Good riddance

By Austin Amoroso

Despite leading the league in just about every offensive category, Alex Rodriguez was recently mired in a 0-8 slump. How dare he! For $27 million, and with his team hovering at .500, A-Rod can’t be suffering through these kinds of slumps. It’s unacceptable for “Alexander the Great”. And the slump came right after slapping George Steinbrenner in the face. Well, figuratively, anyway.

The slap in the face came after the Yankees broke away from the norm, from the kind of thing that makes the Yankees the Yankees. In order to keep the best player in the game in the Bronx for the rest of his career, they made it public that they were willing to negotiate with Rodriguez mid-season. But A-Rod refused, saying he wouldn’t talk about it during the season:

"Like I've said all year, I think it's something we need to do at the end of the year. I think it would be selfish on my part to talk about my contract status when our team desperately needs wins. My goal is to win as many games as we can, focus on my teammates and play at a real high level in the second half."

To the Yankees, A-Rod has a $30 million decision to make. He’s going to get paid. A lot. It’s just a matter of now, by George Steinbrenner, or after the season, by… Arte Moreno? Steinbrenner doesn’t want Tom Hicks’ $30 million to go to waste, so if A-Rod opts out, it should end his rollercoaster, and championship-less, tenure in New York.

Good riddance.

The Yankees should let him go and end the debacle that was A-Rod in the Bronx. Why? Because he’s not worth anywhere near what he’s going to get paid. Of course, the Yankees do know a thing or two about overspending (ahem, Roger Clemens). But that’s a different matter.

Instead of spending $200 million more on A-Rod’s already ludicrous contract, Steinbrenner and GM Brian Cashman should shift their focus elsewhere. There isn’t a shortage of young and talented free agents over the next few seasons, to say the least, and the Yankees should be at the top of the list.

Miguel Cabrera signed a one-year, $7.4 million contract in the off-season, and he’s eligible for arbitration again after the year is over. The Florida Marlins can’t afford both him and Dontrelle Willis (who is also up for arbitration this year), so it certainly seems one of the two will be packing their bags and leaving Miami. Cashman should stop at nothing to make sure it is Cabrera doing the packing.

Cabrera isn’t quite the hitter, or fielder, that Rodriguez is, but then again, nobody is. Cabrera is still one of the best players in the game. And he’s only 24. Locking up Cabrera for the next 10 years would be a lot smarter than doing the same with A-Rod. And it would be a lot cheaper too.

Cabrera will get what he deserves, but it won’t be anywhere near $30 million per year. With the leftover money, Cashman can shift gears and go after one of the many young and studly free agent pitchers either this off-season or next.

With the ownership of the Chicago Cubs in limbo, it’s looking like Carlos Zambrano, just 26, won’t be returning to the north side. He would fit in nicely with Chien-Ming Wang and Phil Hughes at the top of the Yankees’ rotation for years to come. Or the Yankees could wait a year and go after the best pitcher in the game, Johan Santana. Or even take aim at John Lackey or Jake Peavy.

The Yankees could get a top of the rotation pitcher and one of the best third baseman in the game for the same price as Rodriguez, and they would be much younger to boot.

At season’s end, and after four years as a Yankee, A-Rod will likely have two MVPs, a .300 average, about 175 homeruns and 500 RBIs, ridiculous numbers for a four-year stretch. But the Bombers will also have no championships, no pennants, and if they miss the playoffs this year, just nine post-season wins. The Yankees won nine playoff games in 2003 alone, the year before A-Rod arrived in New York. That doesn’t cut it in the Bronx where every championship-less season is deemed a failure.

Steinbrenner and Cashman have already strayed from the norm this season, so now it’s time to continue down that path by letting the overpaid Rodriguez go and infusing some youth into the aging roster. The Yankees haven’t celebrated in seven years; the championship seasons are gone. For now. It’s time the Yankees build for the future. And with Cabrera and an ace starter, they can win now while they do it.