Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

[Vince]

Just last season I remember Yankee fans saying he was a gold glove calibre 3rd baseman. The fact is, it was actually true. He showed a good glove, range and especially accurate and strong arm. But watching parts of the Jays game tonight, he is beyond brutal and has been preety bad the past few weeks. What has happened to him?

[Beantown]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

The boo's are finally getting to him.

The best part, as a Red Sox fan, is that each error he makes is hurting every at-bat he has. I was watching yesterday's game, he made that error and the next at-bat he was just hacking away, trying to press and make up for it.

He's rattled, that's really the only thing I can think of. He's a talented player, but something's wrong mentally.

[Vince]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

I hope he combats it. Baseball aside, he's a good human being. He's not a jerk, he does a lot of charity work and just seems like a nice guy.

[BGarrett7]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

Two words: Chuck. Knoblauch.

[SPTO]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

Yeah it's like A-Rod has gotten Sax-itis and Knoblauch syndrome all wrapped into one. Yeah I hate the guy for a lot of reasons but he's not as bad as people make him out to be. During the game tonight the people that caught his 450th HR and 2000th hit were given a deal that they would go down to field level, exchange balls, have it signed and get other acessories signed. I thought that was very nice of A-Rod.

One thing I notice about his miscues and errors are that they almost always come back to bite him in the butt as the team usually has a big inning right after said miscue/error.

[Chuck]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

There is speculation that since he throwing side arm that he hurt his arm.

[SPTO]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

There is speculation that since he throwing side arm that he hurt his arm.

Interesting, on the Jays telecast they were saying that one of the Yankees coaches would hit 200 grounders to A-Rod and he'd field them with no problems whatsoever. All these problems seem to happen during game action.

[rsox]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

The speculation of injury is to try and keep the media off of his back. When they removed him from the game on monday night they said it was because of a "foot injury", yeah it had nothing to do with the 0-4 at the plate and the 3 errors in the field.

Rodriguez may be a good person and do a lot of charity work off the field but on the field he is a very egotistical player and with basically the entire city of New York against him he can't handle it. His ego is bruised and it's causing him to make mistakes. Remember PayRod was brought to New York to get the Yankees another title. So far they have had the greatest meltdown in post-season history, an early exit in the playoffs last year and are in danger of not making the playoffs at all this year.

Granted the Yankees problems are not all Arod's, they have not pitched very well, they have had severe injury's to key players and have had to rely on the Terrence Long's and Aaron Guiel's of the world to fill spots on the field. But when you're the guy who's making $25 million dollars you are expected to carry the load and be the leader and that's just not happening.

Whatever the problem is Rodriguez better fix it, because he is not leaving New York anytime soon.

[Misfit]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

I always thought his defense was overvalued last year. Yes he was much better than he has been this year but most of the praise was a result of people trying too hard to make a case for him for MVP over Ortiz. You're only Gold Glove calibre if you're winning gold gloves and I'm not sure if I would have even put him in the top 3 last year for defense at third base. Still, he was more than adequate and certainly not a liability in the field. This year it does seem to be a mental thing as we have seen him in the past make errors in big games or press at the plate in the same situations. The Yankees "fans" aren't doing him any favors by booing him seemingly every time he makes an out. As a fan of the Sox though, I guess I should be happy about that.

[deeman11747]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

I watch almost every game... and last year A-Rod was fantastic. He was so smooth and confident. He would take his time on his throws and just rocket it there and get the guy by half a step and he knew itd turn out like that.

This year hes rushing his throws, not getting his feet set before he lets loose. On the groundballs hes botched has all been footwork, not the glove. He seems overwhelemd when it matters in the game.

He just looks scared these days. And he takes his errors to the plate with him and takes Sheffield cuts when he doesnt need to.

He gets a lost of flak for being not a good guy when in reality everyone in the clubhouse supposedly loves him... he does a lot of charity work as mentioned.. he even saved a Red Sox fan's like last year after pulling the kid out of the way of the bus (which got zero publicity oddly)...not that saving his life makes him a better person....just saying.

But hes very confident in himself when it comes to talking...but how could you not be if your him. Your making $25 million a year and your the youngest player to hit 450 homers....you have to think your great. The difference now is his confidence isnt carrying over onto the field...and he better change that before theres riots at the Stadium.

[sask3m]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

he might be a nice guy off the field but on the field i keep remembering when he tried to knock the ball out of that guys (forget who it was) hand at 1st base in the playoffs a couple yrs back, that was probably the most bush play i've seen in a game in my life.

[XboxRocks1991]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

he might be a nice guy off the field but on the field i keep remembering when he tried to knock the ball out of that guys (forget who it was) hand at 1st base in the playoffs a couple yrs back, that was probably the most bush play i've seen in a game in my life.

Bronson Arroyo

[GBrushTWood]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yankees trade him within the calendar year. He is literally getting mauled in New York right now, and barring a ballsy rise from the dead (which he's never done in his career), I can totally see the Yankees subsidizing 50-75% of the 63% they are required to pay per his contract.

Of course, he has a full no trade clause, so they'd really have to turn up the heat on him in order for him to waive that. Heck, the fans might turn his life into a living hell if he continues the yips at 3B. Might I reccomend the George Costanza-Playnow treatment?

[SPTO]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Yankees trade him within the calendar year.

With that huge contract? The Yanks would have to pay the entire contract for that to work. (can they even do that? I mean within the rules of MLB trading)

[GBrushTWood]

Re: Baffeld by A-Rod's horrible defensive play as of late...

With that huge contract? The Yanks would have to pay the entire contract for that to work. (can they even do that? I mean within the rules of MLB trading)

Well, as I said, the Yankees would have to subsidize the majority of the contract. As part of that, they would send money in the other team's direction to pay the contract (or subsidize it). This can be all or part of the contract. This is what happened when Texas traded him to NY, they subsidized part of the contract.

The Texas Rangers are already subsidizing 37% of the salary owed to Rodriguez prior to the 2004 season beginning ($179M dollars). This means the Yankees have owed, and will continue to owe Rodriguez 67% of the remaining $179M. I said I could envision them paying 50-75% of that 67% they owe to another team.

To put it in real dollars, Rodriguez is owed $27M per year from 2007-2010. The Yankees are required to pay him at least $54.27M during those 3 years (because of the agreement with Texas). Isn't it possible that the Yankees just say to a team, hey, here's $40M, take this guy away from us?

Of course, all the numbers I just included are a bit off because I just read Rodriguez agreed to defer $45M in salary to the years 2011-2020 at 3% interest. So, basically what that means is that the Yankees are paying LESS than the 54.27M during 2007-2010.

In short, money should not be an issue for the Yankees to move Rodriguez (when has it been?), it's just a matter of him waiving his no trade clause. The Yankees have proven they are willing to move lots of money in a trade if it fits what they are trying to accomplish on the field.

For more info on Rodriguez contract, check out my favorite site on contracts (which is frequently updated):

http://mlbcontracts.blogspot.com/2004/12/alex-rodriguez_01.html