Mark Haverty would take A-Rod, but David Kopacz says not so fast...

If you were a General Manager, would you shell out the mega-bucks super agent Scott Boras is requesting to sign Alex Rodriguez? Much has been written about the acquisition of Alex Rodriguez and the effect on any team acquiring him. Some argue, how can anyone who hits over .300 with 50 home runs and 120-150 runs and RBI be bad for a team? Those who disagree are described as “being without facts.” The other side describes Rodriguez as a “self absorbed cancer” that infiltrates the nervous system of the team that owns him and makes them impotent. Okay, perhaps too melodramatic, but the point is that the player who may well have the most talent in the Major Leagues may well also be bad for your team. I subscribe to that point of view.

First, let me say that fantasy baseball owners need not worry. There is not a curse that dooms your team. Numerically, Alex Rodriguez is a great player to own. We are talking about the effect on real baseball where multiple players interact and budget decisions must be made even by the wealthy. First, I assume that Yankee General Manager Brian Cashman and George’s son Hank Steinbrenner are not playing to the media and the fans. The Yankees have announced that they decided that losing the millions that the Rangers were spending to help support the Yankees paying A-Rod, was too costly to also justify giving Rodriguez an expensive extension beyond the $25-$30 million they already offered for the five years beyond the three years left on the current deal. Who knows? The Yankee brain trust may emotionally crumble and give in to Boras’ demands but I think they got it right.

At least one writer on this site has been so bold as to advocate that the World Champion Boston Red Sox sign the Yankee rejecter. There are seven reasons I consider Alex Rodriguez to be a cost/benefit liability to have on the Red Sox. Remember, I am not saying he does not have value but that his cost and his baggage make him unworthy of the money that would be spent and the players who would not be signed as a result. I will start with statistical reasons and move to personal decisions.

1. Postseason numbers – A-Rod chokes when the pressure is on. Why is it that A-Rod can never put a team on his back in October the way he does in April? Besides losing a heartbreaking 3-0 lead to the Red Sox in 2004, the Yankees have been knocked out in the first round in each of the three subsequent years. Where was A-Rod? Is he the only culprit? Of course not. Just the highest paid and now opting out for more with zero playoff numbers to back it up.

Alex Rodriguez has appeared in ten post season series. He has hit .279 with 41 hits in 147 at-bats. He has 7 home runs, 21 runs, and 17 RBI. Those are not bad numbers but hardly worth 30 million and it gets worse. Starting with the Red Sox series in 2004, Alex Rodriguez has hit exactly .200 (15 for 75) with 12 runs, 3 home runs, 6 RBI, and 21 strikeouts. Those numbers are ugly.

2. History of losing teams – Teams improve when Rodriguez leaves and get worse when he arrives. Look at Seattle, Texas and New York. Alex Rodriguez left the Seattle Mariners after the 2000 season. In the three prior years, A-Rod had hit 125 home runs, scored 367 runs and driven in 367 RBI. He also stole 82 bases in that time. During those three years the Mariners were barely a .500 team, winning 246, while losing 239. They did finish second once. The year that Rodriguez left, the Mariners had the best record in baseball (116- 46). Was this because A-Rod left? Yes, indirectly. The Mariners used part of the money to give to a Japanese team to acquire the rights to Ichiro Suzuki and also to sign him. Ichiro batted .350 and was the league MVP. They also spent the money to re-acquire Brett Boone who hit 37 home runs for them that year with 141 RBI. If the Yankees could make a straight trade of A-Rod for Ichiro, Cashman would make it in a second.

Alex Rodriguez took his $252 million dollar deal from Tom Hicks and joined the Texas Rangers. With A-Rod in the batting order, the Rangers had one of the strongest offenses of all time. A-Rod hit 52 home runs and won the Hank Aaron award. Unfortunately, the pitching staff had an ERA of 5.71 and the Rangers finished dead last with a 73-89 record, a mere two game improvement on the prior season and 43 games behind the re-energized Seattle Mariners. During his three years with Texas, Rodriguez hit 156 home runs, 382 runs and 395 RBI. The team won 216 games and lost 270. The year after Rodriguez left the Rangers were 89-73 and in the three years after Rodriguez left, the Rangers have won 32 more games than in his last three years on the team, a nearly 11 win per year average. Why? They put their money into building a balanced team.

