Jeter: Forget MVP, I’d rather win the Series
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Feb 22, 2008 
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Alex Rodriguez said yesterday that that Derek Jeter would win the MVP. Asked about that prediction today, Jeter looked like he was chewing on dirt.
“I don’t even think about it. I have to be honest with you guys, man. I’d much rather win. That’s the bottom line. I’ve said time and time again, you play to win,” he said. “You always want to do well because the better you do, the better the team will be. But the bottom line from day one is whatever we can do to win.”
Jeter said that he changed his offseason workout program.
“I had done some different things this offseason to try and get better and try and improve. Did a lot of speed (work), lot of agility, lot of lateral movement, lot of explosive stuff to try and get quicker, faster and move around a little bit better,” he said.
“My issue has always been putting weight on. I have a real tough time gaining weight. In past offseasons I’d eat as much as I could to try and gain weight because I knew once spring training came I would lose weight. This year I basically just said this is the card I’ve been dealt, I might as well not try to gain too much weight and just work with what I have. Last year I had some problems with legs, so you do whatever you can to try and strengthen your legs.”
It’ll be interesting to see whether the increased speed and lateral movement improves his range. You have to think it would.
I wonder who the first person will be that considers this a dig at AROD? Count down in 5…4…3…2…
The rift lives!
Can anyone down in the Tampa area tell me the procedure for visiting spring training workouts? I live in Clearwater. Thanks.
“Jeter looked like he was chewing on dirt.” and what does that look like exactly?
Jeter’s response really doesn’t surprise me. It’s a pretty standard response from him – we want to win the championships, everything else is secondary. It’s just a testament to what a team player he is… which is why he’s the Captain!
by the way, I was just kidding with my “the rift lives” comment, in case you can’t tell the sarcasm through the comments.
What amazes is me, is why would the media ask this question?
DJ has played in NY for over ten years now…don’t they know that the only hardware he cares about are the rings?
I agree with Insider Ross – there still is a rift.
It sounds like Alex is doing his bit to kiss up to Derek, and Derek isn’t having any of it.
I really wish these two would get along. If only Alex would learn to keep his mouth shut (tested 9 or 10 times, etc.). I thought he hired a personal manager to help him with things like this?
Anyway, what would the New York Yankees be without drama?
I’m looking forward to a great season just the same. Joe Girardi has me pumped and I cannot wait to see him manage his first regular season game. I’m so happy for him.
Wow, its like a workout clinic this year in Tampa..
New routines, everybody in better shape, guys showing up early, everyones optimistic..
He’s been singing that song for years, no need to change the tune now.
Pete, is that last sentence meant to be in quotation marks or are you telling us about your own training regimen?
Bronx Born
Not exactly sure what you’re asking but I went last weekend.
Was able to park in the Legends Lot, gates opened at 10, no tickets necessary.
““I don’t even think about it”
Every time Jeter issues his favorite “I don’t think about [individual awards]” quote or some variety of it, an angel gets his wings!
Seriously, maybe it’s just me but I love when he says that stuff. Especially when in the meantime you have guys like Albert Pujols crying that they didn’t win the MVP, or guys like Big Sloppi openly campaigning for themselves. Jeter don’t play that and that’s why we love him!
Jeter should have at least acknowledged the compliment, and then redirect it with “its about winning”
Pete is getting in game shape on the low low. He is the secret weapon.
I wonder how many more hours we’ll have to wait before someone writes a column about how A-Rod doesn’t care about winning a world series as much as Jeter.
hi pat,
thanks. i think that is what i wanted to know. do they work out every day?
Please tell me Molina didn’t die, which is being report on nyyfans forums.
first of all, Alex said Jeter will have an “MVP season”.
in other words, Jeter will have a GREAT season, not that he will necessarily win the award.
and guess what, if Jeter has an “MVP season”, the Yankees will WIN. that’s what everyone wants.
this is turning into Sweet Valley High here.
Bronx Born
Not sure. I think ST games start next week so I would guess they do.
Pete,
Is Igawa now being tuned for the pen?
If so, then if he pitches well in ST against lefties, does he get a shot at being a LOOGY?
BTW, I am not an Igawa fan at all.
I know there’s been a lot of gossip about the Yankees pursuing either Teixiera or Sabbathia in the off-season.
But what about K-Rod? I’d consider him a worthy, if hardly comparable, successor to Mariano The Great.
I wish I had Jeter’s problem …not being able to gain weight … lol
I wonder if those were Jete’s exact words “Forget the MVP, I’d rather win the Series”..doesn’t sound as harsh the way he stated in in the story…and …what does chewing on dirt mean …exactly?
Jeter has always stated that personal awards mean nothing if he didn’t win the Series …nothing new there …right?
Go Yankees 2008 !!!
Maybe the speed work will reduce the number of rally-killing double plays he hits into…
Igawa will probably be fighting for a LHP bullpen spot with Chase Wright and Billy Traber..
My guess is Billy Traber gets the spot.
Was Alex misquoted to Derek? Because he never said Derek would win the MVP. If he was misquoted, that’s not his fault.
The thing about Igawa is that he actually has above average pitches. He unravels because he pitches up in the zone– where apparently Japanese pitchers can thrive– instead of down in the zone.
If the Yankees can refine his delivery and condition Igawa to repeat it unconsciously and stay low in the zone, he actually might develop into an effective major league starter. That change up of his is fairly impressive.
IGAWA: the $40 million dollar pitcher who can barely be a loogy.
Alex never said Derek would be THE MVP, but that he would have an MVP season. And that is a compliment but as everything with Alex, the media has to make it into a story. Everything is not Alex vs. Derek or the rest of the Yankees. If Posada or Rivera had made that statement would the media even have taken it to Derek?!
Fran,
Exactly. It’s like someone was purposely trying to stir things up. “Oooh, let’s see what Jeet says now!” Doesn’t sound like anyone made it sound like a compliment to Derek. Which is was. But Derek smiling and graciously accepting it wouldn’t have been much of a story.
Just another episode in the 2008 season, As The Pinstripes Pine…
Good morning guys. This is a non-story. Jesus could’ve said that Jeter would have an MVP type season and he’d still talk about the team before himself.
Frankly, Alex wasn’t going out on a limb very much. He and Derek have alternated having MVP seasons for the past few years. The problem was Derek was robbed of his award.
Elizabeth – Right. Why would someone look “like they were chewing on dirt” if they just received a compliment.
Doreen – I think you summed it up best. The Yankees are always like a “soap opera”. As Brian Cashman says there is always something going on. It is never quiet or dull around the Yankees.
