A-Rod to retire

[gunnarthor]

 

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/08/reactions-to-a-rods-forthcoming-release.html

 

 

 

[Tuba]

So close to 700, in a season the yankees have surrendered they dont let him get there. Do they have to pay his salary? 

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

Yep, they'll give him his full salary.

 

Also, the guys a POS.  Do we really need to edit the title to protect his image? 

It's not about protecting his image, it's about not dreging ourselves into the muck. Other places can take their shots at A-Rod (or any other player), we strive for a higher standard.

 

One can't claim high ground if one doesn't lead to high ground, even for those we despise.

[biggentleben]

You can think what you want, but the Yankees were legit tools to him as well, to the point of having lawsuit filed (and subsequently withdrawn) by ARod's representatives for defamation - not MLB, not MLBPA, not anywhere else. ARod would have been completely justified in sitting at the end of the bench until next year for $30M. He also could have gone elsewhere if the team released him and ate the salary and possibly been a PR nightmare for the Yankees, so this was the best case for the Yankees, which is why they were willing to financially do what they did for him.

[nicksaviking]

*** Moderator Note***

 

A-Rod has few fans and deservedly so in my opinion. However posting rules apply equally to the honorable and the infamous, and that includes personal attacks.

[DaveW]

A Rod had fallen off a cliff this year, it may have taken another 200 at bats for him to get 700, Yanks are finally rebuilding, they Ned guys like Sanchez to get those at bats.

 

A-Rod unquestionably was unlikable and a jerk at times, but he also is one of the top 3 players I ever saw play, right with Bonds and Pedro IMO.

 

I could care less about the roids, everybody was juicing and MLB made Bonds and A Rod the scapegoats because they weren't as like able.

 

I think A Rod will make a helluva hitting coach and then potentially a front office guy or manager moving forward. Gonna go try to see one of his last games this week.

[gunnarthor]

 

.

I could care less about the roids, everybody was juicing and MLB made Bonds and A Rod the scapegoats because they weren't as like able.

.

And, of course, that is not true but it does make it easier to ignore.

[Mike Sixel]

Arod=Tiger (personality, women, not the PED stuff), yet people love Tiger......it's all about how the press talks about guys. 

 

I also could care less about the PEDs. And, apparently those that love certain PED users don't really care either, for all their sanctimoniousness (not here, on this thread, but around the web), what they care about is someone they've never met, and some vague feeling they don't like him even though they have never met him. 

[Vanimal46]

A-Rod became a star right when I was becoming a fan of baseball as a youngster in 1998. Besides Barry Bonds I can't think of another position player in my baseball fandom with more natural talent and ability on a baseball field. The surprising thing IMO is some team hasn't shown any interest in letting him attempt to hit 4 more HRs to get to 700. 

[gunnarthor]

 

 

 

I also could care less about the PEDs. And, apparently those that love certain PED users don't really care either, for all their sanctimoniousness (not here, on this thread, but around the web), what they care about is someone they've never met, and some vague feeling they don't like him even though they have never met him. 

In fairness, that doesn't really apply just to people who oppose PED users.  We, as fans, dislike players because they preen after a HR or play for the Packers or went to Duke or are Bryce Harper, etc, etc.

 

I think disliking a guy like ARod, who violated MLB's PED policy after testing was in place, isn't that out of line.  Baseball's roid era hasn't aged well and much of that period feels inauthentic.  Platitudes that "all players were doing it" is a mere way to wish away the controversy.  ARod's PED use was pretty substantial and the idea that he only started using in Texas was laughable.  

[DaveW]

A-Rod was a scapegoat, it's widely reported that more than 30% of players were juicing in those days.

[gunnarthor]

 

A-Rod was a scapegoat, it's widely reported that more than 30% of players were juicing in those days.

Sure, but 30% isn't everyone and ARod was using well after the "Roid era."  I do think it's fair, even if you want to give players a mulligan for roid use before testing, to excuse that behavior in 2014.

[Mike Sixel]

If people don't like him for PED use, I can sort of understand that.....but people hated him way before that came out. He was good looking, successful, super rich, and didn't play the PR game.....

[nicksaviking]

 

If people don't like him for PED use, I can sort of understand that.....but people hated him way before that came out. He was good looking, successful, super rich, and didn't play the PR game.....

 

To this point, I would think a couple of the early factors against him were that Ken Griffey Jr was well liked and a lot of people thought the Mariners chose ARod over Griffey.

 

Additionally, he was an early recipient of one of those mega contracts. Almost all of those guys were disliked, and that largely had to do with the fans perception at the time that these guys were super greedy. We don't look down at these guys taking money from the even richer owners like we used to.

 

I think there are plenty of reasons to dislike ARod, however due to a lack of social media, the reasons people didn't like him early in his career probably weren't too fair. The dislike was fair, but for the wrong reasons, and we didn't know the reasons at the time.

[Vanimal46]

Does A-Rod leave this game as the most polarizing player in the history of baseball? Or at least in the last 20-30 years? 

The only other player who I can think of that was this polarizing was Barry Bonds. And even for him, I'd say more people hated him, and he found that bubble in San Francisco where he was a God. 

[TheLeviathan]

I think A-rod lost me with the Centaur mural over his bed thing....

[Vanimal46]

 

I think A-rod lost me with the Centaur mural over his bed thing....

It wasn't him kissing himself in the mirror? 

http://www.jamespreller.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/alex_rodriguez.jpg

[TheLeviathan]

Nope, I hadn't seen that before.  Thanks...by the way.

[D. Hocking]

 

It wasn't him kissing himself in the mirror? 

http://www.jamespreller.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/alex_rodriguez.jpg

 

I think this was part of a Yankees ad campaign that was similar to the Twins "get to know him".

