Will A-Rod ever be considered a winner?

[bigj3347]

First off, I'll be the first to admit that I'm a hardcore red sox fan. However, last years postseason and now this year makes me seriously wonder if A-Rod will ever be considered a winner. When he was in Seatle, they didn't win. He left Seatle and Seatle wins 116 games. He goes to Texas, they stink for awhile and after he leaves, they seriously challenge for the postseason. Now with the Yankees, last year's regular season, A-rod batted like .215 wtih runners in scoring position and his postseason meltdown is by now well-chronicled. Then a couple of days ago when Rivera did his job and got the DP grounbball, A-Rod bobbles it not once, but twice and ruins any chance of a Yankee win, against the red sox no less. Then yesterday, he stranded something like 7 batters, which seems eerily reminscent of his batting woes with RISP last year. Before all you Yankee fans start hating and say I'm just jealous cuz the red sox couldn't get him, let me just say that I do think that A-Rod is a great player, statistics wise but he has never won/performed when it counted. I was wondering what you Yankee fans think about this. I know he's still young and could very well develop into a winner but from the way his career has gone so far, he hasn't shown me anything that would indicate he has that ability to lead his team to victory, a la Jeter, Schilling etc.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Nope. He's a clubhouse cancer.

 

[Miramonti]

Not only has he failed to prove he's a winner (and he had some great opportunities last year), he's also failed to prove he's a leader. Its suspect whether or not his teammates even respect him.

 

[Phokus]

We all know the reason why the yankees got a-rod was so jeter could have aboyfriend (SNL joke hehe)

Jeter sucks, A-Rod swallows

 

[bigj3347]

lol, no yankee fans are gonna come to the defense of their 3rd basemen??

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

I don't think so. Arod is a little like Bonds imo. Insane talent, nobody really likes him, never won crap. Winning a ring is the only way he could possibly redeem himself but I don't think winning one with the Yankees will help him because it's not really his team.

 

[CTrainBEB]

A-Rod can suck it. Highest Paid player in baseball and he ain't worth one penny of it. He is the definition of a prick

 

[xXped0thugXx]

Originally posted by: DevilsAdvocate
Nope. He's a clubhouse cancer.

Exactly, there are certain players you can tell that harm moral and attitude in the clubhouse rather than help it. He's talented but he will never be a gamer like Jeter or Shilling.

 

[Storm]

Yankees fan...

He's still a punk...

Lets see how long it takes for him to produce when it counts.

 

[murphy55d]

I never understood this mentality. It's a team game. He's the best player in baseball (or at least top 3), whether he ever wins a World Series or not. Cal Ripken never won a world series, is he a loser?

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

Originally posted by: murphy55d
I never understood this mentality. It's a team game. He's the best player in baseball (or at least top 3), whether he ever wins a World Series or not. Cal Ripken never won a world series, is he a loser?

Teams get better when Arod leaves. That's no coincidence. The same can not be said of Ripken. Ripken was a good guy. From what we've seen Arod is not. Etc. They're two completely different players.

 

[Storm]

Originally posted by: murphy55d
I never understood this mentality. It's a team game. He's the best player in baseball (or at least top 3), whether he ever wins a World Series or not. Cal Ripken never won a world series, is he a loser?

Hell no but Cal Ripken has class...

You cant say that about A-Rod...

Yankees <--- fan

Plus that swipe against Arroyo in the playoffs was lame.

Also his imitation of Jeter during the playoffs was even lamer. When I mean imitation anyone else notice when they were on tv and Jeter applauded his teammates A-Rod would do the same.

 

[murphy55d]

So are Junior Griffey and Randy Johnson losers, too? Seattle got better/didn't get worse after they left. Texas still stinks, by the way.

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: Storm

Originally posted by: murphy55d
I never understood this mentality. It's a team game. He's the best player in baseball (or at least top 3), whether he ever wins a World Series or not. Cal Ripken never won a world series, is he a loser?

Hell no but Cal Ripken has class...

You cant say that about A-Rod...

Yankees <--- fan

Plus that swipe against Arroyo in the playoffs was lame.

Also his imitation of Jeter during the playoffs was even lamer. When I mean imitation anyone else notice when they were on tv and Jeter applauded his teammates A-Rod would do the same.

So the issue then is not whether he's a "winner", it's if he's a jerk. Who the hell cares if he's a jerk? there are jerks in every profession. Some jerks are good at what they do.

 

[Storm]

Originally posted by: murphy55d

Originally posted by: Storm

Originally posted by: murphy55d
I never understood this mentality. It's a team game. He's the best player in baseball (or at least top 3), whether he ever wins a World Series or not. Cal Ripken never won a world series, is he a loser?

