Ichiro in, A-Rod out

The Yankees traded for Ichiro Suzuki and lost A-Rod to a broken hand within a short period of time.  Many have asked, what is RJG's take on these happenings?  Why isn't there more coverage?  Why did you disappear for a week?  Well here is the official RJG release.

On A-Rod:

Alex Rodriguez is an integral part of the team and has been a very productive hitter for us.  Or so we would have said 3 years ago.  Though we never wish to lose a player to injury and hope for a speedy recovery from A-Rod, we do not fear the negative impact his absence will have on the team.  Its not that A-Rod isn't good, its that he's not the same player he used to be.  And now, there are 4 players on the roster with more RBI's than him, and one person tied with him despite having 100 fewer at bats (Ibanez). The only players with fewer runs batted in are our lead off guy (Jeter), our catcher (Martin), and the assortment of bench players we now have playing active roles (Andruw Jones, and Eric Chavez).  All in all, I think we will survive the absence of A-Rod, but hope he returns ready to hit some balls out of the park.

On Ichiro:

We are excited to add such an iconic player as Ichiro Suzuki, and although we realize that his addition adds little in offense, and really seems more like Cashman is building a dream team from mid 2000's, we are excited to see him in pinstripes.  He may not be the same hitter he used to be, but his speed and defense will still be an asset, and we hope he will provide some spark at the bottom of our lineup.  Now that being said, lets revisit this idea of Cashman building a dream team from the mid-2000's.  Check out these stats:

Raul Ibanez 2006: .289 batting average, 33 homeruns, 123 RBI's.

Eric Chavez 2005: .269 batting average, 27 homeruns, 101 RBI's.

Andruw Jones 2005: .263 batting average, 51 homeruns, 128 RBI's.

Ichiro Suzuki 2004: .372 batting average, 262 hits, 36 stolen bases.