I think Brian is willing to move him for the right offer and he'll
insist that he's not looking to move him. However I don't think he'll
give him away in an offer Peter Schmuck floated (He thought the Yanks
would give up ARod to Baltimore for Erik Bedard or Cabrera.) Obviously
he forgot a few small things like ARod has a no-trade clause and Brian
has a fine working brain.

One useful way for the Yankee fans to think this matter is this. Never
mind the 27mil per year salary he gets or that he's an annoying guy.
He is going to cost the Yanks *16mil per for the next 4 yrs*. In this
free agent market, Soriano will likely hit the jackpot and people are
suggesting 16, 17 mil for 5 years. Carlos Lee is supposed to get 15mil
for 5 years at least. Of the three it's a no-brainer who presents most
value without a doubt. In addition, the other two names who likely
will be in the trade market are Manny (22 mil and 24 mil in the next
two seasons) and Tejada (14mil per for 3 yrs). Personally I'm sick and
tired of ARod but I still don't think the Yanks need to cut off the
nose to spite the face.

ARod (age 30) career OPS+ 145, 2006 OPS+ 140
Soriano (age 30) career OPS+ 115, 2006 OPS+ 132
Lee (age 30) career OPS+ 113, 2006 OPS+ 125

Manny (age 34) career OPS+ 157, 2006 OPS+ 168
Tejada (age 30) career OPS+ 114, 2006 OPS+ 126


Other than Manny who is a much better hitter (but has no position to
play and is 4 yrs older) the rest don't even come close to ARod. Sure
he's been a choking dog for the last 12 postseason games as a Yankee
but what guarantees do we have that Sori, freaking Lee and lollygagging
Tejada could do any better? At this point for the angry ARod haters,
it's just best to expect nothing out of him in the postseason. Bonds
stunk much worse in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1997, and 2000 and only did well
in 2002. Even though some may expect the Yanks to continue to provide
tremendous offense, that's not a given. Jorge, Giambi and Damon could
regress a bit. You take ARod out of the equation, they probably aren't
going to match this year's offensive output in the regular season. No
matter how much of a disappointment he's been there's no denying the
fact that he's been a big regular season contributor all three seasons.
The Yanks still need to pound teams in the regular season.

Obviously the decision to move ARod is dependent on what the other
teams are offering but at this point I think Cashman (and I suspect he
is going to do just that) should assume he's here to stay. All this
nonsense about it's either Joe or ARod is silly. Both are grown men
and they're not Billy and Reggie. As I maintained all along if the
Angels or the Dodgers offer packages that are too good to refuse, then
I'd help ARod pack. However, there is absolutely no sense in moving
him just because of club chemistry nonsense at this point.


http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/b...2p-387523c.html

Asked yesterday if A-Rod could "be the player you imagine" next season,
GM Brian Cashman replied, "He better be.

"Like anything else, he has to find a way."

Rodriguez might not get the chance, at least not in pinstripes. While
Cashman said he is not soliciting offers and believes A-Rod still will
be a Yankee next season, he also did not rule out the idea of
entertaining trade proposals for him. "I'll listen," he said. "That's
what goes on in my job."

But Cashman also said, "We are guilty in the past of changing the
sheets too quickly," a reference to the Yanks' culture of swiftly
dumping players who don't soar. That's part of the Yankee business
model Cashman wants to change.

"I fully expect to have him at third base next year," Cashman added.
"We're going to figure this thing out together."

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c...SPGP4LMRR71.DTL

Lou Piniella, who was interviewed by Giants general manager Brian
Sabean on Tuesday, has three possibilities to manage next year. He
wants to work for a team that'll win, and it's anyone's guess if the
Giants will be better than the Cubs or Rangers. His dream job would
have been with the Yankees, and one option is to remain with Fox for
another year and wait for Joe Torre to complete his contract -- or get
canned if the Yankees start slowly.

-- Here's an intriguing option: Piniella replaces Felipe Alou and Alex
Rodriguez replaces Barry Bonds. A-Rod would be a hit in San Francisco,
an anti-Barry in obvious ways, for about the same money (Texas is
paying the rest of that $25 mil per). He has a no-trade clause, but why
wouldn't he walk if he's got a chance to play again for Piniella in a
simpler environment? He'd play third for a year and move to short in
'08 when Omar Vizquel's gone, and maybe the Yankees would take a
package involving Jonathan Sanchez.

"BadgerBC" wrote:

Way too rational an analysis of the situation. ;-)

I am certain A-Rod is movable for the right package, and I have to think
that it would need to include at minimum decent young pitching and a
serviceable third baseman to take A-Rod's place. Of course, in the event
that a reasonable offer lacks a replacement infielder, the Yankees could
always fall back on Cairo and make him the starting third baseman. Joe
loves him. <just joking about the Cairo suggestion>

What this analysis ignores--and what I think Cashman is fully aware
of--is that for the first time in ARod's career he comes with baggage,
or at least the perception of it. The bottom line is that Cashman is
presently unable to get in return the kind of value he would like, and
that means--quite simply--ARod's staying.

BadgerBC wrote:

BadgerBC wrote:

Cashman is not that wise after all.
No matter what, this mean will not win WS in 2007.

BadgerBC wrote:

Cashman is not that wise after all.
No matter what, this team will not win WS in 2007.

On 11 Oct 2006 10:20:22 -0700, "Zoolander" <jkay@yahoo.com> wrote:



There's no doubt that SF, if they have a match that interests Cashman
is a landing spot. They owe a lot of money on that stadium. Rodriguez
sells tickets. Rodriguez = ratings and national media. He has
tremendous trade value.

On 11 Oct 2006 09:42:36 -0700, "BadgerBC"
<neilrichardson3819@hotmail.com> wrote:



IMO If Rodriguez is traded the baseball part is only about a 1/3 of
the reason. Money (Rodriguez making money for a new team) and politics
are the other 2/3. This will be more of a business deal then baseball
deal. Like I keep saying Rodriguez sells tickets. He sells Yankee
tickets. Check the needle since he's shown up. He's an extremely
valuable commodity in MLB and a cheap date at 16 million a year.

If there's a perfect storm Cashman could completely remake the Yankees
pitching staff in one offseason by using Rodriguez like the Cowboys
once used Herschel Walker.

ibm_97@yahoo.com wrote:
You came to this conclusion after reading ALL of Badger's post?

honder

Zoolander wrote:

What a stupid proposal. Sabean is going to have to throw in a few
sweetners like Matt Cain, Lincecum, Hennessy. Sanchez wouldn't even
net Jose Tabata let alone ARod. Morons.