The circus will be in town for the next 10 years so get used to the clowns.
There is a double standard when it comes to A-Rod. Here’s an example. I know this is Pete’s boy but….the following is from John Heyman in an SI column about Wang’s arbitration hearing.
“Wang’s reps emphasized his 19-win total two straight seasons. They also tried went a little nuts in the hearing room when they described him as “the Michael Jordan of Taiwan,” and actually produced a graphic depicting how the Taiwanese stock market fluctuated on days he pitched.”
Boras said A-Rod added value to a TV network and got blasted. Wang’s agents tried to show how a national economy is tied to him and not word one has been said about it.
Kill-Schill,
Thank you for your opinion of Igawa. He had a rough first season and people are starting to make personal attacks against him, calling him all kinds of names because of his teeth. It was like grade school. (crowded teeth is common in Japan, there are millions more like him). Nice to know that someone else besides the Yankees sees he might have something to offer.
Good morning all,
Until i see Jeter in the background of Arod photo shoot smiling. Im not convinced that they rekindled their best friends for lifeship.
This morning i read that an 11 year old boy has a picture of Clemens in Conseco’s party. I guess him and Bonds can share a room together. I wonder who gets the top bunk.
Is it me or did A-Rod not ever even say Jeter would win the MVP. When I read what A-Rod said, it seemed to me he was saying that he would have an “MVP season” meaning he would have a great year, much like he did in 2006 when he did, in fact, have an MVP season, despite not actually winning the award.
Arod made that comment in order to sabotage Jeter’s season. Now even if Jeter has a very good season (but not an MVP season), it will be a disappointment. Many, those guys really hate each other.
i dont think anyone beyond this blog cares a damn about what arod and jeter said about each other. i know i stopped caring about it around 2 yrs ago.
Hope the extra speed and agility work helps Jeter with his range!
On an aside: I stayed up till 2.30 AM working on my thesis last night and decided I’d lie down for a little bit so I could keep my eyes open.
I slept for nine straight hours without waking up. Oops.
mel,
People are making personal attacks towards Igawa because he decided to take the Pavano offseason workout plan. Everyone came in in shape. But he decided(even though he failed miserably last year)to come in out of shape sporting his shades. You have one Japanese player who appoligized for breaking his wrist diving for a ball and another that can care less if we just got Pavanoed once again.
I don’t think Jeter will have to worry about his legs with Girardi running every one like he has.
Wang’s representatives were correct.
1. He had consecutive 19-win seasons (fact)
2. He is the Michael Jordan of Taiwan (opinion, but some Pulliter writer DID write a biography about him)
3. The stock market did spike on days he pitched (fact, but unable to prove causal relationship)
The uproar about Alex is of course related to Alex, but maybe related to Boras and his visions of grandeur. He messed up because he was so confident that someone, probably the Yankees, were going to trip over themselves to give Alex a $350M contract.
Didja hear that Sheffield called Boras a “bad man” and that he’s gonna dish the dirt on him?
And in other news, there supposedly is a photo of Clemens at Canseco’s party.
SoS,
Yes, it may have started out that way because one writer said that Igawa spent the offseason on the couch. Then it started getting very personal calling him beaver mouth and what not. Kid stuff.
There’s a picture of Igawa beating Edwar Ramirez in a foot race. By quite a bit. Does that mean Edwar’s in worse shape? Until the manager actually comes out and says that Igawa’s in terrible shape then people need to take what one writer says with a grain of salt.
Taylor,
You are correct. He said he would have an mvp season, not that he will win the mvp. Thats the typical media twisting words around. I dont see any problem with what either of them said. Arod is compimenting Jeter for coming in this year in better shape and Jeter says what he always says year after year. I dont know why he doesnt just carry around a recorder and plays one of the very few responses that he gives the media everyday. Therefore he wouldnt have to waste his breath on these issues.
I support Jeter. Melky can win the M.V.P as long as we win #27.
“Arod made that comment in order to sabotage Jeter’s season. Now even if Jeter has a very good season (but not an MVP season), it will be a disappointment. Many, those guys really hate each other.”
What? You really think Alex made that comment to sabotage him?
Elizabeth,
That would be ironic, huh? Very few people are able to focus and slow the game down to the point they control it. I don’t know, maybe Tiger, Jordan, Kobe, Federer, Jeter?
How funny is it that Oliver Perez is getting more out arbitration than Wang!
SoS,
What’s with your man Ginobli? He’s channeling someone out west!
He saved their you know what last night.
Did Pop really bark at him an make him sit down on the bench the other night?
no one cares marc
mel,
This morning i read that an 11 year old boy has a picture of Clemens in Conseco’s party. I guess him and Bonds can share a room together. I wonder who gets the top bunk.
I guess im an f3 victum.
Mel,
I dont need to listen to what a writer said about Igawa. The pictures are worth a 1000 words. He looks in worse shape than he did last year. As far as a foot race. Iv know many heavier people that can beat me in a foot race. Doesnt mean theyr in shape for the long haul. As far as personal attacks. Arod was called Afraud,Irabu was called fat toad, Pavano has become a verb. I think Yankee fans are the most knowledgable fans out there and just want to know that a player is giving 110% to help the team win. Right now, it doesnt look like he is(physically).
i asked this in an earlier post, but didn’t realize it was 8 posts deep and would probably never get looked at…
does Igawa look the same or worse than last year? the reason i’m asking is that most of the guys came into camp looking BETTER than last year. The few pics I’ve seen of him, he looks just like he did last year (no fatter, no thinner)…
Elizabeth,
After reading through his statement again I’m convinced he was joking. Sarcasm is really hard to interpret over the net.
Funny…a few days ago Jeter was defending himself after being named the worst SS in all of baseball…now he actually has to answer questions about being the MVP this year…
That’s what I suspected, because it sounded so loony bin.
It’s BS how much Oliver Perez is getting, he’s barely worth the 2.75 mil he got last season. If Perez got 6 mil, Wang deserves at least that much.
“How funny is it that Oliver Perez is getting more out arbitration than Wang!”
Perez has been in the bigs since 2002. I suspect that this has something to do with his hefty raise. If Wang continues on his current pace he will make much more than 6.5 mil in his 3rd year of arbitration eligibility.
anti-pettite,
apparentely KG86 cares
“That would be ironic, huh? Very few people are able to focus and slow the game down to the point they control it. I don’t know, maybe Tiger, Jordan, Kobe, Federer, Jeter?”
mel-I was thinking the same thing. Not many players out there a team would want to go to war with. Man, im going to miss him when he has to hang up his gloves. Oh, you forgot Duncan and P.Manning.