Rodriguez was so frustrated that he could not play on a winner, that he demanded a trade. After trying to take a cut in pay to sign with the Red Sox, which was disallowed by the Players Union, he moved to the New York Yankees. The Yankees have continued to win the Division with Rodriguez in the regular season, at least until this year. Where they have failed is in the post season. The Yankees last won the World Series in 2000. In the three subsequent years, they made the World Series twice, only to lose both times. Their post season record from 1998-2003 was 53-26 with five Division Series wins (and one loss), five Championship Series wins and three World Series wins (and two losses). Since A-Rod arrived, the Yankees won only one Division Series (and three losses) and lost their only Championship Series to the Red Sox in 2004. Their post-season record is 10-14.

Is Alex Rodriguez a significant factor that all three teams were more successful without him? Ask yourself, is it mere coincidence? Three times?

3. No one player is worth the money – The Tampa Bay Devil Rays had a 2007 team salary under that belonging to Alex Rodriguez alone. The Colorado Rockies made the World Series with a salary only twice what Rodriguez made by himself. And Rodriguez wants more. Thirty (plus) million a year could help the Red Sox buy FOUR more Josh Beckett clones ($7 million) or sign Mike Lowell and two quality starting pitchers or use it to give three $10 million dollar raises to current players like David Ortiz who is earning half of Rodriguez and not demanding more. Obviously Beckett is underpriced but even at current wages, two Becketts would fit nicely under the Rodriguez cost with money left over for long term contracts for a few good young players like Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia.

If the Yankees re-signed Rodriguez, it would be for at least five million more than his current $27 million per year. I believe the Yankees would be a much better club if they could acquire Johan Santana for $20 million and put the remaining $12 million into a quality third baseman or into another quality starting pitcher.

4. Poor teammate – Anyone who angers the corps of the decent Yankees (Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, etc.) must be doing something wrong. Why else would calm Joe Torre show him up by batting him eighth last year? Would Torre have done that to any player he truly values or did he hope it would stir up the complacent Rodriguez? How many reports were there of players coming to his defense when he was struggling? Ask yourself, why?

5. Scott Boras – The release of information by Uber-agent Scott Boras during the final game of the 2007 World Series was the final straw for me. This total disregard for the game of baseball is overwhelming. It was rumored that A-Rod was meeting with the Steinbrenners but Boras ended just sending them a letter of notification. It is always “all about the Benjamins” for both Rodriguez and Boras. I would not be surprised if Rodriguez signing in the offseason is announced during the Super Bowl.

6. Self-absorbed arrogance – Mister “Me” seems to always feel insecure and unloved by management, teammates, and fans. Perhaps that is because he seeks love in the wrong places. Arrogance seems to be the rule when he is caught taking a stripper to lunch and then back to his room in Toronto and then shows no remorse for the effect on others. So much for Boras’ claim that A-Rod is worth more for his intangibles. Look at A-Rod’s absence in appearing at the game where he was supposed to receive the Hank Aaron Award for best A.L. player. Prince Fielder was there for the N.L. award, which baseball is trying to make the equivalent of the Cy Young for pitchers.

Of course his wife is no gem either, as demonstrated by wearing her “f*** you” shirt to sit in the seats of Yankee Stadium. They do seem to be a good fit as she seems to look the other way during his open indiscretions as long as the money rolls in. If they came to Boston, I doubt she will be submitting articles for the Red Sox wives’ cookbook supporting the Jimmy Fund.

7. The Red Sox already are Champions – Perhaps before winning two World Championships, Owner John Henry, General Manager Theo Epstein and company would have been desperate to do ANYTHING to remove the curse. Not now. The Red Sox do not need the self serving drama that Rodriguez brings. He is not Randy Moss who raises his game when it matters and quits when it does not. Moreover, what would make anyone think that Rodriguez would not get the same reception from Red Sox fans when A-Rod performs his typical fold under pressure? During the Red Sox post-championship parade through Boston, fans were shouting “Don’t sign A-Rod!” That is harbinger of things to come if A-Rod signs.

Alex Rodriguez needs to be the central figure on any team that signs or trades for him. Could he help a lower team like the San Francisco Giants or Tampa Bay Rays? Yes, as long as that team is willing to make it all about A-Rod, much like the Giants, in the last few years, made it all about Barry Bonds. Money and fame matter more to him than winning. That is the baggage that goes with Alex Rodriguez and why he will not play for a World Champion in the near future.