“Last summer, someone who once met with a member of Stein’s circle of trusted aides told me that person shared with them that the Yankees brass thought A-Rod was a, well, a word that starts with “P” and sounds like “wussy.”

Um, he’s a *ussy. My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who’s going with a girl who heard Steinbrenner say it at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it’s really true.

Too bad A Rod won the MVP in 2005. And drove in 100 last yr. Or these jerks here would really try to kill him.

Got it. See:

http://www.waswatching.com/archives/2007/01/last_3_post-sea.html

That’s an interesting point jonm.

I think you have to look at where it hurts.

Does A-Rod or the lack of pitching hurt the Yankees in the regular season? Well, not really – they’ve finished first the last 3 years with Alex and bad pitching.

Does A-Rod or the lack of pitching hurt the Yankees in the post-season?

Hmmmm. I think you have to look at the WPA numbers for the Yankees in the post-season over the last three years. I’m going to head over to fangraphs now to see if they have that data.

~~More Arod fixation. Good. Can never have enough. At least I was able to avoid the previous Arod entry since it was labeled so.~~

Steve, doesn’t your recent research suggest that we should be talking about how the pitching is hurting the team much more often than how much ARod’s marginally important lack of clutch performance hurts the team?

RICH, in all fairness, isn’t discussing the 2006 Yankees without mentioning A-Rod the same as discussing Queen Elizabeth II and skipping the part about Princess Diana?

More Arod fixation. Good. Can never have enough. At least I was able to avoid the previous Arod entry since it was labeled so.

Thanks brockdc. It was handled electronically – not on the phone.

Just out of curiosity, Steve, how did you conduct the interview logistically? Did you IM questions and answers or was it a phone interview. I ask because your questions were incredibly nuanced. Either way, great job.

You know how A-Rod supporters foam at the mouth when you say Cashman should have traded him (which he wanted to do but couldn’t because A-Rod wouldn’t waive his no-trade)?

Well, what if this happens?

“If, in fact, Alex Rodriguez exercises an opt-out option in his contract after the 2007 season and leaves the Yankees — and many baseball executives expect that he will — the emergence of Cano will be a major reason why the team might not think it’s that big of a deal.”

Buster Olney wrote that yesterday. The Yankees WOULD think it was a big deal, and so would the fans. If A-Rod denied the Yankees the chance to get other players for him, and then turns around and leaves, there will be a nuclear meltdown in the Bronx. And if he thinks they would say he ran scared because of a trade, an out-and-out fleeing would really make him look like a word that “starts with ‘P’ and sounds like ‘wussy.’”