I didnt see the game. Was watching the democratic debates. I hope he saves some points and energy for the playoffs. Im a little worried with all the mileage and all. Not surpriced about Pop. Hes a drill sargeant and i like it.
who has a problem w/ what Alex said ? As a matter keep talking Alex I’m getting tired of these damn fans w/ their why doesn’t he just shut up comments
He is what he is, you take it or leave it !!!
Your either w/ Alex being Alex or your against it, no in betweens here.
As for what he said about Jetes, he said and I quote…..
“I think Jeter is going to have an MVP season. That’s my prediction for the year,†Rodriguez said. “And Bobby’s going to have a monster year.â€
not that he will be MVP, that he will have a MVP type season. JESUS !.
As bad as Igawa looks, however, I’m of the opinion that Josh Beckett looks worse, especially given that Beckett is a more central part of his team…
“It’s BS how much Oliver Perez is getting, he’s barely worth the 2.75 mil he got last season. If Perez got 6 mil, Wang deserves at least that much.”
This is Perez’ third year of arbitration eligibility. In his first year of arbitration he received 1.9mil. Wang, in his first year of arbitration received 4mil.
SoS,
I was talking about attacking someone’s looks. I think it’s cruel, too, the way people make mean comments about the overweight pitchers.
Won’t touch Afraud. The boss called Irabu a toad and that was really unprofessional. And I was going to say earlier that Pavano’s okay because he’s been a pain (literally!) in the you know how long.
I’m just sensitive to the personal attacks of current Yankees. They’re our guys. Although I’m not too sanctimonious that I won’t tease Youkilis or Schilling.
Oliver gets 6.5 million,
If that isn’t a joke I don’t know what is.
http://www.baseball-reference......ol01.shtml
He had one good year, 3 years prior to that he stunk. The Mets lost big!
Is anyone else hoping that the Red Sox trade Crisp before the season gets under way. He seems to make game changing plays out there(plenty against us) that i dont think can be duplicated by elsbury. I could be wrong.
i would say baseball loses too, in the end…
I think Torre should take a page of Belicheck and do some spying on the Yankees practice. Andrew Jones showed up in camp out of shape.
No, the joke is that they gave Howard an extra $3M, but couldn’t give Wang a measly $600K.
Are we really that desperate for a story as to be mangling A-Rod’s words? You should hear the things that come out of my mouth all the time. I’d make a very bad famous person.
You have a picture of him? What a joke the guy stunk last year still got a huge contract and this is what he does.
Are diuretics and laxatives banned substances in MLB? There were a lot of pounds shed over the winter.
The Chewing on dirt- my guess is that Jeter was thinking oh lord what has Alex said now LOL!
It sounds like Alex is doing his bit to kiss up to Derek, and Derek isn’t having any of it.
That would be odd since just a couple days ago Jeter was praising Alex by acknowledge his numbers and how hard it would have been to replace them.
“Arod made that comment in order to sabotage Jeter’s season. Now even if Jeter has a very good season (but not an MVP season), it will be a disappointment. Many, those guys really hate each other.â€
I’m really hoping that was sarcasm….
Until i see Jeter in the background of Arod photo shoot smiling. Im not convinced that they rekindled their best friends for lifeship.
We didn’t see Jeter in Posada’s background pic, nor Mo’s, Damon’s, Giambi’s…….he must hate them all!!! Alex and Jeter aren’t the best of friends any more but they appear to get along just fine (and were kidding around and joking in the dugout plenty last year).
Jeter should have at least acknowledged the compliment, and then redirect it with “its about winningâ€
I agree, one has nothing to do with the other. Winning/putting up MVP numbers doesn’t mean you can’t win a WS ring as well.
Ryan Howard got 2.5x more than Wang!
Perez is still young and I suspect he was rushed to the big leagues. He’s been in the majors since he was 20 despite not pitching all that brilliantly in the minors. He’s only 25 and maybe last year was a turning point for him. If he duplicates his season from a year ago he will be more than worth 6mil a season.
He’s a lefty and now he’ll be under the tutelage of the best lefthanded pitcher in the majors so he may very well become an excellent pitcher for the Mets. I think it’s too early to say this deal is a lost for the Mets.
Why is this a story? Who cares? The real story is that ARod recently admitted to being a “psycho.” Psychos are dangerous! The Yankees should see about involuntarily committing ARod.
lol Rebecca – i’d be a horrible famous person as well…
Marc: Ryan Howard also plays every day.
Except when he’s injured, which happens a lot in Philadelphia.
“Ryan Howard got 2.5x more than Wang!”
I can tell that you will find just about anything to complain about. However if you would look at previous posts on this blog you will see why Howard got 10mil and Wang got 4 mil.
He play every day, but Wang has the most wins in the last 2 years.
Did anyone catch South Park the other night? The Tourette Syndrome one? It was wickedly entertaining. I was shocked at the new combinations of foul words they came up with. I couldn’t turn it now matter how foul it was.
“Until i see Jeter in the background of Arod photo shoot smiling. Im not convinced that they rekindled their best friends for lifeship.”
YankeeDiva-i should have ended it with a lol. It was a joke taken from what we saw him do to Pettites picture. Seriously, who cares if their best friends or not. Nieves and Phillips were one of the most like players in the clubhouse but arent winning us any championships. It all about what they do between the lines.
http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/
If you scroll down you can see some video of Yankees photo day.
Jeremy
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Why is this a story? Who cares? The real story is that ARod recently admitted to being a “psycho.†Psychos are dangerous! The Yankees should see about involuntarily committing ARod.
Freekin comedy. Thats why i waste my worktime reading this blog. Its the beyyyst.
raymagnetic-
Well said, some people just like to argue for the sake of arguing.
mel, i watched that south park on my dvr just last night. lol
Did anyone see the news that there is a photo floating around of Clemens at Canseco’s party? Apparently an 11 year old kid had a camera and that kid is now an adult.
Uh oh.
Someone is sweating bullets.
mel,
what were the foul words?
I started watching family (occationally) a few months ago with my kids and i know why they are put on in the evening. Awkward.I cant believe all the things they say and show in that cartoon.
BTW. The Office is coming back in April. Cant wait.
Family Guy
Hay guyz y does giambi make so much mor then wang!? hes fat and always hurt what the hek!? >.
We Miss Paulie
Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t he say he might have been there for a few minute? So unless the kid has tons of pictures, than Roger will say I said I may have dropped off my wife. He will find a way to get out of it.
someone please tell Jeter that if he needs to put on weight he should get married and have kids.
