What does it mean for the New York Yankees if Alex Rodriguez
pulls a 2009, a year where he started the season late because of his first hip
surgery and still finished with 30 home runs and 100 RBI on the nose, and can
still play baseball in 2015? We all know the stories of the Yankees third
baseman being suspended for all of 2014, missing almost all of 2013 with
various lower leg injuries and another hip surgery and the fact that he is 40
years old this season but what if? New York plans on having him spend the
majority of his time as a designated hitter and a first baseman which can take
some wear and tear, fatigue etc. off his body this season which could
conceivably keep him fresher at the plate.
What if? I know it’s a terrible thing to bank on a question
mark but I don’t think the Yankees are doing that. With the Chase Headley
signing and the Garrett Jones acquisition Rodriguez basically has to play
himself into the starting lineup most days. Alex showed opposite field power in
his limited at bats in 2013 and I find that encouraging that he can still time
a fastball and hit home runs after the second hip surgery and without PED’s.
Will he hit 50 again? Lord no, but I don’t think 20 is out of the question and
20 home runs and 60-70 RBI out of the bottom of the lineup is a huge
improvement over what Yankees DH’s have done over the past two or three
seasons.
If Alex can do what I went over above and the team can get
the rest of the team to live up to the back of their baseball cards this team
is a playoff team. I didn’t say World Series winner, I didn’t say division
winner, I said playoff team so keep that in mind before sending hate mail. New
York had lesser teams each of the last two seasons and barely missed the second
Wild Card in the American League. A lot of what if’s, I know, but this is the
time for what if’s, hope and maybe a little bit of luck for Mr. Rodriguez and
for the Yankees, finally.
It's not crazy. ARod has natural ability.
ReplyDeleteAnd you shouldn't have to worry about hate mail for being optimistic. While it's true, it's still ridiculous that you even have to worry about that.
It goes to the spam folder anyway :P
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