It is good to have that tedious World Series thing out of the way, so now we can get back to what matters... The New York Yankees. (Who won, BTW?... Cleaveland?)
The Yankees are better off without A-Rod. A lot of teams have been building rosters for the post-season the last eight years or so. The theory is you build a team that can do well in the play-offs, and let the regular season worry about itself. This is a result of the expanded play-off system, IMHO. With eight teams making the playoffs, you just don’t have to be that good anymore to play in the post-season.
A-Rod is the exact opposite of what you want in the “build a team for the playoffs” model. He’s boffo in July and August, but disappears in October. You would say it was bad luck or he had a few off nights, but he has been doing this for years and years. The Yankees don’t want to win to get into the Playoffs, they want to win the World Series, so A-Rod is the exactly wrong man for the job.
He will be a great benefit to some other team, who needs a big boost to get to play-off contention, but I don’t think he wants to go to someplace like Baltimore. A-Rod is going to be very suprised when the Angels, Bosox and Indians don’t come calling. He just doesn’t have what they’re looking for.
So who’s going to get the Yankees into the playoffs now?
You still have to be pretty good to get out of the first round, Yankme fan.
No, the Padres swept the Indians. Having Trevor Hoffman as a closer, they couldn't lose.