SoS,
Every foul word in the book and they came up with some great combos. Right, saucy?
Someone please tell Jeter that at his age he needs to worry about losing weight, not gaining it. Does anyone know how much lighter he is? Alex came to camp 15 lbs. lighter last year and it seemed to make a lot of difference.
Jetes is a fatty he needs to go on weight watchers asap
RangerRob,
Thats my excuse.
Talking about Jeter. I hope he writes a book after he retires. Title would be “HOW TO GET THE HOTTEST WOMEN IN THE WORLD TO GO OUT WITH YOU”. Im married an all but i would buy the book just to show my kids when they grow up. I guarantee you it would be the best seller.
Hopefully the book doesnt start off with
#1 you have to be rich
#2 you have to look like me
Did you see the episode when the kids were playing baseball, and at first they tried to win. That is until they found out if they won they’d have to play the entire summer. So they were constantly trying to let each other win.
RangerRob – starting smoking and then quitting also works!
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/.....id=3258756
Ollie Perez makes more than Wang…is this merely based on speculation? Because back-to-back 19 win seasons in the AL East seem to dominate a 15-10 2007 season and a 3-13 (6.55 ERA!), 2006 Season. Anyone concur?
And believe me, i really like Oliver Perez
http://www.southparkstudios.co.....sodeid=905
I saw this when the yankees were playing so bad, I felt like they were playing to lose.
We Miss Paulie: Probably the 11 year-old kid.
I have to say, his reaction shocks me
Why bother asking? We all know he`ll give the same cliched answer
o/t, but it’s bothering me. Does the title of the last thread look right to you guys? I know Pete fixed the first part, but shouldn’t it be “a swing and a miss”? Unless that’s how they say it on the East Coast.
mel-
I believe you are correct. Always time for a first right?
Buddy,
lol. There’s always a first time. Maybe a last.
my mistake S.o.S 27
Why is this a story? Who cares? The real story is that ARod recently admitted to being a “psycho.†Psychos are dangerous! The Yankees should see about involuntarily committing ARod.
LOL Jeremy, they probably won’t succeed considering the fact that Britney Spears is still roaming the streets.
mel: Not as bad as me.
I created a Facebook event (which you all should RSVP ‘yes’ to) for Opening Day here http://syr.facebook.com/event.php?eid=23508570371
And I called it Opending Day.
Oops.
That’s funny, Rebecca. What’s a Facebook event?
“It’s BS how much Oliver Perez is getting, he’s barely worth the 2.75 mil he got last season. If Perez got 6 mil, Wang deserves at least that much.”
maybe Pete can do a primer about service time, arbitration, and the CBA.
that way everyone will have a basic understanding how things work and we won’t have to have posts like this one because not everyone understands the rules.
this sounds like snark, but i am serious.
Basically it’s like creating a party or event and you invite whomever you want on facebook to come to it.
Clemens could be in serious trouble.
I read that if the Phillies had offered as little as $8.5M they would’ve won. They lost (or Ryan won) because they lowballed the offer.
agreed hmmm, especially since a lot of folks don’t seem to read any of the comments already made on the same subject…
Rebecca,
An online party? Like a chat?
eBooze?
hmmm,
I hope the kinder,gentler thing is just temporary till the season starts? You make people think twice about posting stupid things. Find your MO JO,THE EYE OF THE TIGER or whatever it is soon. We need the old hmmm back.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/s.....038;ATT=49
gene michael and jeter from the above link:
“Jeter, 33, pointed out you can get the exact same ground ball off the exact same pitcher and there could be an average runner or there could be Ichiro running. “How can you compute that?” he asked.
You can’t. That’s one reason Yankees senior advisor Gene Michael was infuriated by the University of Pennsylvania report.
“Something like that is a disgrace,” the scout said. “It made me ill when I read that article. First of all, what pitching staff was out there? Each team has a different staff. Derek doesn’t really have a sinkerball pitching staff whereas other shortstops, you sit behind certain pitchers, you’re going to get a lot of ground balls.
“You simply can’t do that by those charts, that’s a bunch of baloney,” Michael added. “It’s disgraceful. You have to use a scout’s eye to determine range.”
What about Jeter’s range now in his 13th major-league season?
“It’s not as good as it was, but it’s not bad,” Michael said. “You might put some people ahead of him range-wise, but that doesn’t mean they are better shortstops. Look how sure-handed he is, look how clutch he is. That makes up for a lot.”
i think jeter has finally taken the criticism of his range seriously. that is only a good thing. being an ex shortstop michael’s endorsement carries a lot of weight. why do i think there is a sabermetric red sox pest nest down at penn? they are also the ones who said the clemens’ statistical analysis report created by his agents on his career curve was wrong.
i think i’ll go by what gene michael says instead of some ivy league frat/stat boys and their professors.
“I hope the kinder,gentler thing is just temporary till the season starts? ”
we’ll see. i am sure the first broken nail in spring training will bring out all of the doom and gloom trolls…
hmmm,
I agree. Keith Law actually was answering some questions yesterday. I’ll post some of his answers here.
It’s a done deal, I don’t think K-rod stays with the Angels.
Per espn.com he lost in arbitration. He’ll make $10M, not the $12.5 he requested.
Maybe one day he can make Mo money.
mel–Not quite…well maybe…It’s really hard to explain.
You can use a facebook event to create an ACTUAL event, or just something that everyone will be “attending”, such as the lunar eclipse a couple nights ago.
K-ROD in 09′ ?
From Keith Law’s chat yesterday:
Eli (Toronto): Keith, I get service time and player options confused. Are these the same things?
Keith Law: No, although I understand why people confuse these things. Service time is measured in days of service – one day in the big leagues gets you one day of service, 172 days in a single championship season give you one year of service. There are various thresholds that a player might hit that alter his salary (arbitration, free agency) or restrict what a club might do with his contract. Player options are by year – a player gets three (there is a fourth option in some circumstances), and if a player is sent out on an optional assignment in a given year, that counts as one option, after which he may be sent up and down repeatedly in the same season without burning another option.
Talking about broken nail. Does anyone know if Wangs nail fully healed?
I am NOT the 11 year old kid! I wish.
I forgot he said he “might” have been there…an alibi I guess. But still sketchy.
Sorry I brought it up, lets talk about baseball instead of that crap.
