Sunday, August 31, 2008

Let's Just Blame A-Rod

The Good

A-Rod and Giambi hit homeruns to account for the only Yankee offense. Damon and Nady both had a pair of hits, and Yankee new comer Alfredo Aceves pitched brilliantly for 2 innings, striking out 3.

The Bad

Jeter, Cano and Molina all went hitless and Andy Pettitte recovered from his recent bad outing by having another bad outing. 6 runs in 6.1 innings, 4 of which came in the first two innings.

The Ugly

Well, you have to blame the game on A-Rod. Not because he did anything wrong per say, but because he's an easy target to blame. Halladay and his Cy Young talent didn't have anything to do with today's loss. It was all A-rod. He went 1-3 with a solo homerun. Is there anything more selfish than a solo homerun? You get credited for a hit, and a run scored, its a one man show. Yes Giambi also hit a solo homerun, but he was expecting A-Rod to just get on base so he could selflessly drive him in for the team. But A-Rod has too much pride for that and took away Giambi's chance to have 2 RBI's. If you take those 2 RBI's Giambi would have had and add them to the 5 runs A-Rod didn't score, then the Yankees win today. Its as simple as making up numbers and making sure they add up to a higher score than what the opposing team had. But no, A-Rod hits a solo homerun, and losses the game for the Yankees.


Respect Jeter's Gangster is for the Children

The "Respect Jeter's Gangster" blog joined Johnny Damon's home run club, which raises money for the Children's Health Fund. We are pledged to donate $1.00 for every homerun the Yankees hit this season. We will keep a running tally of the home runs hit and the money donated throughout the season. Two solo homeruns today by selfish A-Rod and selfless Giambi. The difference you ask? Giambi hit his for the children and A-Rod hit his to make the Yankees lose.

Melky Cabrera 8hr = $8.00
Alex Rodriguez 29hr = $29.00
Hideki Matsui 9 hr = $9.00
Bobby Abreu 15hr = $15.00
Jorge Posada 3hr = $3.00
Jason Giambi 28hr = $28.00
Johnny Damon 11hr = $11.00
Morgan Ensberg 1hr = $1.00
Robinson Cano 13hr = $13.00
Chad Moeller 1hr = $1.00
Wilson Betemit 5hr = $5.00
Derek Jeter 8hr = $8.00
Shelley Duncan 1hr = $1.00
Xavier Nady 8hr = $8.00
Jose Molina 2 hr = $2.00
Ivan Rodriguez 2hr = $2.00
Richie Sexson 1hr = $1.00
Cody Ransom 2hr= $2.00
Total = $146.00

If you are interested in Johnny Damon's Homerun Club or the Children's Health Fund you can find links to both at the top right hand corner of our page.

7 comments:

Steve said...

I agree that A-Rods solo shots are selfish. He doesn't like to have anyone waiting at home plate for him, blocking the view of the fans seeing his now divorced face. He is trying to be a player like DJ with all the women but with out the gangsta. Giambi, on the other hand is selfish because he is hitting solo home runs just to get a team to pay him next year. Here he is, just a shell of his old juiced self trying to prove he is a great baseball player, denying the fact that he can't hit a ball to the left side of the infield. Selfish, selfish, selfish.
So what does September 1 bring the Yankee's?

Fernando Alejandro said...

That's a good question Steve. My assumption is not much. Ponson vs. Verlander does not inspire much confidence. Even if Ponson pitches one of his gems the Yankee offense has a habit of making weak pitchers look like contenders, and good pitchers look immortal.

Good point on Giambi, although contract or not, he can still jack 30 homeruns in a season. That'll get paid somewhere. In one of the other posts there were talks about a weak free agent market at first, and if Teixeira wants something too ridiculous, Giambi may be back in the fold for another year or two. Especially considering that we have no firstbase prospects in the fold. Personally, I hope they let him walk and find someone somewhere to replace him.

As for A-Rod, he's never been gangster like Jeter, but I guess he can now be an unrestrained womanizer like him.

michael kei said...

I think we wave bye-bye to the Big G. It was all fun and stuff, but maybe he can go relive his past with the A's and hang out with Frank Thomas or something.

Fernando Alejandro said...

I agree, Joel Sherman had some interesting trade ideas one of which was to go for Joey Votto from the Reds. I thought it was an interesting thought. One thing we're missing is first base prospects with Eric Duncan not panning out and the Cuban guy not exactly killing the ball in the minors either. We could see Posada there too, but then you'd want another catcher. Perhaps they keep Pudge?

michael kei said...

Possibly. As far as I know, Pudge's arbitration for a supplemental draft pick has decreased a level... So maybe if he agreed to a 1-year low cost extension?

(Maybe if he started hitting?)

Anonymous said...

I think you have to keep Pudge and platoon him with Molina. Posada might wind up as the first baseman, we don't know yet if he'll be able to catch anymore. That puts Giambi out, unless you can buy him out and maybe resign him for 5-7 million. But then you'd be paying a lot for a part-time first baseman/DH/bench player. They also have Matsui as the DH, and he'll have to have knee surgery this off-season.A lot will depend on Posada. I think the Yanks have enough where they can let go of expiring contracts (except maybe Pudge, maybe Abreu), pick up draft picks, and focus on signing pitching (Sabathia, Mussina). Trade Betemit, sign Blake, maybe sign Mientkiewicz as well. If you can sign a big offensive player like Adam Dunn, then you plug him in and deal with Matsui accordingly (if he has to ride the bench, so be it, or maybe you live with Dunn in the OF). I doubt they get Teixeira.

Fernando Alejandro said...

Matsui can still hit, and he hits when you need him to, but this is the second knee surgery he'll have in as many off seasons. I think his outfielding days are all over. I would retain Pudge for a season as we see Posada recover. I think Posada's arm will be fine just that it might take half a season to get it where it needs to be, and that's a long time to have Molina and Moeller doing the catching.

I'm against signing Adam Dunn. Every time I see his line on ESPN it says the same thing, 1-4, 1hr, 2 strikeouts. The man hits the ball hard when he can find it, but strikes out more often than not. This is the man who led the majors in strikeouts from 2004-2006, and has been in the top 6 the last two seasons. Not the National League mind you, in all of Major League Baseball. I'd Pass on him.