A-Rod: Yanks “Didn’t Play To Our Potential” In 2010
Or, in other words, “Merry Christmas Derek!”
Via the Daily News –
Yankees fans weren’t the only ones upset to learn that Cliff Lee had opted for the Phillies over the Bombers this month. Alex Rodriguez was looking forward to seeing the lefty ace suiting up in pinstripes.
“Everyone in the organization was disappointed to some extent,” he said in a telephone interview from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. “We were all looking forward to playing alongside him. It was unexpected, but when it comes to free agency, you sometimes have to expect the unexpected.”
Fans, he suggested, should feel the same way about the potential in the Yankees farm system.
“There’s a lot of talent there and people are always stepping up,” he said. “Look at what Phil Hughes did for us – he basically competed for the Cy Young. He’s going to be someone we can count on. And (Ivan) Nova has a good arm too. I expect a lot from him.
“But the one reason I don’t worry is I know the organization and I know the Steinbrenners. We already have a very good team. Last year we didn’t play to our potential and we were still just a couple wins short of the World Series. If there’s something they feel we need, they’re going to go out and get it.”
In other words, “we didn’t play to our potential” means…”we didn’t play to our potential”.
He might have been talking about himself, or Tex, or AJ, or Granderson, or Joba, or everyone.
Or Jeter, too.
I don’t think he was specifically calling out Jeter. But if he was, what right would Derek have to gripe? After all, how many times did Jeter do that passive-aggressive throwing of his teammates under the bus with his annual “it’s not the same team” post-2001 speech?
He was calling out the team – a team on which several key players did not play up to their potential and the team as a whole underperformed. Primarily Burnett, Tex, Jeter, Posada, A-Rod, and others. In the Texas series, that list grows a lot longer, and includes Hughes and Sabathia. I totally agree with A-Rod’s assessment. A couple wins away from the WS – but needing a lot more from a number of players to get there.