Whoever says Igawa is out of shape is obviously not watching. 3 of my friends are down in Tampa watching the workouts this week and they all say Igawa looks fine and trim, and he is keeping up with the others in running drills. In fact, he is one of the last ones to leave the park every day. I think they guy will show great improvement this year.
S.O.S, I reckon Pete might.
K-Rod will probably be playing for the Tigers in ’09. I wouldn’t pay him what he’ll be looking to make however. His pitching motion is so violent he doesn’t look like he’ll be healthy for the duration of a 4/5 year contract. I doubt he’ll come to NY to be MO’s set up man anyway.
chart from espn:
The biggest winners Year Player/club Salary
2008 Howard, Phi $10,000,000
2008 x-Rodriguez, LAA $10,000,000
2006 x-Soriano, Was $10,000,000
2001 A. Jones, Atl $8,200,000
2007 Cabrera, Fla. $7,400,000
2000 x-Rivera, NYY $7,250,000
2003 Garcia, Sea $6,875,000
2003 x-Beltran, KC $6,000,000
2003 x-Vazquez, Mon $6,000,000
x-lost case
Anyone remembered what Mo asked for?
Good for Derek. I’m glad he said what he said. It’s what a real player should say. Who cares about winning an M.V.P. award? Apparently A-Rod cares and Derek doesn’t. A-Rod’s prediction shows he is all about individual success/ achievement while Derek saying he could care less if he won an individual achievement award shows he is all about the team winning, that’s the difference between the two. If A-Rod wants to take it as a dig from Jeter, well, sit down and think about your time on the Yankees, Alex: four years of embarassing (2005-7) and epic (2004) postseason losses. Then realize you’re still concerned with/ talking about M.V.P. awards thus part of the reason for this losing…and so is Jeter like all Yankees are part of the losing cuz it’s a team effort. It’s time to zip it. I mean where was the big talk after 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 huh? Nowhere. Even the Red Sox have kept their mouths shut after 2004 and 2007. And if Ozzie Guillen, the biggest mouth of all M.L.B. managers can shut up after 2005, so can A-Rod.
A-Rod, just shut up and play, seriously. Take a cue from Derek. In fact, how about every Yankee who hasn’t won jack as a Yankee shut up as well? I mean ever notice how Mariano, Andy, and Jorge who own 12 of the 16 World Series rings Yank players have collected since 1996 rarely/ barely talk to the press and never say anything in relation to the team or players on it that stirs up anything? People call that bland, dry, and boring, well you know what? Check your pulse if you think a 1-1 tie going into the 8th inning is all that and you’d be jumping for joy like a chimpanzee if Jeter or A-Rod smacked a deep sacrifice fly to to snap a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the 2008 World Series.
Brandon good for you that you think A-Rod’s the cat’s meow. Guess what? I think he’s a great player, too, so do countless others, he just needs to shut up and play at this point as well as collect more than an RBI or two in a postseason series. And him saying Jeter will have an “MVP season” is basically saying “MVP”.
JohnC,
Thank you for the observation. It just shows how one comment about Igawa spending time on the couch over the winter can gain legs.
^^^ MEDS !
You know, Chris, only in Yankee universe can a player get criticism for saying a teammate was going to have an MVP year. It’s a compliment, for crying out loud, and a reflection that Jeter’s winter workout results were noticeable.
Chris – Dude, you are seriously disturbed.
mel: Think it was nine, but I might be wrong.
JohnC-Whoever says Igawa is out of shape is obviously not watching. 3 of my friends are down in Tampa watching the workouts this week and they all say Igawa looks fine and trim, and he is keeping up with the others in running drills. In fact, he is one of the last ones to leave the park every day. I think they guy will show great improvement this year.
A picture does add 10 pounds to someone. He looked out of shape in the few pictures that were sent. As a Yankee fan we are rooting for him to have a comeback year and help the team. His numbers in Japan were only a half run difference than Dice k’s. If he can just keep the ball down and not fall behind hitters than he might be very usefull in the pen. Being that he is a strikeout pitcher. But as we all know its easier said than done.
Only an idiot thinks Jeter wouldn’t love to win the MVP
amen to what stick said about jeter. another thing that gets overlooked with him is that he’s so good with popups and works next to arod who’s the worst at them. and that he ranges well into the OF allowing damon and melky to play further back in YS, which is critical.
“award? Apparently A-Rod cares and Derek doesn’t. A-Rod’s prediction shows he is all about individual success/ achievement while Derek saying he could care less if he won an individual achievement award shows he is all about the team winning, that’s the difference between the two. ”
wow, thank God Chris is back.
i knew your post wouldn’t disappoint.
seriously, it reads like a parody.
Thanks, jennifer. In those days, that was big bucks. The bigger arbitration amounts now are reflective of the current economic climate in baseball. You know the one where mlb robs George to pay the Carls of the world.
I’m LMAO that that report came out of UPenn. I should have guessed! What do those unathletic eggheads know about baseball or about sports in general, other than constantly getting owned by Villanova and Temple in b-ball. Personally I’ll take the word of professional baseball players who have been out on the field and made the plays, and have the talent evaluation skills that Stick does, over a bunch of skinny “picked last in dodgeball” yuppie white kids that never see daylight other than the cracks of sunshine filtering through the windows of their basement sabermetric lairs.
“why do i think there is a sabermetric red sox pest nest down at penn? ”
There are a ton of New Englanders who go there, I guess b/c they want to live in a college town and a sheltered neighborhood (lord knows the pansies don’t have any street smarts) but also want the experience of going out of town for school, so they pick Philly. So yeah, I think you’re not too far off on the red sox pest nest thing. But, of course, being the frontrunning bandwagoners they are, it only becomes the Red Sox pest nest after the Pats lose for the season, haha.
(oh and in case it wasn’t obvious by the tone of this post, I do attend a rival school in the same city, F Penn and their den of unathletic pocket protector sporting yuppies! Glad Jeter came back at them.)
oops, that would be “Thank you, Rebecca”
“I mean ever notice how Mariano, Andy, and Jorge who own 12 of the 16 World Series rings Yank players have collected since 1996 rarely/ barely talk to the press and never say anything in relation to the team or players on it that stirs up anything?”
i’m pretty sure Jorge said the Yankees “need an ace” this offseason.
and yeah, Pettitte hasn’t “stirred up” ANYTHING his offseason. you’re totally right. guy has barely said a word about anything.
Mariano is God, i’m not going to argue that.
Of course Jeter wants to win the MVP, but he knows a sure way to not get one is whine about it (exh. A-David Ortiz)
However, he was raised to be humble by his parents and trained to be diplomatic by the Yankees.
