Read: MetsBlog Roundtable on A-Rod
Matthew Cerrone…
How do you feel as a fan, kind of keeping track of all this, how do you feel, do you want Alex Rodriguez on the Mets?
Regis Courtemance…
Simple question, not a very simple answer. I have to tell you my official stance is I am kind of torn on it. On the upside, he has been on the All-Star team the last eight years, potential homerun king, two-time Gold-Glove winner, I mean it’s Alex Rodriguez and all the things that come with that. On the baseball side, it’s obviously an improvement.
On the con side, I guess, is that you have David Wright at third base, he is not going to left field now with Moises Alou. Jose Reyes is a much better defensive player than Wright so it would seem that Wright would be bumped, but then where do you put him? Do you put him on first base after trading away Carlos Delgado - what are you going to do there? I am really torn, I don’t know what to say, I mean the Wilpon’s have money, that is not a concern. They need to make a big splash with Citi Field coming up, I don’t see it not happening, but I don’t know if it will.
I really don’t know how to feel about it.
Mike Nichols…
I’m kind of the same way with Regis, but I am leaning more towards yes. I mean, I’m concerned about moving Wright, he is still 24 years old and you don’t know if he is going to be going through some growing pains in a new position…From a pure baseball standpoint, it is a tremendous upside to bring Alex Rodriguez to the team. First of all, it gives you more revenue for the team and to be able to spend more money on free agents, which I don’t want them turning into the Yankees and having them spend $200 million dollars a year on a ball club. It is a tremendous upside, plus you know everything that Alex brings…
I don’t think I’m not in the camp that thinks that Alex Rodriguez is like a Dan Marino - he is just cursed, and he is a tremendous player and will break all the records and then never win a championship. I think Alex hasn’t been on the right mix of team. Those Yankee teams were never a good mix and they were never like they were in the late 90’s. So, I’m still on the fence, but I am going more towards that I would love to see the Mets bring him here.
Matthew Cerrone…
I agree with the Marino comment, I don’t buy into any of that stuff, I think it is all circumstantial and you are right, I just think he was not with the right group of players. I look at it like Peyton Manning - kind of the same thing; maybe he is him, who knows? I feel the same way.
It’s funny, I sense we are all kind of undecided but leaning a bit in one direction, and I kind of feel the same way. I can’t really wrap my head around it. I see it from all points of view; I understand from the financial side what it can do for the network and what it could do for really just justifying an increase in ticket prices. I mean, they are going to sell out, I think, Citi Field anyway, but bringing in somebody like that they can now do a little bit of an exponential increase there and justify it, which I’m sure they have no problem with. So I can understand that, and I think that is more of an issue for them then it would be for the Yankees. The Yankees could cut ties with him and still kind of not skip a beat. The Mets could bring somebody in like that and it could have a significant impact. But, one of the impacts that it could have unfortunately is the on-field and in the clubhouse. I don’t think anybody would dispute what he would do for the offense, obviously putting in those numbers it’s like a fantasy player’s dream come true. However, in the clubhouse and all that other ‘A-Rod stuff’ that comes along with him they will have to handle. The Wilpons and the Mets don’t seem to take to those sorts of extracurricular types of players, so I think that is the big thing.
The question is – is he worth disrupting the team for be it moving Reyes or one of these kinds of things, I then assume you’d have to trade Delgado, it’s so many moving parts. The question is – is it worth doing that from a financial point of view and from an on field and club house point of view?
Regis Courtemance…
I think that on the field, obviously, no question, he would bring a lot to the team. Every body sees what he can do, what kind of numbers he can put up. In the clubhouse, I have never viewed him as a leader. I feel that he has always played for the name on the back of his jersey instead of the name on the front of the jersey and gone wherever the money is. I think if he did come to the Mets, he brings the super-high expectations that would take a lot of pressure off the other guys perhaps, Reyes wouldn’t feel that he needs to shoulder the team, you saw him kind of decline in the last part of the season, maybe he was feeling a bit of that.
With A-Rod next year you can kind of sit back and know that the media and the cameras are all on him and just kind of go out there and play ball.
Mike Nichols…
I see it a little bit differently. I don’t think it’s going to be the same dynamic it is as the Yankee clubhouse…He wanted to make it kind of – I’m a leader in this clubhouse and I think he tried to say all the right things that Derek does and things like that. But, I think it would be a totally different dynamic because it’s…With the Mets and the Yankees, everybody knows the Yankees are always in the spot light no matter what they do. The Mets could do what they did last year and the Yankees are still kind of in the back there and everybody is thinking about them.
I think it would be a totally different dynamic, I don’t think its going be what it was with the Yankees. I still think he is going to have a lot of media attention just because of who he is. It’s not going to be the same thing where it’s going to be this fight between him and Jeter over the leadership of that club house. I just don’t see it; I think it is going to be a lot different in a Mets clubhouse.
Regis Courtemance…
I agree with you, and I don’t think it will be like that, that kind of struggle between him and Reyes, I just think it would take the pressure off of Reyes…
Matthew Cerrone…
I could see where he could kind of run cover for Reyes, I think that A-Rod would provide that type of lightening rod. I can see, and clearly just speculation, but I could see where somebody like Wright might get a little irritated. It’s not that it’s Wright’s team or he is the captain, but he has definitely been groomed for that. There are several quotes, you know, people talking about how it’s time for him to step up and that sort of thing, and it’s definitely the sense you get around the team. I think he certainly showed that towards the end of last season and so I would be a little worried about bringing in that level of presence, that prima-donna kind of ego, whether that is fair or not, it is certainly the perception. I would be interested to see how somebody like Wright, who is really ready to turn the corner, and how that would impact him.
