A-Rod leaves Yankees...

Garth

McLennan
sports editor

 
  
 

Aix Rodriguez is leaving the
New York Yankees. The 32 —year-old
shortstop and sometimes third baseman
has officially opted out of the three
option years stipulated in his contract
and is now a free-agent. The future
hall-of-fame member was signed to an
astronomical ten-year contract worth
$252=million in 2000 by the Texas
Rangers. A-Rod’s record breaking deal
is the richest contract in sport’s history.
The pact paid him an average $25.2=
million per season. It is rumored that
Rodriguez will land with the current
World Series Champions, the Boston
Red Sox. That’s a scary thought for
Yankees fans.

Rodriguez joined the Yankees in
2004 after he was traded from Texas
for Alfonso Soriano, and has played
third base since arriving in New York
because Yankee’s captain Derek Jeter
was already playing shortstop.

Rodriguez was drafted first overall
by the Seattle Mariners in 1993, and
was signed directly out of high school.
He had a meteoric rise through the

joined the exclusive 40-40 club (40

Mariner’s system, winning their 1994
minor leaguer player of the year award.
He was dominating in Seattle, and

home runs with 40 stolen bases) in
1998. He signed with the Texas Rangers
as a free-agent in 2000.

[his past season, Rodriguez became
the youngest player in baseball history
to reach 500 home runs, and he ended
up leading all the American League in
homers with 54. He also led the AL in
RBI’s with 156, slugging percentage
with .645, and times on base with 299.
He is the frontrunner to capture the
MVP award this year.

Rodriguez has twice previously won
the MVP, in 2003 and 2005. He also
finished second in 2002 and 1996 MVP
voting. He’s been an all-star 11 times
out of his 12 year career, and this season
set a New York Yankee’s record for
home runs in a season with 54. He now
has 514 career home runs, and has twice
led the AL in home runs (2007, 2001).

A-Rod has endured a love-hate
relationship with New York fans. He
has failed to come up big in the playoffs
and it has been said that he is unable
to produce in the clutch. He was booed
at times last year in Yankee Stadium,
although how fans can boo a player who
led the circuit in home runs and turned
in an MVP caliber season is beyond me.
Rodriguez’s agent has stated that there
is a slight possibility that he may return
to the Yankees, as A-Rod has stated
multiple times that he would like to
retire as a Yankee.

 

 

..and Joe Torre too

By Garth McLennan, Sports Editor

 

J oe Torre has officially been
replaced as manager of the New York
Yankees. Joe Girardi now takes the
reigns of one of the most famous teams
in sports history. Torre turned down
a contract extension offer from the
Steinbrenner family after they asked
him to take a pay cut and work for
performance incentives. The one-year
offer had a base salary of $5 million,
with pay incentives of $1 million for
reaching the playoffs, the ALCS, and
the World Series. The Yankees were
ousted from the postseason this year at
the hands of the surprising Cleveland
Indians.

Torre, who managed the team
for 12 years and guided the Yankees
to four consecutive World Series
championships —the last one coming in
2000—is replaced by ex- Yankee player
and former Florida Marlins manager Joe
Girardi. Girardi, 43, is the 32" manager
for the Yankees. He signed a three-year
deal worth $7.5-million, and played
15 seasons in the league as a catcher.
Girardi was a Yankee under Torre from
1996-1999. In that span he helped New
York win three straight World Series

titles.

In 2006, Girardi was named the
NL manager of the year for his work
with the Florida Marlins, as he led the
inexperienced team to a respectable
78-84 season. Girardi bested Don
Mattingly and Tony Pena for the
Yankee’s managing position.

The Yankees have endured a few
shocking blows lately. In the wake of
their disappointingly early exit from
the playoffs, Torre has been released,
team, and probably league, MVP Alex
Rodriguez has opted not to exercise his
option years with the team, and long
time Yankees Mariano Rivera and Jorge
Posada have both filed for free agency.
To make matters worse for the Yankees,
the rumor floating around is that A-Rod,
who led the AL in home runs this past
season, will join the archenemy and
World Series champion Boston Red
Sox.

The Yankees are at a new point in
team history, and without the steady
hand of Torre—who just signed on to
become the new manager of the Los
Angeles Dodgers—to guide them,
anything can happen.

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