Just to clarify, the ranking I provided was not a ranking of CLOSERS, but of ALL relievers–and just because you are a closer DOES NOT make you the best reliever on your team. Joe Borowski was NOT the best reliever out of the Indians bullpen, at best he was the third or fourth best reliever.

Indeed, the way baseball closers are used now means they don’t *have* to be the best relievers on their team, because chances are the most important, high-leverage late inning is actually going to be the 7th or 8th, rather than the 9th, particularly in a close ballgame.

…the situation is a lot more complicated than that, though. And even when you consider Rivera relative all the other closers in the league, while he might only have been the 12th best reliever in all of baseball, he was definitely in the top 10, and I think even the top 7, of all closers in all of baseball by that metric.

I really wish they’d put in a correction button to correct spelling errors so people wouldn’t think I was illiterate instead of just a bad typist.

A little off topic- I know some people prefer to believe that everyone hates him and he’s a “clubhouse cancer” (I hate that phrase) but I read yesterday that A-Rod was one of the first people to congratulate Braun for his ROY win. Braun said A-Rod is a mentor to him and it was great to hear that he was proud of his accomplishment. He does seem to play nicely with the kids and they seem to enjoy being around him too. Miguel Cabrera should give A-Rod a call this winter and see if wants to workout with him. Miguel following A-Rod’s workout routine could produce an even more amazing ball player.

Perhaps he gets along with the younger players like Cano, Cabrera and Braun better than the veterans, because the kids aren’t jealous or concerned about Rodriguez thating away any of the spotlight.

Arod helped him make the transition from high school SS to college third baseman.

A little off topic- I know some people prefer to believe that everyone hates him and he’s a “clubhouse cancer” (I hate that phrase) but I read yesterday that A-Rod was one of the first people to congratulate Braun for his ROY win. Braun said A-Rod is a mentor to him and it was great to hear that he was proud of his accomplishment. He does seem to play nicely with the kids and they seem to enjoy being around him too. Miguel Cabrera should give A-Rod a call this winter and see if wants to workout with him. Miguel following A-Rod’s workout routine could produce an even more amazing ball player.

How about Torii Hunter? Hunter needed Matsui to be injured to put up offensive numbers almost as good as Matsui. And Melky’s going to be a better defender over the next 4 years than Hunter. That’s not based on hunter’s past reputation but that over the next 4 years Hunter will be aging whereas Melky will be maturing.

Off season position player moves should be minimal. 1B & 3B are the weakest spots now, not all 3 OFs, 2B and backup OF.

I read something about Bernie just weighing the possibility of playing for Tore in LA. I remember how many people wanted to see a fading Bernie return this past year. If many of the same people who want to dump Matsui want to bring Bernie back (he’ll be 39, not 33, which is Matsui’s age now and an age when Bernie himself was still good) or bring Hunter in, then I’ll just wait until the end of spring training to engage in any blogging… when there’s actual baseball to talk about.

Yes, I understand, but, he still has connections to the team, and, even Mienkeiwicz’ return wouldn’t surprise me that much.

So A-Rod and Boras felt they had the Yankees in a hard spot, they did up to a point, and the Yankees knew it. They both were playing hard ball. I don’t think Boras really believed the Yankees wouldn’t talk or go after A-Rod.

It could very well be that A-Rod wants to remain a Yankee, though with him, who knows. Boras always works to isolate his clients from the negotiations, by A-Rod not talking to the Yankees, it is the same situation, only this time it was leaked and made A-Rod look bad. Probably worse than he ever intended.

Boras forgot that one of his jobs is to make his client look the best he possibly could. They took a chance, and found a dominate will not playing their game.

In the end, if A-Rod were to come back to the pinstripes, he would be forgiven. There are a ton of ways to spin it so both sides save face, the real question is if both sides are willing to meet half way.

BTW, these two articles are only echoes of other rumors that have been going on with A-Rod and the Yankees talking. Boras might not have leave to talk about it.

Also, how does anyone know that there aren’t others, such as maybe some of his team mates from this past season, who are closer to A-Rod now than the agent who helped make him look like a horse’s a**?