Thursday, July 25, 2013

Is Alex Rodriguez Worth It?

"Not only am I innocent, but I am also a real boy."

First of all, I'm sure that the Yankees have done some shady things. Maybe not in regards to Alex Rodriguez, but at some point somebody with the team has done something that just wasn't right. But in the Court of Popular Opinion, it's nearly impossible to side with Alex Rodriguez. Allow me to lay out a few reasons why I have a hard time siding with the man called "ARod"...

-In a 2007 interview with Katie Couric, Alex flatly denied ever having used performance enhancing drugs. It turns out that he had tested postive for two anabolic steroids, testosterone, and Primobolan during his 2003 season with the Texas Rangers. The testing was suppose to be kept anonymous, however results were leaked. Either way, Rodriguez was caught in a lie, and only avoided punishment due to the fact that MLB did not have a rule against PED usage until the spring of 2006.

-While the stuff regarding the 2003 test was going, Gene Orza of the MLB Player's Association was accused by three MLB players of tipping Rodriguez off about an upcoming drug test in September of 2004. I don't believe that Orza would have tipped off ARod about the test just because he was a nice guy, who was looking out for Alex.

-Alex mentioned that his cousin, Yuri Socart, was with him in the Dominican Republic when he'd purchased an over-the-counter drug referred to as "boli" or "bollee". While it is unclear what "Boli" is, many experts believe it is the slang name for Primobolan... a steroid. A few days later, after a preseason game, that same cousin was seen driving away from the ballpark with Alex. After this, Yankee officials informed Rodriguez that Sucart was not permitted at any team gatherings. It boggles my mind still that ARod had to be told this by the team. Common sense, anyone?

-At the end of the 2007 season, Rodriguez's opt-out clause in his original 10-year contract came up. Alex received a lot of criticism not only for failing to meet with Yankee management before opting out, but for the timing of the announcement that he was opting out... during the 8th inning of Game Four of the World Series. Even MLB's Chief Operating Officer, Bob DuPuy, called that an attempt by Scott Boras (ARod's agent) to "try and put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game."

-While recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his knee to repair a torn meniscus, ARod was facing allegations that he'd participated in illegal poker games. It was said that one of those games turned violent, and that cocaine use was involved. Rodriguez denied taking part in those games, however one MLB executive said that "you get the feeling that Alex says what hethinks he needs to say to get by, and then goes out and does what he wants."

-On Februaray 28th of 2010, the New York Times reported that ARod received treatment from Canadian sports doctor Anthony Galea the year before. At the time, Galea was under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Buffalo Field Office for distributing HGH to athletes. Galea said that he'd only prescribed anti-inflammatories to Rodriguez, but very few believe that to be true.

-ARod was scheduled to take part in a rehab game with single-A Tampa on Friday July 12th, however he never showed up. Earlier that day Alex was to meet with MLB offiicials regarding the Biogenesis allegations, but he had plenty of time to get to the ballpark to play that night. The game was eventually postponed due to rain, however the fact remains that Alex meant to skip out on a rehab game, which did not sit well with Yankee officials.

Finally we come to what should be a long suspension, which could actually become a lifetime ban from the game. Rodriguez is now accusing the Yankees of making up his quad strain in order to keep him off of the field. It's no surprise that the only evidence Rodriguez has of this wrong-doing by the Yankees is the word of a doctor with a history of wrong-doing himself, who didn't see ARod in person anyway. All Dr. Gross had was a phone conversation with Alex, who said he wasn't injured, and the MRI. I don't know about you, but I've never heard of a doctor making any sort of diagnosis without a physical exam of some sort.

Like so many other Yankee fans, I've had it with ARod. Even if you told me he could return to the team by this weekend, and play the remainder of the season like an MVP-caliber player, I wouldn't want him. Above all else there is the team, and Alex has a long track record of putting himself before them. The exact opposite of players such as Derek Jeter. Perhaps there's another team willing to put up with that crap, but the Yankees should not be one of them.

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)