Basically, Jeter he cares more about winning a World Series than winning an MVP. But he wouldn’t give it back if he did win it.
Chris is probably the only Yankee fan(im assuming)that gets trashed on every post he does. Seriously. What other Yank fan gets this much negative response? Its almost like he’s 38 pitches talking to Yank fans.
hmmm-I guess it wont take the season to start.
hmmm,
Jorge took his meds and said the other week that Wang would be an ace on any staff.
i feel sorry for chris, id say hes gonna have a really tough time making it through till 2017 with arod.
seriously dude, you really need to start rooting for the mets or the nats or somebody.
Boy we really need actual baseball to start.. We end up arguing the most random things when theres nothing else to talk about..
“Jorge took his meds and said the other week that Wang would be an ace on any staff.”
i agree, but he still made the comment about Santana.
“hmmm-I guess it wont take the season to start.”
Chris doesn’t count. he’s terrible.
i’m trying to be nicer to the normal people.
Out of line, would you agree?
Somebody pick Donald Fehr up off the floor…..
Jeter told Bloomberg Radio that blood testing players is not intrusive and he would support it.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/.....refer=home
Who’s Chris? Is he a Yankee fan that sees the glass half empty? Or a troll?
Either way, shouldn’t inflammatory comments be ignored?
ray & Brian (Boston fan) are treated better here. Of course their comments aren’t inflammatory.
I’m guessing Chris is really Carl Pavano I mean who else can it be ?
pat,
I’m sure that Jeter’s used to taking blood tests.
Oh, that was mean, just plain mean. Sorry, Jetes. Still love ya!
mel,
Didnt you have a 3 am fight with our friend Chris. I could be wrong. Thats the day we all admitted that were Lohud Blogaholics.
mel that was excellent!
Pat,
Did Alex add on the new wing to the manse yet? They need to put in a workout gym and recording studio for the young boys. lol.
“Jeter told Bloomberg Radio that blood testing players is not intrusive and he would support it.”
Ill start this one. Being that he’s has problems gaining weight. Im assuming he isnt on anything. So here i go with my theory. He wants them to take a blood test of Arod so he can be stripped of his M.V.P. titles. Man the drama never ends.lol
Brandon: Man, don’t even go there. It’s cruel and unusual punishment to Pete!
SoS,
No the last time I tussled with someone was a Boston fan who later admitted he was drunk. But I never got personal, just killed him with logic and reasoning like a good Yankee fan. But, yes, I was on the scene that night we admitted we were blogaholics. And Chris seems to have mellowed out since then.
blogaholics haha, I like that.
Could be worse.
anyone want to hear what some Western Conferece people are saying about the Dallas trade ?
Brandon,
No, even Carl Pavano isn’t that angry.
Its funny. Arod said Jeter is going to have an “MVP Season” and that’s seen as “selfish” by the mentally distrubed.
Really, you can’t make this stuff up!
I suspect Gene Orza has already gotten his call into DJ.
Talk about saying the wrong thing!
I think Dallas is in trouble of not making the playoffs. The depth and youth is now gone. Good future for the Nets.
true SoS
anyway if there are any Nets fans which basically is all of NY right now here’s some interesting comments I found.
Said (Tony)Parker in an interview with the San Antonio Express News: “To be honest with you, I’m really happy for that trade. Diop was doing a good job on us. And Devin Harris, most of the time, he played good against us. So I thought it would be good for us. No disrespect to Jason Kidd, he’s a great point guard, but those guys that left always gave us trouble.â€
“I was a Devin Harris fan, so I’m happy to see him in the East, personally,†the Lakers coach said. “He’s a good player, took a lot of charges, an improving player, one of those young kids with good energy. Got the ball back for his team a lot. I know they’ll miss him. But this is a trade that brings a lot of veteran leadership to Dallas.â€
Brandon: I’m certainly interested! Might be a little late for the Nets to save their season now, but maybe next year
yes, dallas wont make the playoffs cause harris and diop are gone and replaced by jason kidd……
Brandon,
As a Spurs fan. I concur with Parker. Harris ate up our defense. Diop always made Parker change his shot. We are probably happier than Nets fans.
I love Jeets as much as the next guy but why does he have to be a prick and just say I dont care about the MVP and I just want to win the Series. We all want that ofcourse but he could have atleast said “Wow that is a huge compliment coming from the best player in the game and I hope we both battle it out for the MVP” or something just to show he likes Arod.
Arghhh
This supposed Jeter-A-Rod rift is overstated, if not imaginary. How come when they are smiling at one another and high-fiving during games, not one comments. But Jeter says his number interest – SUPRISE – is winning the World Series and some people see that as a rebuke of A-Rod saying Jeter will have an MVP-year. A-Rod didn’t say winning the MVO was more important. A-Rod would rather have the series ring too. And yes Jeter could have an MVP-type season – Remember, two years ago he did…
S.o.S.: Probably. As far as my brother and I are concerned, we figure it was coming and made our peace with it a long time ago. We tend to pay more attention to hockey than basketball in the winter, as the Devils have been known to win a cup every once in so often…
It does seem like Alex was holding out an olive branch, but I think Jeter’s response was the same as it always is to such questions. I don’t think he was slapping ARod down.
Mel
The paper a few weks ago said ARod bought 2 condos in Hoboken, NJ. Maybe one for each of the new adoptees?
Jeters new 24 hour gym is only a few blocks from A-Rods Manhattan condo. Maybe he’ll give them a break on membership fees.
Recording studio? That sounds like a scary karaoke moment waiting to happen.
Yes anti,
Kidds 30% field goal shooting lack of speed and the departure of Diop with no replacement(tried to get Thomas but Spurs beat them to it). Will be hard to overcome. G.S. are 2 games back. Watch out.
Rebecca,
Hockey? Im a Red Wings fan(or bandwagoner since early 90′s),but only watch them once the playoffs start.
SoS I absolutely agree w/ that take I think what Dallas should have done was dangle Dirk for multiple high tier players if age window was the problem. Now just thinking about Parker and Ginobli causing havoc in the halfcourt and fullcourt sets that is going to be painful for Cuban to watch
I’m a sports fan..
But I’ve got to say, this part of the year is just dull.. Hockey and basketball just can’t distract me away from the MLB season thats on the Horizon..
I can’t wait until the ST games actually start.
SJ
Orza had to revive Fehr before he could dial the phone.
Brandon,
Rumor was Dallas coach wanted Dirk to be traded. I guess Cubans doing the Al Davis impersonation and doing it his way.
