Sorts of Sports

Yankee Ball

The trading deadline came and went and as expected, the Red Sox didn't do anything and the Yankees did everything to get more players. I scratch my head on the decisions, much as I used to do back prior to 2004 when the Yankees would do whatever they could to buy players at the deadline, and even more, this one makes no sense to me.

Never has a nation felt so happy to have a player join the team that hit sub .250, 13 HR, and 49 RBI. I mean the Sox in 2002 went after Cliff Floyd and is .270, 21 HR and 61 RBIs and I wasn't jumping around thinking that they were suddenly the best team ever. So why does Yankee nation feel that they have the former Lance Berkman joining them?

The guy is a hiccup away from landing on the DL, and in the Astros season preview I suggested that he might retire at season's end because of chronic injuries. I don't care if you put the all-time greatest Yankees with him in a lineup to give him support, if the guy is in pain, he will not succeed.

So with 2 months left in the regular season, what is left to expect from the Big Puma? .250 BA, 6 HR, 23 RBI? And you couldn't get that production from platooning anyone else at DH/1B? All the hype doesn't equal a greater win-share. Berkman's WAR (Wins Above Replacement) this year is a mere 1.2, which classifies him as a reserve player. 2+ is an MLB starter.

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Then there is Alex Rodriguez. Why do we care if he hits 600 HR? Will there be this much hype if Thome or Manny get there in the next few years? Probably not. But it's Alex Rodriguez and apparently we forgive him for doing steroids because he came clean. No, I'm not being hypocritical, I understand 99% of baseball did them, but when the biggest name gets busted, how do we glorify him? Why does he not get Mark McGwire treatment?

Regardless of the steroid debate, why does ESPN follow him so closely? Look at his numbers and you'll see a huge decline in power, so much that this drought between homeruns could take another week, and thus we'd be stuck with live look-ins until we are blue in the face.

Alex's home runs by month:
April 2, May 5, June 4, July 5..... so why are we expecting a homerun anytime soon? I'll predict he does it this weekend versus the Red Sox, probably Saturday. I just don't want people making excuses for him and why he has been struggling since his last home run. It's not because of the pressure, it's because he's not as good as he used to be on steroids. People are quick to point out Manny Ramirez's downfall in power but fail to recognize Rodriguez's.