# A Letter to the Yankees **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 18, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149 "2012-10-18T18:17:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/21 "2012-10-19T14:48:03Z")
Because it’s A-Rod. He is basically his own gossip mill. A player picks up a woman during a game? Yeah, that sounds like a rare occurrence. A-Rod does it? Stop the presses. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/22 "2012-10-19T18:16:05Z")
Sigh … another round of “Will the team eat the contract or not?” talk. People running a business should damn well know about the sunk-cost fallacy. The Yankees are either going to pay him all the money, or almost all of it (if they trade him), _no matter what_. They “ate the contract” the moment they signed it. The money is committed no matter if they keep the guy, trade him, or cut him. It cannot enter into that decision. Only baseball factors can. But you always hear that stuff about any athlete who’s not performing at the level the team had hoped he would. Always. It isn’t about “eating a contract” at all, not really - it’s only about not admitting a mistake in judgment. That’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/23 "2012-10-19T19:01:59Z")
Maybe THIS boondoggle will finally demonstrate that _huge_ multi-year deals for FAs are not a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/24 "2012-10-19T19:05:22Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Maybe THIS boondoggle will finally demonstrate that _huge_ multi-year deals for FAs are not a good idea. Keep dreaming. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/25 "2012-10-19T20:33:36Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > Which makes it more puzzling, not less. Unless there’s somebody who wants him, he is your problem for the next _five years._ Benching him, further undermining his confidence and relationship with the manager, making him look even more pathetic and neutered to an already hostile fan base… these are things you do to a player who is headed out of town, where you just need to get through a few more days and then he becomes someone else’s problem. Neutering him would be a good way of getting him to waive his no trade clause. I’m sure he doesn’t want to spend another year doing this. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/26 "2012-10-19T20:44:45Z")
It would probably eliminate the “picking up women” distractions as well. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/27 "2012-10-19T20:50:33Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I’m sure he doesn’t want to spend another year doing this. Doing what? Not that long ago we were getting ‘A-Rod flies under the radar’ stories. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/28 "2012-10-19T21:13:09Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Neutering him would be a good way of getting him to waive his no trade clause. I’m sure he doesn’t want to spend another year doing this. But again, from the YANKEES’ point of view, how is it a plus to trade him? My fellow Yankee fans and I are pissed at him, I get that! But right now, the Yankees have two choices: 1. Pay A-Rod $90 million while he plays a solid (no longer stellar) third base and puts up a perfectly respectable OPS+ of 119 for the Yankees 2. Pay him $90 million to do that for, say, the Marlins Can you think of ANY way in which scenario #2 is better for the Yanks??? The Yankees have a host of problems- including a lot of the problems that led to the Red Sox’ collapse this year. A-Rod is NOT the worst of their problems. A-Rod is no longer a superstar, but he can still be a very solid player for a while longer. UNLESS the Yankees have a phenomenal young third baseman in AAA right now, ready to step in, it makes NO sense to deal A-Rod away. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/29 "2012-10-19T21:18:50Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > So what? Contracts are not Joe Girardi’s problem. I’m thinking that Girardi benched ARod with the approval of the folks above him. My thinking is that the Yankees needed a shakeup and nothing less than a drastic action would get their attention. Benching ARod could have stirred the pot enough that it would break players out of their funks, or at least given them a charge. If you’re willing to bench the highest paid player in baseball everyone is fair game. As it was, either they could have stayed the course and probably lose the series quickly or take a gamble. With 5 more years on the contract and no team likely to take his contract the Yanks will be paying him no matter what. How much worse could he be than he is right now? (I suspect the answer is a lot, maybe this will backfire on them.) ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/30 "2012-10-19T21:36:27Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > I’m thinking that Girardi benched ARod with the approval of the folks above him. I hope he didn’t have to ask. > [@](#): > > My thinking is that the Yankees needed a shakeup and nothing less than a drastic action would get their attention. Benching ARod could have stirred the pot enough that it would break players out of their funks, or at least given them a charge. If you’re willing to bench the highest paid player in baseball everyone is fair game. Girardi wasn’t sending a message, he was trying to find someone who could hit. That’s the same reason Swisher and Granderson were benched. It didn’t work, but when you have that many of your top players not hitting, there’s not much else you can do. