Category Archives: alex rodriguez

2016 MLB Season Preview: New York Yankees

Starlin-Castro-New-York-Yankees-americas-white-boy-2016-MLB-season-previewThe New York Yankees championship window is closing shut. They were quiet this offseason when it came to free agents, but they made two important trades to acquire shortstop Starlin Castro and closer Aroldis Chapman.

The AL East is expected to be one of the most contested divisions in Major League Baseball. Boston added some big free agents, Toronto’s offense is a beast, Baltimore is always dangerous and Tampa Bay is on the rise.

Does A-Rod, Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira have one more championship run left in them?

Here is the 2016 MLB season preview for the New York Yankees.

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2015 MLB Team Preview: New York Yankees

New York Yankees 2015 MLB team preview alex rodriguez shirtless arod funny weirdDerek Jeter? Nope. Hiroki Kuroda? Nope. Alex Rodriguez? Ugh…yes.

The Yankees will have issues this season with age, but they do have some young players to help keep them competitive. It will be interesting how GM Brian Cashman deals with the older players going forward. They are on the hook for a lot of money. I doubt they will get much in return for some of their high-priced veterans.

The AL East is expected to be very competitive. Toronto and Boston were very active this offseason with trades and free agent signings. Can the Yankees keep up with them?

Here is the 2015 MLB season preview for the New York Yankees.

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2014 MLB Team Preview: New York Yankees

The Yankees made the biggest splash this offseason by signing Japanese ace Masahiro Tanaka. A dozen teams were vying for his services and the Yankees had to pay through the nose to get him. They definitely need him since the rest of their rotation leaves a lot to be desired.

Since Boston won the World Series last season, the “we’re trying to cut payroll’ excuse they’ve been using, well, it went out the window. They opened up their deep pockets and signed Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran. If the Red Sox didn’t win, who knows if they would have spent as much.

The AL East is expected to be great and the race will be competitive until the end. Will the Yankees send Derek Jeter out a winner?

Here is the 2014 MLB season preview for the New York Yankees.

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MLB Suspends 12 Players Linked to Biogenesis Scandal

NELSON-CRUZ-BIOGENESISIt finally happened. According to a report by ESPN and Yahoo!, Major League Baseball will announce that 12 players will accept suspensions linked to Biogenesis scandal. There is one glaring admission, Alex Rodriguez.

The list of players to receive 50-game suspensions are those who agreed to not appeal their suspensions.

The list is full of players already reported to be linked to the Biogenesis scandal and a few that weren’t as prominently reported.

The list below are players who will start serving their suspensions right away. Continue reading

MLB: Biogenesis Scandal Could Benefit Yankees

Buck-Showalter-Orioles-ArodBaltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter speaks his mind. He believes if Alex Rodriguez is banned from baseball, the New York Yankees will be the only winner in the Biogenesis scandal.

If the Yankees get out of the monster contract Rodriguez is owed, Showalter believes Orioles catcher Matt Wieters will be playing in the Bronx in 2016.

The Yankees will be under the luxury tax and can afford to once again splurge on a few free agents, Wieters being one of the potential players on the market.

Showalter doesn’t feel the Yankees should be completely exempt from their own mistake. MLB could give them a get out of jail free card.

If MLB bans A-rod for life, is it fair for the league to let the Yankees out of his contract without penalties? Should the contract still count against the Yankees for luxury tax purposes?

MLB: Which Players are Linked to Biogenesis Scandal?

ryan-braun-steroids-biogenesisMLB officially suspended Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun for the remainder of the 2013 season. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s surprised by this announcement.

Braun failed a drug test after his NL MVP 2011 season, but avoided the mandatory 50-game suspension due to the mishandling of his urine sample. This did not sit well with the MLB. Since then, one could say that MLB has been on a witch hunt in an attempt to find evidence to suspend him.

The Miami-area Biogenesis clinic was the smoking gun the MLB needed to suspend Braun and potentially up to 20 other players.

Which MLB players are allegedly on the Biogenesis client list? We list the players below. Continue reading

2013 MLB Team Preview: New York Yankees

Alex+Rodriguez+ARod+DoucheBag+CigarIt is impossible for the New York Yankees to have a scandal-free offseason.