S.o.S.: Well, if you’re a Red Wings’ fan there’s no NEED to watch the regular season
The Devils are awesome though. Every year they’re not supposed to make the playoffs. And then they do.
All this Arod-Jeter stuff is so overblown its not funny.
They “hate” each other so much, they had lunch together at the complex on Thursday.
Don’t get sucked into a soap opera that doesn’t exist.
BTW, I know Jeter likes to be PC and say the right things publicly. However, for a guy who “doesn’t care” about winning an MVP Award, he sure was ticked off (and rightly so) when he didn’t win in 2006.
Just because somebody doesn’t say something publicly doesn’t mean they don’t care.
The difference between Jeter and Arod boils down to one simple thing. Jeter let’s NOBODY from the media (and very, very few people in general) get too close to him. He’s like Jordan in that regard. For such a public guy, he is a very, very private person.
He also gets uncomfortable when folks talk about him or recite conversations he has had with people. Its just the way he is. He and Gary Sheffield used to be very good friends. They would go to Miami Heat games together, hang out in the off-season, etc.
After Shef said what he said last year, Jeter cut him off. He’s cordial, but not close anymore. That’s how Jeter handles things.
Arod is a diva! lol He’s like a walking, talking Oprah Show. While he doesn’t let that many people in (like Jeter), he let’s WAY too many people in on his thoughts. All too often, its like he is giving stream of conscious interviews.
Its just two different personalities. Neither guy is bad. In fact, they are both good guys. They are just different.
Its what makes the world go ’round.
Moral of the story. You can be a team player AND want to win an MVP.
One isn’t exclusive of the other.
Show me a player who doesn’t want an MVP Award and I’ll show you a guy who is trying too hard to deny the importance of it to them.
they should have traded Dirk, he would have brought back a whole lot of talent back, a team like Atl would have trade JJ and Josh Smith, Denver would have given them a bunch of talent, an East team would have gutted their team.
I think we can all agree that whichever 8 teams make it in the West. It will be the most competetive 8 teams to go head to head as long far as i can remember(ever).
Dman,
It does seem like it will never get here soon enough. I get caught up in March Madness to get by the month of March till the real games start.
Speaking of trades in other sports (changing sports tho) has the rumored DeAngelo Hall trade to the G-Men for first round pick been discussed here yet? I think it’s a fantastic idea, Hall has great speed which would serve us very well. Only thing is alot of the mock drafts that I’ve seen had us picking USC OLB Keith Rivers, and I was really becoming fond of him. But he may get taken way earlier, and Reese had such a great draft last year that I trust his abilities to address all the team’s needs through the later rounds. Bring on Hall…but since Atlanta just released Alge Crumpler I’m wondering if Shockey’s name will come up in these discussions at all.
S.o.S
March Madness is the only thing that saves me, its definitly at a perfect time in the year.
To be clear, when I say that Arod “doesn’t like to let too many people in, like Jeter”, I mean he is like Jeter in that regard.
NOT that he doesn’t let Jeter “in”.
They aren’t as close as they were when they were younger. But, they are friends and sure as hell aren’t enemies.
Its just one guy is married with kids and the other guys is hittin’ every A List Hollywood actress under 35 and most of the beauty pagent contestants in a given year.
Just two guys living life differently at this stage of their lives.
S.o.S: You should check out the NHL Eastern Conference! Ten points separate the top seeded team from the nine seed!
DMan: I got tickets to the Big East Tournament! I can’t wait! Mind, Syracuse is going to be massively disappointing, as it’s been my four years here, but I’ll have fun anyway.
BBB I know I’m just trying not to jinx it !!
IRIT
“IN REESE I TRUST”
I just read Chris’ 1:41 post. Twice.
Dude…
A-Rod’s original “MVP Season” statement was giving props to Jeter, maybe even an olive branch if you will. It was a way of paying respect to the Captain and remembering to start off camp on a better foot than last year. (Big Points for A-Rod).
BTW, I’ve never heard Jeter say after a compliment “thanks, that’s nice of you, but…” Jeter just shrugs that stuff off and lasers in on the importance of winning a Championship. But he’s got to be pleased that Rod was sending him some love and A-Rod is pretty pleased to be back in pinstripes. Those two are fine.
I’m never going to completely “get” Rod and I’ve slammed him as hard any anyone out there for his not being “one of the guys” and for the appearance of the opt out debacle at least until he threw Boras under the bus. But consider this: how hard was it for him to see the lack of preparation in ST the last few years, guys reporting to camp out of shape, overweight and then getting hurt and really not competing until June, including Jeter with his “gotta go to camp fat” routine. A-Rod always shows up in shape and nobody works harder at staying in shape, so imagine his frustration last year with Damon and Abreu for developing nagging injuries that suggested being out of condition and maybe even Torre for running a loosey goosey ST. But he bit his tongue and didn’t complain to the media about the slackers like a Sheffield or some other head case.
My point is, Chris, that maybe the A-Rod who can keep his mouth shut is already here.
sj,
nice post. I guess its like would you rather win a championship or be in the H.O.F. Its funny to hear the answer of some players. I dont think either way is wrong. If his goal is to win the mvp. It will naturally help the team go far into the season.
SJ44, that’s about as good insight as Pete gives. And is sure sounds logical.
People grow up, change, and find other people to have sleepovers with.
Rebecca,
Didnt your Devils sweep the Red Wings a few years ago when the Red Wings had the best regular season ever? I do fear them in the playoffs.
“Its just one guy is married with kids and the other guys is hittin’ every A List Hollywood actress under 35 and most of the beauty pagent contestants in a given year.”
No wonder his wheels are shot by October.
“the other guys is hittin’ every A List Hollywood actress under 35 and most of the beauty pagent contestants in a given year.”
I would give my right hand to be Jeter for a day.
Rebecca: “Might be a little late for the Nets to save their season now, but maybe next year”
wait! where the heck is the optimism in this post? is this an imposter or the real Rebecca?
or does the optimism only directed towards baseball?
Murph,
Very well put. As an aside, don’t you think Arod taking Cano and Melky in last year showed two things…..
One, leadership, and getting involved in the betterment of the team. Something, if you recall, Arod has gotten a lot of heat about (from certain factions of the media) not being “setting roots” with a team. He did that with the Yankees, starting last year.
Two, it was his way of getting two guys he thinks a lot of (as people and ballplayers) into the kind of condition necessary to achieve success.
Kind of a subtle jab at what he was not seeing from the entire team last year, IMO.
Its why, as I have stated numerous times in the blog, the opt out shocked me.
