Results tagged “Alex Rodriguez” from The Southpaw

The Yankees celebrate a 27th World Series crown.
The Southpaw will admit he was biased in this series. The Phillies are the team he's always rooted for. And the Yankees, well they conspired with two politicians in Northeastern Pennsylvania and stole the team he grew up watching, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons.
Of course, the problem there isn't that the Phillies weren't going to be associated with The Southpaw's hometown region, it's that the deal struck with the Yankees will probably end Triple-A baseball in the Dunder Mifflin region forever.
But that's another story for another day.
Today, and until a new champion is crowned, the New York Yankees get to be celebrated.

Zack Greinke continues to deal.
The Yankees are in.
And the Nats are one loss away.

The Closer gets long-winded in the Southpaw's defense of the National League.

Stephen Strasburg has a ton of talent. But he's never faced anything close to major league competition. And no one knows how durable he is. But the Nationals are a desperate franchise. So they gave him a record deal.
Stephen Strasburg signed on the dotted line. The future Ben McDonald/Mark Prior is getting a $15 million deal.
And good for him and his super agent/mercenary of death Scott Boras.
But, again, that's a lot of money for a player who just hasn't done anything.
Look, we never mind when actual big leaguers make oodles and oodles of money. You'll never hear us complain about Alex Rodriguez or Vernon Wells. We won't even complain about Adam Eaton. And we have no problem with teams paying prospects enough money to lure them away from college.
That said, these players who have no track record are a crap shoot. Especially pitchers. Picking which future star is going to make it is little more than an educated guess. And that's after they've pitched 150 minor league innings.

Consider this:

• The Nationals are dishing out more money to Strasburg than the Cardinals are paying Adam Wainwright. He has a World Series ring, is in his fifth year in big league baseball and leads the National League in wins.


• The Nationals are paying him more than the Giants pay Tim Lincecum. And he has a Cy Young.

If Stephen Strasburg doesn't win 60 games for the Nationals during his career, he was an absolute waste. And think about how low a number that is. Sixty wins isn't asking too much for someone who just shattered the draftee signing record.
But he'll probably only be in Washington for five years, six at the most. That's 12 wins a season.
Mark Prior, the man who's contract record Strasburg broke, won more than 12 games once in his career. Ben McDonald, another pitcher Strasburg has been compared to, did it four times. But he was out of baseball by his 30th birthday.
The list of pitchers selected high in the draft and given insane contracts is littered with names such as Darren Dreifort, Brien Taylor and Todd Van Poppel.
None of them ever made a long-lasting impact.

In fact, Strasburg's deal will set the Nats back further than they were yesterday when he wasn't signed. That's especially true when you consider they are trying to bring in free agents and other draft picks and had to put so much cash into one player. WHO HASN'T GOTTEN A PROFESSIONAL HITTER OUT.
But that's the risk they're willing to take.

The Southpaw is sick and tired of King Felix. He's barely a duke. Barely.
The Phillies opened up a can Monday.
And yes, we actually defend Derek Jeter.

Why is the pitcher batting third?
Everyone should be afraid of Prince Fielder.
And David Wills is throwing heat.

The Giambino struck again. He does have some pop left in his bat, after banging a double for Oakland.

Ryan Zimmerman's streak is over and that's too bad. Things could have gotten very interesting.
We haven't heard much from Lance Berkman this season. He had a loud day Wednesday.
And why are we willing to listen to Peter Edward Rose?

In the span of a season, Manny Ramirez has gone from Major League Baseball's lovable goofball, to a lazy, out-of-touch malcontent who shoves traveling secretaries, and who, now, will forever be linked to performance enhancing drugs.
So where do we go from here?

Arizona Diamondbacks' Justin Upton bunts and is eventually tagged out at first during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers

A tie. A tie. In baseball. Well, not quite.
Happy Birthday, Willie Mays.
And the Dodgers are still undefeated at home.

The Orioles will host the Yankees this weekend, which means O's fans will get to boo Mark Teixiera again. But Alex Rodriguez will be around, too. Will he diffuse some of the taunting?

What a month.
Albert Pujols has out-homered the Athletics.
The Royals are in first place.

The Pirates still can't beat the Brewers.
Oh yeah, we have more A-Rod juicing stories. We're so unbelievably excited.
And are the Nats about to draft a cornerstone prospect.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Like a runner trapped between bases, the release date for a potentially scandalous Alex Rodriguez book keeps edging back and forth.
Selena Roberts' unauthorized "A-Rod" was originally planned for May, then was moved up to mid-April after Roberts, a Sports Illustrated reporter, broke the news that the Yankees slugger had tested positive for steroids back in 2003.
But with Roberts needing more time for the book -- which has been completed and was sent to the printer this week -- publication was pushed back to late April and now is planned for May 12, according to publisher HarperCollins
"That's the on-sale date," publicist Leslie Cohen said Tuesday.

Gary Sheffield got cut, Chipper signed, and Mike Gallego, yes Mike Gallego, is looking for his glove.

Oh an, how long before the boos rain in Philadelphia?

According to New York manager Joe Girardi, Hideki Matsui will not play the field until June.
He will either pinch hit or DH.
Someone should tell the Yankees' brass it cannot use more than one DH in a lineup.

The Los Angeles Dodgers need pitcher Randy Wolf to have a strong season if they are going to make the playoffs. Wolf is an underrated player with a 90-78 record and 1,227 strikeouts against 547 walks in 1,468 innings.

ESPN's Eric Young tells Jonathan Papelbon to zip it.
Plus, there's an addition to the Orioles' family.
Oh, and we have a happy Fidel.

After a brief time away from the computer, we're back with some news:
A-Rod's having surgery, Lou Marsen is catching on and Ken Griffey Jr. is up to his old tricks.