First, you have a New York Post picture of an overweight Derek Jeter. Second, you have a report linking Alex Rodriguez to BioGenesis PED scandal.

The Blue Jays and Rays improved their rosters with big trades and the Yankees, besides signing Kevin Youkilis, they did not sign any top free agents.

Can the Yankees win another AL East crown?

Here is the 2013 MLB season preview for the New York Yankees. Continue reading

2012 MLB: What We’ve Learned in April

The baseball season is only a month old and fans are already making instant judgments about their teams. They are either booking tickets for possible World Series games or looking ahead to 2013. You have already witnessed “Red Sox Nation” call for the head of their brand new manager after a small sample size of the season. No one can say that baseball fans aren’t passionate about their teams.

Baseball fans and analysts had some questions going into the 2012 season. How would Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder fare in the American League? Can the Red Sox bounce back from their late-season collapse in 2011? Is this the year that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals finally make the playoffs? I do my best to explain what we have learned so far this season and what to keep your eye on in May.

April is such an odd month because you can’t trust your team’s record or the players’ statistics. It is rare that a team ever leads their division from April to October. My favorite reaction is when a player gets a home run in the first game, you’ll always hear, “he’s on pace to hit 162 homers this season.” It is one of my pet peeves and I’m sure that I’ll hear it every year.

Here are some things that we have learned in April…

– Matt Kemp is really good. You already should have known that, but some analysts that he couldn’t match his stats from 2011. They are partially correct since he’s on pace to blow those numbers out of the water and contend for the triple crown.

– Stephen Strasburg is fully recovered from last season’s Tommy John surgery. He currently has a K/9 of 9.56, which means that he averages over nine strikeouts per nine innings. He may have had a higher K/9 at this point during his rookie season, but he should have increased velocity by June.

– This is not the year for the Royals or Pirates. These teams are stocked with young talent, but they are off to bad starts. In 2011, Pittsburgh was contending for the NL Central division at the trade deadline, but hit a wall and lost most of their remaining games. The Royals are 6-16 and the Pirates are fairing a little better at 10-13. A lot of people thought that the NL Central would be a coin flip this season, but the St. Louis Cardinals are off to a hot start and the rest of the division isn’t as bad as predicted.

– Bobby Valentine might survive the season. After the first two weeks, the fans wanted him out of Boston. The Red Sox have played well since and currently have a 11-12 record. It’s not great, as long as they stay within five games of first place, Valentine will stay out of the hot seat.

– Bryce Harper is a future star. He has only played a couple of games in the Majors, but everyone has seen flashes of what Haper will be in a few years. He has a good bat and a cannon for an arm. I’m excited to see what he does the rest of the season, even if the Washington Nationals send him back to Triple-A for awhile.

– Yu Darvish could end up being the best signing in the off-season. I am skeptical of pitchers coming from Japan and adjusting to Major League hitters. Dice-K started off hot, but the second time a team faced him, they started to figure him out. The Texas Rangers have a powerful offense, so he doesn’t need to be perfect to win games. As long as his ERA hovers around 4.00, he’ll win double-digit games by July. He already has four wins, so he’s on pace to have an excellent rookie campaign.

– The Cardinals might be a better team this year than in 2011. They lost Albert Pujols, but they added Carlos Beltran and they are getting more out of David Freese. Adding Lance Lynn to their starting rotation was a smart move. Chris Carpenter will probably miss the season and Adam Wainwright doesn’t look like himself. Pitching could be an issue later in the season, but they are currently 15-8.

– It’s impossible to hit homers at Wrigley Field in April. When the temperature hovers around 50 degrees, the ball dies in the outfield. The wind is usually blowing in and teams can’t drive the ball over the ivy. The Chicago Cubs only had nine home runs in April. They are at the bottom of the league and it’s bad when individual guys are leading your entire time.

– Bryan LaHair is not a 4-A player. The Cubs made a bold move this off-season and declared that LaHair would get a fair shot at being their everyday first-basemen. They traded for Anthony Rizzo this off-season and most assumed that LaHair would be keeping first-base warm. He is currently 2nd in many offensive categories behind Matt Kemp. He’s batting nearly .400 and slugging almost .800, so he has earned his spot in the starting lineup.