I KNEW he didn’t want to leave the Yankees. He loves playing for the Yankees. He’s developed a lot of relationships at all different levels of the organization in recent years.
I still can’t get over how badly Boras messed up his relationship with Arod. It was so unnecessary.
Its still shocking to me a guy as bright as Scott misread the situation so badly.
In every interview Arod has given in the last two years, he has said his #1 priority is winning a World Series.
That’s why I laugh when people write he is selfish. Ask Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera or, Joe Torre for that matter, if Arod is a selfish player. Their answers will be quite different from what the Arod haters out there believe.
SJ
You can add Ryan Braun and Michael Young to that list. Braun has said A-Rod is a mentor to him and Young has said he was the best teammate he ever had.
Is SJ’s occupation still a mystery? As I’m wondering myself about how you (SJ) have experience being inside arbitration cases (at least, if I recall correctly your comments on them)
pat and SJ,
A lot has changed with ARod over the years. I remember when that Verducci piece of crap article came out in 2006, Abreu, who had only been with the team a couple of weeks, was the only Yankee I saw go on camera to defend ARod (he said he was a great teammate). Andy Pettitte said last year that he didn’t understand some of the things he had heard about ARod, because he thought he was a great teammate.
I wonder how much of the change was ARod putting down roots, and how much of it was changing team dynamics – less of the old guard, more new kids with no ties to the championship years. Sounds like you think it was ARod, right SJ?
And yes, Boras really, really, screwed up.
Pat,
Exactly.
For lack of a better word, Arod has really grown up in the last 18 months.
This winter, he took another University of Miami player, Yonder Alonso, under his wing. Yonder has a chance to be a Top 5 pick this year.
Some people “get it” later than others. Arod definitely “gets it” now and that’s good news for the Yankees and Yankee fans.
SJ:
Agreed as to A-Rod’s emerging desire for a leadership role and his desire to establish the “right way” with some younger players. It looks like maturity to me, trying to be a role model and mentor. We heard so much about Tony Pena’s effect on Po, I wonder if he was able to get through to A-Rod? Or was it Bowa?
As to Boras, seems to me that A-Rod may have misread him as badly as he misread A-Rod, by leaving too much up to Scott. But I do not want to blame the victim (A-Rod). I still cannot understand that misfire.
The guy’s not selfish, he’s just better able to get predictable results with a bat and a glove than he is with words. There’s a disconnect within that guy. He’s intelligent and driven and enormously gifted, but he’s got the oddest ability to create discomfort when he speaks. I’ve known plenty of lawyers with that same trait, they’re bright, prepared and driven but always leave you thinking you heard something they didn’t say. They all seem to communicate a subtext at odds with their words.
murphy,
I know what you mean, and I know lawyers like that too.
I think some of ARod’s communication problems come from years of aversion therapy. Everything he says gets misinterpreted, he gets more and more nervous about how what he says will be misinterpreted, and then he sounds even worse. And some of it or course isn’t him at all, it’s the media. Since Peter started posting the audiotapes, I’ve been struck by how what I hear from ARod doesn’t match what the reporters hear (or at least what they write). For example, last year’s quote that Peter is STILL harping on (the “threat” to leave if the fans didn’t like him), I heard as a perfectly innocuous statement of reality. I realize I’m not at all objective, but neither are most reporters – we’re just biased in opposite directions.
wasn’t A-Rod also helping Hughes with his workout routine as well?
hmmm,
Yes, I read that too, but can’t recall where.
where has peter been? no updates all afternoon? did he get hit in the head by a Joba wild pitch during BP?
Murph,
A former Yankee, who knows Arod well, once told me (and he likes Arod) that Arod is basically, a nerd.
He’s got an unbelievable gift to play the game of baseball. But, in this former players’ opinion, he’s nerdy in everything elses.
He overtries (another made up Roger Clemens word! lol) to be one of the boys or to say the right thing, etc.
Sometimes, that translated into some very awkward/nerdy moments.
I’m probably not explaining it that well but I think you know what I mean.
The person who has really gotten through to him was Cynthia. She knows him and knows how to push his buttons.
She expects a lot out of him as a person. One could argue she is the only person (or one of a very small group) who has expectations of him as a person. Not just as a baseball player.
She was the one who pushed him to take matters into his own hands this off-season. She was the one who has pushed him to back off the “Boras Worship” in recent years.
I’ve commented on the blog in the past that I think Scott GREATLY underestimated her influence on him.
Arod is a very focused guy. He has goals in almost every area of his life. Its why he can often be moody and, truth be told, downright rude at times.
However, I think he is really making a conscious effort to grow as a person. Its very important to him. He takes great pride in being able to show he can do more than just hit a baseball.
We are seeing examples of his growth/maturity almost everyday now. Its refreshing to see.
Cynthia gets a lot of credit in my book. Most women would have been LONG GONE by now.
Instead, she has really helped him grow up and put his life back on a good track. All the praise should go to her, IMO.
Cynthia gets a lot of credit in my book. Most women would have been LONG GONE by now.
Instead, she has really helped him grow up and put his life back on a good track. All the praise should go to her, IMO
So the “nerd” thanks her by hanging out with blond bimbo’s? Nice guy!
Plus totally humilates her in public with his escapades. Pathetic. That is NOT a nice person.
John C,
Whoever says Igawa is out of shape is obviously not watching. 3 of my friends are down in Tampa watching the workouts this week and they all say Igawa looks fine and trim, and he is keeping up with the others in running drills. In fact, he is one of the last ones to leave the park every day. I think they guy will show great improvement this year.
—
On the first day of pitchers and catcher, Igawa did not look good at all. Now if he has improved since then, whatever he’s taking he should bottle it up.
This is a picture I took that day. Igawa was consistantly last….
http://img218.imageshack.us/im.....504ir9.jpg
SJ,
Wow, that’s nice to read. You almost never read nice things about a famous man’s wife when she tries to change him (I’m referring to the Yoko Ono syndrome).
ARod recently seems to be embracing his uncoolness. He hasn’t admitted to being a nerd, but he’ll frequently admit to being goofy.
Sara
Cynthia Rodriguez doesn’t strike me as anyones victim. If she has accepted his indiscretions, maybe you should too.
Nobody knows anybody elses relationships but everybody wants to judge them.
“That’s why I laugh when people write he is selfish. Ask Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera or, Joe Torre for that matter, if Arod is a selfish player. Their answers will be quite different from what the Arod haters out there believe.”
I remember watching him sprint down the third base-line on a sac fly last year and wondering out loud how anyone could think that someone like that is a selfish player.