguez agreed to defer $45M in annual salary to 2011-2020 at 3% interest (01:$3M, 02:$4M, 03:$5M, 04:$5M, 05:$5M, 06:$4M, 07:$4M, 08:$5M, 09:$5M, 10:$5M).

In February 2004, (three years after the contract was signed), Rodriguez waived his no-trade clause, allowing Texas to trade him to the Yankees. At the time, he had 7 years/$183M remaining on his contract.

Texas agreed to pay:
the remaining $4M in signing bonus due, 2004-05 *
$67M of the remaining $179M in salary, due 2004-10*

New York agreed to pay:

$112 of the remaining $179M in salary, due 2004-10
The Yankees get a $25M/year player for $16M/year.

* Deferred Money
Texas assumes responsibility for the following deferred amounts:

the $12M in deferred salary earned from 2001 to 2003
$24M of the deferred salary to be earned from 2004 to 2010, and the $4M in signing bonus which was to be paid from 2004 to 2005 but now will be deferred to 2016-2025 at 2% interest
All told, Texas is responsible for a total of $40M deferred at 2% interest.

In exchange for agreeing to the interest-rate reduction, Rodriguez received a hotel suite during road trips & right to link his web site to the Yankees’ site.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Miguel Tejada ss
6 years/$72M (2004-09)

signed as a free agent 12/03
$12M signing bonus ($4M paid in 04, $2M in 05, 06, 10, 11)
04:$3M, 05:$9M, 06:$10M, 07:$12M, 08:$13M, 09:$13M
$50,000 All Star incentive
4 years/$11.3M (2000-03)
agent: SFX (Pat Rooney, Diego Bentz, Fern Cuza)
ML service: 8.033

[Newport Red]

I do think it would be a shame if he never got a ring, if he crumbled under pressure at a lot of key moments...

Hasn't semed to hurt Barry Bonds.

[Cyclone792]

If Alex Rodriguez never played another baseball game in his life, he would retire already among the greatest 35-40 players ever to play the game. It's astonishing, but it's true.

Yankee fans/media would do themselves a favor if they stopped highlighting every failure and just let Rodriguez play how he's shown he can play. Cold streaks happen, same as hot streaks; it's all part of the ebb and flow of a baseball season and a baseball career. Rodriguez is going to have his ups and downs, and when it's all put together, he'll likely retire among the game's elite for all-time.

Myself personally, neither his contract nor his personality mean one iota to me. As a baseball fan who appreciates and enjoys watching great ballplayers, it's a privilege to watch Rodriguez perform at a level that only a small handful of players have ever reached.

He's quite simply one of the greatest players I've ever seen.

[Caseyfan21]

Anybody else read this article and sort of think his situation has similarities to Griffey?

I know the fans have been more behind Griffey this year and last but during the past few years Griff has been criticized a lot for his injuries. And Griff has also been too worried about others' perception of him and not hurting feelings.

Two great players that changed teams in a big way for what they thought were greener pastures but in reality actually hurt their careers.