Yankees sign Headley, 4 years, $52m.  Now the question is: what to do with ARod?

General manager Brian Cashman said at last month's GM meetings that A-Rod will have to win a job.

"If I signed a Chase Headley, he would be the starting third baseman," Cashman said then. "[Rodriguez] is going to compete for at-bats and for a position. The position would be third, and obviously DH, and that's it. Maybe some time at first base. He may be eventually the everyday third baseman, he may be the everyday DH; I just don't know."

I think it's pretty obvious. He'll play some third, some first, and a lot of DH. He'll probably hit enough to return some value with the bat, but not enough to be worth the $66 million salary.

I'm interested to see what his public apology is, exactly. If it's a "sorry I've been a distraction" without getting into details, I don't think that looks good.

He should probably just shut the **** up. No ones mind is being changed at this point. He should let his bat do the talking.

Posted by burnsy483 on 2/11/2015 11:37:00 AM (view original):
I'm interested to see what his public apology is, exactly. If it's a "sorry I've been a distraction" without getting into details, I don't think that looks good.

Worked for Giambi.   A detail-laden apology isn't going to help A-Rod(nor would it have helped Giambi).    Just best for him to say "I apologize for the mistakes I've made and the controversy I've created.   Now I'm just looking forward to playing baseball again."

Anything more than that and most of us will assume he's lying again.   Plus A-Rod really only creates trouble for himself when he tries to explain himself.

If he's going to lie about the details, then say nothing. An honest "I took steroids, and to defend myself, I tried to make MLB and the Yankees look bad. I'm sorry for that. I understand if I won't regain the trust of fans, colleagues, and my teammates, but I'm going to spend every day trying to" would look better than "I'm sorry I was a distraction."

You know Giambi and ARod are viewed very differently.

I'm not saying he'd lie about the details.  I'm saying everyone would assume he is because, when his lips move, he's usually lying. 

Giambi and ARod are viewed differently due to likeability.    Players and fans liked Giambi.   I'm not sure who, not on ARod's payroll, likes him.   And I can't say for sure that his flunkies like him.

Posted by burnsy483 on 2/11/2015 12:57:00 PM (view original):
If he's going to lie about the details, then say nothing. An honest "I took steroids, and to defend myself, I tried to make MLB and the Yankees look bad. I'm sorry for that. I understand if I won't regain the trust of fans, colleagues, and my teammates, but I'm going to spend every day trying to" would look better than "I'm sorry I was a distraction."

You know Giambi and ARod are viewed very differently.

MLB did some shady **** in order to throw the book at Arod. Not defending Arod's cheating, but they deserved to look bad.

FWIW, I think it would be good for ARod, and the Yankees, if he simply apologized and they jointly announced that any bonus money he is to receive for milestones would be donated to charity.    Not the goddam ARod Foundation or some crap like that but some honest, needy, unaffiliated charities.      If nothing else, people would root for ARod in order to make the Yanks less wealthy. 

That's actually a really good idea.

The logic is pretty simple.   If you're not a Yankees fan, you probably like to see them fail/suffer.   The thought of them forking out millions that they'd like to keep has to make a Yank-hater smile.   Unless they're giving it to a total tool like ARod.  Yanks giving more money to ARod is a win for no one but ARod.   As for the ARod portion, he's making 61m over the next three years.   I think he can get by on that.   However, virtually NO ONE is going to root for him to do well.  He'll be booed at every stop.   So, by donating that 6m(I think) for tying Mays to a worthy charity, somebody wins.  Who wouldn't want ARod to get 6 more homers if that money was going to Make A Wish or something? 

And it's even a little win for the Yanks/ARod.    The Yanks can market the charitable giveaway much more effectively than ARod chasing records.   And ARod will create a little good will for himself by not looking like a cheating, greedy bastard.

That would be insane to give up $6M for a PR stunt.

I disagree...the money is tainted if A-Rod gets it, and the Yankees seem cheap if they don't honor the contract. A donation to charity not connected to A-Rod or the Yankees seems an almost Solomon like stroke of inspiration. A win-win-win trifecta