– When the Cubs trade Matt Garza, they will get a lot in return. He is currently 2-1, 2.76 ERA, and a K:B ratio 3.6. MLB added an extra wild-card spot in the playoffs this season. The commissioner did a Cubs a huge favor, since more teams will still be in the playoff race. The price for pitching will be at a premium and the price will be driven up. Detroit, Boston, and Los Angeles need pitching and they’ll have to give Chicago a king’s ransom to get Garza.

– Moving the walls in at Citi Field hasn’t solved the Mets offensive issues. The team has hit 18 home runs this season, but only 7 of those came at home. Lucas Duda is leading the team with four dingers and David Wright has regained his All-Star form, but the rest of the team needs to step up. Ike Davis is batting lower than the Mendoza line and isn’t looking like a future All-Star.

– Albert Pujols is still adjusting to the American League. He has yet to hit a home run and he’s not drawing as many walks. I don’t believe that he’s stressed out or that his skills are diminishing. It is difficult for a player to go from the National League to the American League. He is still adjusting to AL pitchers and to a new city. He’ll have a much better May and you’ll start to see his numbers multiply as it gets warmer.

– Terms like “Grady Sizemore shirtless” and “Tim Lincecum shirtless” still brings me thousands of hits a month. I thought that the Sizemore search queries would taper off, but it hasn’t happened. I am looking forward to weird Google searches that involve Bryce Harper, Evan Longoria, and Matt Kemp…it’s only a matter of time.

– The Yankees should have hired Don Mattingly as their manager. I’m not saying that Joe Girardi is a bad manager, but Mattingly has personally improved Kemp, James Loney, and Andre Ethier. I watched an interview during Spring Training about what he has done to help each of them. He seemed to be a better developmental manager and would work well with the new crop of Yankees that are bound to play over the next few seasons.

– Jake Peavy and Johan Santana are pitching like it’s 2008. The White Sox are looking very smart by signing Peavy. His career looked to be nearing its end, but he’s had his best month in a few season. Santana is also out to a great start because his pitches look alive. Peavy and Santana are great stories and I hope they continue to dominate.

– Philadelphia Phillies are really missing Ryan Howard and Chase Utley. They are Philly’s best two hitters and they have struggled this year. It doesn’t matter if you have the league’s best starting rotation, you need to score runs. It doesn’t help that Jimmy Rollins is off to a bad start. The NL East will be one of the most competitive races this year. Washington and Atlanta are legit contenders and this could turn into a two team race if the Phillies can’t manufacture more offense.

– The Tigers aren’t a lock to win the AL Central. On paper, Detroit is the best team…by far. They started off hot, but they are currently 12-11. Their starting rotation has been a mess with Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello, and Adam Wilk all having an ERA over 5.50. Miguel Cabrera and Austin Jackson have been most of the team’s offense. Prince Fielder is a second-half player, so he’ll help carry the team down the stretch.

April was an exciting beginning to the 2012 season. I can’t wait for what transpires in May and to see which teams prove their worth. You’ll start to see the hitters catch up with the pitchers in May. Players who haven’t found power this season (Pujols, Alfonso Soriano, Nelson Cruz), expect them to bounce back next month.

The following pictures are a treat to my female readers. You have all be very kind to this site and here’s a little eye candy for you. (The first photo is the funniest picture that I’ve seen in a long, long time)

By: TwitterButtons.com

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

2009 Un-All-Star Team – Revisited

Back in the middle of June, I made a list of players who should have better numbers, but off to a bad start. My 2009 Un-All-Star Team had all of the usual suspects, Ortiz, A-Rod, Lidge, etc. Check to see who made the team and see how they fared since I posted this in June.

Some of these players helped their team make the playoffs, while others are the reasons their teams didn’t live up to their potential. I vote the few Chicago Cubs that made the list as my person Least Valuable Players on my Un-All-Star team.

The Batting Average next to the players names were as of June 21st, 2009.