Hell no but Cal Ripken has class...

You cant say that about A-Rod...

Yankees <--- fan

Plus that swipe against Arroyo in the playoffs was lame.

Also his imitation of Jeter during the playoffs was even lamer. When I mean imitation anyone else notice when they were on tv and Jeter applauded his teammates A-Rod would do the same.

So the issue then is not whether he's a "winner", it's if he's a jerk. Who the hell cares if he's a jerk? there are jerks in every profession. Some jerks are good at what they do.

Actually I was getting off topic saying A-Rod is a jerk.

But so far based on one post-season with the Yankees he has not produced. Now thats not to say he was the reason they lost, but he had some chances to drive some runs in.

 

[murphy55d]

They blew a 3-0 lead, they had far more issues than whether or not ARod is a "winner".

 

[SilentZero]

I think that this year will be a put-up or shut-up year for him. There are factors that need to be considered about last year however. First, it was his first year with the yankee's and second I am sure going into a ball cub being the highest payed player and having all those expectations on you is a very difficult thing.

 

[happybelly]

Originally posted by: murphy55d
I never understood this mentality. It's a team game. He's the best player in baseball (or at least top 3), whether he ever wins a World Series or not. Cal Ripken never won a world series, is he a loser?

Ripken did win one in 83. He never went back after that though.

 

[xXped0thugXx]

Griffey is a punk too... as far as I'm concerned he's a has been. A-Rod has good number but is a situational liability. What I mean by that is, he doesnt come up big in opportunities put on his plate.

 

[Storm]

Originally posted by: murphy55d
They blew a 3-0 lead, they had far more issues than whether or not ARod is a "winner".

So you're saying that A-Rod shouldn't have knocked some runs in with men were in scoring position?

Of course not, but the fact is he is the highest paid player in baseball. With that kind of notoreity or label he needs to produce regardless.

If he just wanted the money so be it, but he can't be naive to not think hes not going to get criticized for 1.) being the highest paid player, 2.) for going into slumps in the playoffs.

 

[murphy55d]

Originally posted by: Storm

Originally posted by: murphy55d
They blew a 3-0 lead, they had far more issues than whether or not ARod is a "winner".

So you're saying that A-Rod shouldn't have knocked some runs in with men were in scoring position?

Of course not, but the fact is he is the highest paid player in baseball. With that kind of notoreity or label he needs to produce regardless.

If he just wanted the money so be it, but he can't be naive to not think hes not going to get criticized for 1.) being the highest paid player, 2.) for going into slumps in the playoffs.

I'm saying ,the entire team imploded. From Rivera the whole way down.

And I stand corrected on Ripken- however you can insert any player who has never won and make the same comparison.

 

[Heifetz]

jeez, the only reason why the team gets better after he leaves is because, its a coincidence, or they received players in return (trade or signed) that made the team better. But that doesn't mean any of those players individually was better than a-rod. If you haven't forgotten, the reason why the yankees lost last year was poor pitching more than anything else.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Why wouldn't he be a winner? He made it to the major leagues and makes more money from one game than most people see in their lifetime. He lives a comfortable life and can easily provide for his family.

I dunno about anybody else, but that screams success to me.

 

[Miramonti]

No yankees teammates stuck up for Arod in the preseason. That's classic. He has a lot to prove this year to everyone, and I actually think he will do better than last year as a result.

 

[Storm]

Originally posted by: murphy55d

Originally posted by: Storm

Originally posted by: murphy55d
They blew a 3-0 lead, they had far more issues than whether or not ARod is a "winner".

So you're saying that A-Rod shouldn't have knocked some runs in with men were in scoring position?

Of course not, but the fact is he is the highest paid player in baseball. With that kind of notoreity or label he needs to produce regardless.

If he just wanted the money so be it, but he can't be naive to not think hes not going to get criticized for 1.) being the highest paid player, 2.) for going into slumps in the playoffs.

I'm saying ,the entire team imploded. From Rivera the whole way down.

And I stand corrected on Ripken- however you can insert any player who has never won and make the same comparison.

Yea it sucked that the entire team imploded.

But if A-Rod had produced, things could have been construed as A-Rod did his part but got no help from the team as opposed to A-Rod was one of the Yankees that imploded and didnt get the job done.

Its also stupid to think that since he wasn't clutch this post-season he wont learn to be. But the masses are stupid and thats what they will feed on.

We'll see what happens over time. Afterall hes locked up for a looong time.