I agree with you on A-Rod. He’s a great player, and was easily the best player in the league while with the Rangers. I don’t hate him for wanting out of Arlington.

However as long as he plays with the Yanks I don’t want to see him get a ring. I don’t want to see the Yanks ever win the WS. Although it doesn’t really matter because with their payroll we all knew eventually sometime it was going to happen again anyway.

The Rangers refuse to rule out the possibility of Milton Bradley coming back to Texas

TR

Is that meant as “lucky enough” to see him kiss himself in a mirror and take 30 second self-indulgent awkward pauses during times when he could sincerely connect with his audience?

If so, you’re right. Count me in.

of him slapping at gloves and yelling at players trying to catch pop-ups. You expect that from a douchebag, and that’s what he seems like to me.

Tom Hicks was pushing Alex out the door almost harder than Alex was leaving.

I think in retrospect, its very clear that the Rangers finances could not possibly support that contract, even for the best player in the game. The fact that Hicks dropped payroll from 100 to around 50 million so quick says a lot about Hicks insanely bad business practices. Its not like media revenues dropped precipitously. Even Gate attendance didn’t drop enough to justify a 50 million drop in payroll.

Hicks just absolutely screwed the pooch, and bid more than he was able to pay on ARod.

brother!

It’s INCREDIBLE watching these Yankee fans praising him now. It makes me sick, thinking about how he was their goat for everything.

how many comments are we at?

that to me illustrates everything douchy about A-Rod was in the ALCS against the Red Sox when he either bunted or hit a slow roller somewhre in the infield and as he ran by first he reached up and ripped the ball out of the pitcher’s glove who was covering 1st. After doing that, he tried to throw his hands out with a who me type attitude. You would get beat up for that in little league and he’s doing it in the ALCS. I hate that tool.

and this whole attitude reached a pinnacle with Selena Roberts’ hatchet job this spring, that got headlines despite being a flop in terms of sales.

So the whole “admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs” thing doesn’t register?

That 9th inning was pretty unusual, but fun to watch even though I have no love for the Yankees — partly because that’s the kind of disruption I can see Andrus and Borbon causing over the next few years.

trying to convince everyone how messed up they are for not seeing your logic in this matter, or giving the rationale for your minority opinion?

I can agree with just about everything you’ve said, except I don’t recall Hicks/Hart being considered innocent victims considering the backlash when they coined the phrase “financial flexibility”.

Bottom line for me: He quit on the Rangers and the Rangers are the team I root for. So, I have no desire to see him do well elsewhere. I might have been persuaded to root for him if he had gone someplace other than Boston or New York. In sports, team loyalties matter to me, because I still view the sports world like a sandlot. I, of course, know there is a business, and I have been in dead-end career situations like ARod was in Texas and I have walked away as well. I simply have a different attitude, irrational though it may be, about teams when it comes to sports.

Just sayin’

It has always baffled me why people hate ARod. It is as if he’s cursed – everything he touched from 2001 to 2008 rotted and died. The Rangers were morons for signing him, the Rangers were morons for trading him. The Yankees were morons for trading for him. The Yankees were morons for resigning him. All while he put up one of the greatest offensive decades EVER.

ARod was demonized for all of the jealously and rage by sportswriters and fans at athletes who make lots of money. The Rangers and Yankees were demonized for giving it to him, even though he has been worth almost every penny.

Yeah, ARod is too slick for his own good. His answers too polished, he just tries too hard off the field. But it doesn’t change that he’s a great player. Greater than all but a few players in the league right now. Instead of being resentful, we should enjoy watching him.

but as mentioned by others, there’s simply too much there to hate: kissing himself the mirror, steroids, being the highest paid player, leaving his wife for Madonna, getting everything he wanted, and finally playing for the hated Yankees.

It’s pretty hard for me to pull for any Yankee. Matsui is one of the guys that I like. Posada and Rivera, Jeter, I respect them, but don’t really like them. I used to hate Nick Swisher, then found out why he was growing his hair out, really liked him, and he became a Yankee so now I’m not sure how I feel about him. But Teixeira, A-Rod, Brett Gardner, it’s very easy for me to hate those guys, especially as they put on the pinstripes.

wow, how about raising those standards, Murray?

I hadn’t seen Phillips in a long time, and I stopped to say hello. I also took advantage of the moment to tell him something I had believed for a long time. I told him I thought he was the best baseball analyst on television.

brought in the first 250M dollar deal. People like to blame Arod for that, but who in their right mind would not have signed that contract?

Arod is probably the most criticized player in sports, partly because he plays for the Yankees and gets to deal with the NY media, he tends to enjoy having celebrity girlfriends, and he’s the highest paid player in baseball history. I, personally, think Arod is one of the greatest players of all-time. I think we, as this generation, get the opportunity to enjoy 2 of the best RH hitters in baseball history in Arod and Pujols.

How much do we think Pujols will get in 2 years when he hits Free Agency or St. Louis resigns him for? If it’s anywhere near Arod’s deal, will he be looked at differently? Most likely not, but that is the world Arod lives in, and I don’t pity him.

because I appreciate greatness. I also don’t mind the Yankees winning because it means the Red Sox won’t — I hate them and their douchebag bandwagon fans.

Oh, and I personally don’t care one bit about PEDs.

@Evan_P_Grant #texasrangers begin hitting coach finalist interviews today. The two things I most want the candidates to address. http://bit.ly/sbpVo

I do see your point though. I remember one quote from Arod where a journalist asked him why people hate him so much and he said something like ’it’s because of the money.’ I thought that summed it up pretty well. On one issue i will slightly disagree though, and that’s that it’s hard now to see where he fits with the greats of all time. Him and Bonds are among the greats, certainly, but because of steroids it’s really impossible to know how great. How many years did Arod REALLY use PEDs? 5,7,10? That’s what pisses me off about the PED issue, it steals some of the purity of emotion away from things like Arod finally getting a ring.

Is because of the whole tipping pitches accusations… If they’re true, that’s pretty fucked up.