Catchers
Kelly Shoppach .194 – currently at .223 – He never got it together this season
Dioner Navarro .218 – currently at .219 – Seems like he’s been consistently bad
Geovany Soto .222 – currently at .219 – He’s been on the DL on and off all season

First Base
Conor Jackson .182 – currently at .182 – He been on the DL all 2nd-half of the season
Carlos Guillen .200 – currently at .258 – He’s the definition of a 2nd-half player
Chris Davis .200 – currently at .229 – He’s a strikeout machine
Jason Giambi .212 – currently at .206 – Giambi is now on the Rockies, but eating some bench
Lance Berkman .241 – currently at .269 – He turned his season around, a bit

Second Base
Alexi Casilla .180 – currently at .196 – Not good, not at all
Dan Uggla .216 – currently at .238 – He has power, but swings at anything
Howie Kendrick .231 – currently at .298 – Has had a great August, finally found his swing
Kelly Johnson .227 – currently at .220 – He lost his starting job

Third Base
Garrett Atkins .205 – currently at .222 – Lost his starting job and barely plays
Alex Rodriguez .212 – currently at .285 – His hip has healed up nicely

Shortstop
Mike Aviles .183 – currently at .183 – Has been on the DL since June
Khalil Greene .213 – currently .204 – Seldomly used on the St. Louis bench
Jimmy Rollins .223 – currently at .247 – His power came back with his swing
Orlando Cabrera .235 – currently at .276 – Has had a fantastic 2nd half with Minnesota

Outfield
Ken Griffey Jr. .220 – currently at .214 – It might be time to hang it up, Junior
Grady Sizemore .223 – currently at .248 – The Indians have already shut him down
Alfonso Soriano .229 – currently at .241 – Back on the DL again for Fonzie
B.J. Upton .229 – currently at .238 – Has started off bad and never got it
Ryan Ludwick .234 – currently at .270 – Once Holliday arrived, he started to hit
Pat Burrell .236 – currently at .225 – Overpaid and Underwhelming

Designated Hitter
David Ortiz .207 – currently at .235 – At least his power came back

Starting Pitchers
Chien-Ming Wang 12.30 – currently at 9.64 – He came down with a “mysterious injury”
Oliver Perez 9.97 – currently at 6.82 – He was really, really bad this season
Scott Kazmir 7.69 – currently at 5.06 – Pitched much better since trade to Angels
Fausto Carmona 7.42 – currently at 6.62 – He’s better, but still bad
Ricky Nolasco 7.15 – currently at 5.28 – Nolasco has been good at random times
Andy Sonnanstine 6.60 – currently at 6.94 – He amazingly got worse
John Lackey 6.10 – currently at 3.77 – He returned to his regular form
Francisco Lirano 5.91 – currently at 5.88 – Pretty consistently bad

Bullpen
Brad Lidge 7.27 – currently at 7.51 – Bad, plus factor in 11 blown saves
Troy Percival 6.35 – currently at 6.35 – He has been on the DL
B.J. Ryan 5.71 – currently unemployed – His career could be over
Manny Corpas 5.40 – currently at 5.88 – Bounced between minors and Colorado
J.J. Putz 5.22 – currently at 5.22 – Injury hit him as well

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A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

The Re-casting of "Major League"


Joe Sports Fan needed more questions for his podcast a few weeks ago and I thought that it would be fun to re-cast the movie “Major League” with current Major League baseball players. He thought it was a good idea and may touch on it in a future podcast. I started brainstorming ideas about who would play each character and thought it deserved its own post. Here is the player-by-player re-casting of the movie “Major League.” (I had to thrown in other sports figures for the female characters).

Jake Taylor – This character needs to be played by a catcher who is on his last legs, but is enjoying a nice season. I choose Jason Varitek since he seemed washed-up last year and it playing great this season. He is also the captain, which Taylor certainly was in “Major League.”

Rick Vaughn – I know what you’re thinking, he should be John Rocker. That would have been the answer about 7-8 years ago, but we need a current baseball player to play “Wild Thing.” I think Joba Chamberlain is a great fit to play Rick Vaughn. He was arrested for a DUI, so he has the sketchy criminal past. He is pretty wild on occassion, especially his celebratory fist pumps.

