Rumors of late have the Mets expressing interest in Alex Rodriguez. The presumed 2007 MVP and the man widely considered to be the best player in the world (actually, that's a good test of your sports aptitude. If you think there's a better player than A-Rod your opinion is not valid. If you think David Ortiz is a better player than A-Rod, please go drown yourself in the Charles) opted out of his record contract to become an unrestricted free agent. His former team, the New York Yankees, for whom he won 2 MVP awards but played in no World Series games have expressed no interest in resigning the superstar.
Most experts feel A-Rod would thrive on the west coast, playing for his old manager Joe Torre on the Dodgers or giving Vladimir Guerrero much needed protection in the Angels lineup. On the left coast, winning is not nearly as important as looking pretty, and if there's anything Rodriguez has proved over the course of his career is that he excels at both not winning and looking pretty. The following is a list of reasons why I believe A-Rod would not succeed as a New York Met:
1. He cannot pitch. The man just put up one of the great seasons for the ages, and for the first time in 10 seasons the Yankees failed to win their division. Why? Their pitching staff was sub-par. What is the biggest need for the Mets this offseason? Pitching. Unless A-Rod is about to pull an anti-Ruth, he cannot fix what was broken.
2. Carlos Beltran. Three years ago, the Mets made the biggest splash in the free agent market signing superstar Carlos Beltran to the richest contract in team history. All Beltran has done in the interim is be the best centerfielder in the National League...and the team is exploring trade options. If simply being the best at what he does is not good enough, A-Rod is doomed coming out of the gate.
3. David Wright and Jose Reyes. As a Mets fan, I cannot begin to describe how exciting it is that the Mets have two home-grown superstars manning the left side of their infield. Unless A-Rod is going to switch to second base or a corner outfield position, he is going to displace either Wright or Reyes, meaning he will be taking the position of one of the most popular Mets to have ever played. His first season with the Yankees, A-Rod replaced Aaron Bleeping Boone, who except for a memorable home run in the 2003 postseason could not really play BEFORE he blew out his knee playing pickup basketball. It took Rodriguez the better part of four years before the Yankees fans started accepting him as one of their own. What chance does he have replacing either Wright or Reyes?
In addition, fair or not, there is the perception that A-Rod is something of a cancer in the clubhouse. Overall a team will of course be better with the best player in the game on the roster, but the immediate impact of the last two teams he left was they got better. The Rangers improved by 18 games in 2004, and the Mariners improved by 25 (!) games in 2001. The logical conclusion is that as talented as the man obviously is, he lacks that certain something that lifts his teams to greater heights. It should be noted that in the long run, both of his previous teams eventually ended up worse than when he was still playing for them, but something about that statistic makes me hesitant to believe he is the missing piece in the Mets championship puzzle.
And finally, if you had to pick one moment that defined A-Rod's career, it would have to be this one:
arodpurse.jpg
Does that look like the kind of player you build a franchise around?
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