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/31 "2012-10-19T21:44:06Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Doing what? Not that long ago we were getting ‘A-Rod flies under the radar’ stories. Another year of getting sat, getting booed, and getting blamed. If ownership thinks he is a hex on the clubhouse and they actively promote the idea that he is the cause of all their failure, then they have to ship him out. In order to ship him out they have to make him miserable enough to waive his no trade clause. The story with the supermodels was leaked by Yankee personnel. There are stories out that the decision to sit him came down from ownership. The hundred million is chump change if they think his postseason attitude/playing is dragging down 4 or 5 other players. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/32 "2012-10-19T21:52:55Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Another year of getting sat, getting booed, and getting blamed. Oh, “another year” of something that happened for a week or two. The odds are firmly against trading him since they wouldn’t get very much back right now and would have to continue to pay almost all of his contract, so the odds are that he’ll be their starting third baseman next year. Assuming he heals up and doesn’t suck as badly as he did in September and October, he won’t be benched and booed. If he plays like that, he’ll get booed and lose his starting job no matter what team he’s on. ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/33 "2012-10-19T22:54:59Z")
The Yankees probably had more payroll sitting on the bench DURING THE PLAYOFFS than many teams have in total payroll. This year’s Yankees are last years Red Sox. Let’s see if they rebuild an aging, soft team or if they just waste a year like the Red Sox did. I wonder what Granderson and the Yankees are thinking today? Did the Tigers know something that we should have known? It’s got to feel pretty empty for Granderson. I’m sure he thought he was headed for the World Series . . . and then there was a train wreck. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/34 "2012-10-19T23:25:36Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I hope he didn’t have to ask. I’m inclined to think that he at least checked with them. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/35 "2012-10-19T23:39:49Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Another year of getting sat, getting booed, and getting blamed. If ownership thinks he is a hex on the clubhouse and they actively promote the idea that he is the cause of all their failure, then they have to ship him out. In order to ship him out they have to make him miserable enough to waive his no trade clause. The story with the supermodels was leaked by Yankee personnel. There are stories out that the decision to sit him came down from ownership. The hundred million is chump change if they think his postseason attitude/playing is dragging down 4 or 5 other players. If other major league ballplayers are putting up 0-fors because Alex Rodriguez happens to be in the same vicinity, you’d better get rid of them, too. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/36 "2012-10-20T16:24:40Z")
What’s really farcical is commentators suggesting the Yankees will trade Rodriguez in part because he’s a distraction. The entire Yankee operation has long been subject to (thrived on/despite of) distractions, internal and due to the media market. If they’re not going to get much in trade for him, better to keep him on for a couple years more or however long he’s effective, then release him and eat the last 2-3 years of his deal. Meantime for a Yankee hater, it’s fun to witness the angst and squabbling among the devotees. (Sample gripe from the N.Y. Times - the team has won _only_ one championship and two pennants in the last dozen years). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/37 "2012-10-20T16:39:45Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Did the Tigers know something that we should have known? Given that Granderson’s regular season OPS since he came over to the Yankees (.792, .916, .811) have been better than his last year with the Tigers in 2009 (.780), I doubt it. His OPS for the Yankees are not out of line with his career OPS (.834). Again, judging Granderson’s value on the basis of a nine-game stretch isn’t very reasonable. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/38 "2012-10-20T16:59:20Z")
Re: exchanging phone numbers with pretty fans: I heard on _Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me_ this morning that they were right handed so he struck out there too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Molesworth\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9dc877/32.png) [@Molesworth\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molesworth_2)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/39 "2012-10-20T18:43:42Z")
I don’t follow baseball, but I’m vaguely aware that this A-Rod guy was a pretty big deal a few years ago and is now coming to the end of a somewhat illustrious career. As I understand it, he was yoinked and a designated hitter was put in in his place at least once in the playoffs. Quite frankly, I’m kind of impressed that he didn’t run to the newspapers and talk about how he’d been “disrespected” by the manager/coach. I’m not sure if he has a history of being of being a prima donna, but as far as I’m aware he took the decision of the manager/coach with a remarkable amount of good grace when compared to many other modern sporting celebrities. /$0.02 from someone outside the sport ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149/40 "2012-10-20T20:41:50Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > Re: exchanging phone numbers with pretty fans: I heard on _Wait, Wait Don’t Tell Me_ this morning that they were right handed so he struck out there too. 🙂 😃 Standing ovation for that! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-letter-to-the-yankees/638149.md?page=3)