Realistically, I still struggle with whether it’s even realistic that they could even pull it off. Like I said before, there are so many moving parts; it makes me think that the whole conversation is kind of moot. I would expect them to kind of go through the process and figure out if it’s realistic, but I think at the end of the day, I look at it and think that there is not a shot in the world. I just can’t see having watched this team over the last couple of decades; it is just completely out of step with everything they’ve ever done, which actually might be a reason why it could happen.
Mike Nichols…
I think it could go down. I think people had the same perception when they brought in Beltran and Pedro. If the team got one or the other I think they would have been pretty successful that off season. I don’t think that anybody thought we were going to both, the two biggest free agents that off season.
I don’t know, I think they can pull it off, in listenening to Jayson Stark this morning on Mike and Mike on ESPN, I think he has a good point; there are a lot of other factors, other teams that they are more self conscience about their financial stands as far as not having a regional network. In LA, the owner is going back and forth if he wants to pay somebody double what Vlaidmir Guerrero is making. I think what Jayson Stark said this morning makes a lot of sense that you come back to the Mets and they got that new network, they’ve got that new ballpark coming along. I think they could make a big splash like this, but I also agree with you as far as all the moving parts, as far moving Wright and things of that nature. I think that’s going to be the hardest decision part for the Mets, it’s not about the money anymore with them.
Regis Courtemance…
I agree with you that they can do it Mike, but I don’t think that they will because a few weeks ago if you asked me the same question if A-Rod was going to come to the Mets I would have said, “No way.” Just because they have more pressing needs than finding an A-Rod right now.
You can take that money and build a whole new bullpen with it, you know? Those are the kinds of things that I think the Mets should be focusing on in the off season. I mean, with A-Rod out there, of course, there is going to be a lot of fodder for conversation…
Matthew Cerrone…
I guess I want to hope it is sort of a smoke screen, in the sense that I like to think they are focusing on other issues – bullpen, starting pitcher, maybe a big move, and some kind of a trade that would bring somebody in like that. Because all the talk around them seems to be pitching, pitching, pitching, it was that way last season but the options really weren’t there. I think this season they may be a little bit more realistic and I’d like to think that’s what going on.
Having done my best, I think like everybody else, to try to chase down what these guys are up to, I think it’s pretty clear that nobody has any idea of what they are doing. I can’t believe how secretive and how well they’ve kept their agenda under wraps compared to previous regimens, I think they do an outstanding job with it and so who knows?
These types of rumors and things leak out and you never know really where they are coming from. Again, signing A-Rod just doesn’t seem in-step with anything they have ever done in the past. It makes me think that maybe they are trying to pull something else off you know? We will see how that all plays out.
The other thing is, I can’t imagine why Alex Rodriguez would want to join the Mets. I don’t understand why he would want to come to the National League, number one and two, I don’t know why he would try to break that record in New York. He seems…they use this 24 and 1 bit, and maybe that’s the case…but, I think he has kind of shown that these records and this type of legacy and all that kind of stuff is important. If that is the case and he is on that path, he’s going to break Bond’s record, do you want to do that under the spotlight of New York? It seems to me that you’d rather do it in a smaller market, someplace that it’s a little easier to do it.
Personally, I think he ends up with the Giants – even though that is in the National League, it just seems to fit…all the parts seem to fit more than anybody else. As Regis mentioned, Jayson Stark on ESPN.COM had referenced this morning that the Tigers are kind of fallback position, I guess he thinks…The Giants seem to be the favorite to me, that’s not what any of the odds makers are saying; they are all kind of leaning to the Angels, I guess.
Mike Nichols…
First off, I want to touch on that ‘24 and1’ aspect of it. I don’t know if that is so much Alex or if that is the perception that Scott Boras puts out. I mean, he is the one that is putting out the book of all of Alex’s achievements now and his future achievements. I mean, that he could break Pete Rose’s hit record if he continues on this pace and I don’t know if that is so much Alex as it is Scott Boras is doing.
As far as where he goes, I don’t know, I always come back to the Mets; my heart wants him to come here because I think it would bring a lot to this team. I think they would be a contender pretty much every season, but I don’t see him coming to the National League. If anything he could go to LA, but I don’t know about that owner. It’s difficult, it could be none of the teams that anybody is thinking about, like Texas was that one year. I couldn’t even put a guess on where he goes.
He was definitely a happier ball player before New York and before the season began; there wasn’t a season that he was with the Yankees that he wasn’t getting booed. So, I really had a strong feeling that he was going to leave after this year anyway and possibly go to a smaller market team. Is LA a smaller market? I don’t know, I really think that the Angels will make a big push for him…Will he go to the Dodgers, it’s a possibility now that Torre is most likely going there with Donny Basebal, so who knows? I think those might be the two teams that he gravitates towards. He can still have that celebrity lifestyle in LA, but without the hoopla of New York fans and New York media. So that’s where I think he might be going.
Matthew Cerrone…
LA is definitely not a smaller market, but it’s a definitely a more carless market. They have so many other things going on they just don’t seem to care, he could get away with a lot (laughter), let’s put it that way.
Guys, I really appreciate it. Mike, thank you very much for joining us, have a great night. Regis, thank you very much. Take it easy, guys.