Roger Dorn – Dorn’s character has to be a guy who has made a lot of money during his career and is just out there for endorsements and maybe some road-tail. He has to play 3rd base, so I’m going with Alex Rodriguez, although A-Rod would probably be the one that would try and sleep with a player’s wife, not the other way around.

Willie “Mays” Hayes – My early vote would have gone to Torii Hunter, since Mays had a great glove and made a few nice catches in center. I couldn’t do it, ’cause Hunter is a 5-tool player and Hayes couldn’t hit well and possibly floated around in the minors awahile. I have to go with Joey Gathright since Mays would probably put up YouTube videos of himself jumping over things too. Gathright isn’t known for his bat, but if he hits grounders, I’m sure he could leg out a few infield singles.

Eddie Harris – Harris was the old-timer that used Vagisil, among other foreign substances, to get movement on the ball. He probably threw a 75mph fastball. This pick was easy, Jamie Moyer is the unanimous choice. He is in his later 40’s and hasn’t see 90 on the radar gun since he married Digger Phelps’ daughter.

Pedro Cerrano – Cerrano prayed to the voodoo gods to help him hit a curveball. He had crazy power, but he was a little crazy. Milton Bradley is the perfect player, although the voodoo religion ties are unfounded. I could see Bradley using bat-warmers and lighting gunpower to awake his bat.

Coach Lou Brown – Brown was a lifer coaching in the minors and came up to coach the Indians. I think he is a smarter coach than he portrayed in the movie. I assume that he was one of the first coaches to use VORP and BBIP to revise his daily line-up of characters. I’m going to throw a curveball here and say that Trey Hillman, the coach of the Kansas City Royals. Hillman coached all over before he was given the shot at the Royals. He is known as a smart guy and a little of a hardass.

Rachel Phelps – She was the ex-showgirl that received the Indians when the owner died. He wanted the team to tank so she could move the team to Miami. I thought long and hard about this and think that Monica Seles would fit the role of Phelps. Seles has been dating the owner of the Buffalo Sabres for awhile and think that she may be in it for the long haul. If he kicks the bucket, Seles could be in line to own a small-market sports franchise.

Lynn Wells – Wells was the character that ended up with Jake Taylor at the end. She clearly has a thing for baseball players, possibly a fetish. I would like Alyssa Milano to play the role of Lynn Wells. Milano has dated many players and she is a huge fan. This could also help the eye-candy factor for the movie.

Harry Doyle – Doyle was the play-by-play announcer for the Cleveland Indians. He was played by Bob Uecker and he did a fantastic job. I would like to see Uecker reprise his role, since he was still the play-by-play guy for the Milwaukee Brewers.

That was my re-casting of the movie “Major League.” It was the 20th anniversary of the movie’s release on Monday. The Cleveland Indians gaveaway a Rick Vaughn bobblehead and had Bob Uecker throw out the first pitch. The pitch was “just a bit outside.”

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.

A-Rod – Desperate Housewives Edition

There are reports that Alex Rodriguez and have allegedly split up. I can’t say that this is surprising, but for a extremely rich athlete who is in the public eye as A-Rod is, it’s hard to keep a marriage together. There are rumors that A-Rod has been seeking the solace of Madonna and his wife has been spending a lot of time with Lenny Kravitz. Really? Is A-Rod imitating Jose Canseco’s career to a tee? Canseco was link with Madonna years ago and both have also been linked to a certain “pharmaceutical” craze in baseball as well.

I can’t remember a more polarizing figure in baseball than Alex Rodriguez. Curt Schilling is very polarizing, but the Red Sox are a lovable team and it saves him from receiving even more scrutiny than he already does. Schilling has one thing going for him, he’s actually had success in the post-season, something A-Rod hasn’t accomplished. The next time the Yankees make the post-season, A-Rod can do himself a favor and carry his team to a World Series championship and save himself from a lot of the bad press he receives.

I think being single could be a good thing for Rodriguez. Imagine what kind of action he could get with Derek Jeter working as a wingman or “bro.” He can take care of a slump the old fashion way and take one for the team, a.k.a. “Slumpbuster.”

Suit Up!

A Sports & Entertainment blog that focuses on absurdity in sports, snarky banter, updates on Tim Tebow’s virginity, and decent sports gambling advice.