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I think A-rod lost me with the Centaur mural over his bed thing....

Yeah, let's not forget about how often he came across as a giant douche.

 

Whether he was one or not, that was the perception, and for good reason.

 

Because seriously. A centaur painting.

 

Oh, wait. That's not accurate. Two centaur paintings.

[Mike Sixel]

 

Yeah, let's not forget about how often he came across as a giant douche.

 

Whether he was one or not, that was the perception, and for good reason.

 

Because seriously. A centaur painting.

 

Oh, wait. That's not accurate. Two centaur paintings.

 

so what? you want to be judged for playing Pokeman Go? or D&D or whatever?

 

Why would anyone judge another's enjoyment of life, if it doesn't hurt someone else? Sigh.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

so what? you want to be judged for playing Pokeman Go? or D&D or whatever?

 

Why would anyone judge another's enjoyment of life, if it doesn't hurt someone else? Sigh.

It's not only the centaur paintings. From day one, A-Rod has been pretty tone-deaf to how the public perceives him.

 

And if he doesn't care, that's fine. Do whatever, man, I don't care. If you don't give a damn and take delight in flying that freak flag, more power to you.

 

But A-Rod seemed to care about his public perception. He seemed to care a lot.

 

It's almost as if the guy needed an on-hand agent/life coach to steer him through his career.

 

Has A-Rod received a raw deal from the public? Absolutely. I don't question that even a little bit. Did A-Rod routinely nurture that terrible public image with weird crap and dumb statements? Absolutely.

 

A-Rod always seemed to be his own worst enemy. He wasn't Bonds, who legitimately did not give a flying **** about what people thought of him.

[HitInAPinch]

Alex Rodriquez lost me on 02/10/2009.  To be truthful, this article also describe why the results weren't reported.

 

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/3811116//

 

But still, he was using.  And the results were made public, but only the MLBPA had the player's names.  Sooo, anyway.

 

The rest (lifestyle, posing in a mirror reflection of himself, the hot women) didn't mean much to me.  He was a great ball player with the classic NY-style personality. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

It's not only the centaur paintings. From day one, A-Rod has been pretty tone-deaf to how the public perceives him.

 

And if he doesn't care, that's fine. Do whatever, man, I don't care. If you don't give a damn and take delight in flying that freak flag, more power to you.

 

But A-Rod seemed to care about his public perception. He seemed to care a lot.

 

It's almost as if the guy needed an on-hand agent/life coach to steer him through his career.

 

Has A-Rod received a raw deal from the public? Absolutely. I don't question that even a little bit. Did A-Rod routinely nurture that terrible public image with weird crap and dumb statements? Absolutely.

 

A-Rod always seemed to be his own worst enemy. He wasn't Bonds, who legitimately did not give a flying **** about what people thought of him.

 

My guess is most people wouldn't hang out with most pro athletes......but people seem to care about their personalities for some reason I cannot fathom. 

[Mike Sixel]

 

Alex Rodriquez lost me on 02/10/2009.  To be truthful, this article also describe why the results weren't reported.

 

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/3811116//

 

But still, he was using.  And the results were made public, but only the MLBPA had the player's names.  Sooo, anyway.

 

The rest (lifestyle, posing in a mirror reflection of himself, the hot women) didn't mean much to me.  He was a great ball player with the classic NY-style personality. 

 

that's totally fair, I don't agree, but I understand why you do.

[Doomtints]

I disliked A-Rod right up until I read what he said at this press conference.

He admits he made a lot of mistakes -- every mistake in the book.  He is baffled that anyone would still like him or give him a chance. 

 

This is the first time I have seen him act even remotely human.  I bet he understands that the only reason he will not hit that home run record is his own actions.  

[Vanimal46]

It feels like there was a memo sent out 15 years ago that we're all supposed to hate A-Rod now until the end of time. The reasons seem to boil down to PED's, which that issue differs with each fan, and the fact he was a jerk. A jerk to whom? The media? We're nobodies, and we are jerks to the Reusse's and Souhan's of the world for writing an article we don't agree with. 

[PseudoSABR]

 

It's almost as if the guy needed an on-hand agent/life coach to steer him through his career.

I think he must have found the right guy for the job, because he was actually likable and informative during last year's playoff coverage.   I think he finally figured out, he should stick to be baseball, and give up the need to be a celebrity.

[TheLeviathan]

 

so what? you want to be judged for playing Pokeman Go? or D&D or whatever?

 

Why would anyone judge another's enjoyment of life, if it doesn't hurt someone else? Sigh.

 

Well, we make those sorts of judgments all the time.  The real key is to accept what you are.  Go ahead and judge me for being a comic book fan, I'm at peace with being a geek.

 

A-rod may be at peace with being a giant d-bag.  Good for him, he's still a d-bag.

[biggentleben]

 

I think he must have found the right guy for the job, because he was actually likable and informative during last year's playoff coverage.   I think he finally figured out, he should stick to be baseball, and give up the need to be a celebrity.

 

He's incredibly intelligent on the game. Always has been, and I honestly hope he finds his way into the broadcast booth (anywhere but ESPN).

 

I've spent pages upon pages discussing PEDs here, and I'll save that for elsewhere, but ARod is a guy who marched to the beat of his own drummer and was quite possibly the most talented player I've ever seen in person. The guy stood out on the field, and he had moments that people will always gloss over in their dislike for the guy, including his idea to have Cal Ripken spend his final All-Star game playing SS while he moved over to 3B, something he eventually did when he went to New York, letting his friend stay at the position while he moved to 3B. Nevermind that he was the better SS. I'm not sure that Derek Jeter makes the same move for Ripken, or at least he's certainly not the one who suggests it to the AS game manager...