Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein had a tough sell in explaining why he hired Manny Ramirez as a player-coach for his Triple-A squad and offered this in a statement:
“Manny is not only one of the best hitters of all time, he is also a dedicated student of hitting and has proven to be a gifted teacher with younger teammates who have worked with him in the batting cage. Behind the scenes he has always been a tireless worker who is very serious about the craft of hitting. Manny has made real mistakes in the past but he has owned up to them and moved his life in a positive direction the last couple of years. He is in a really great place right now and wants to share the lessons he’s learned along the way. We think he deserves another chance and that our young hitters will benefit from it.”
Now re-read that statement and replace the name “Manny” with “Alex.” Go ahead, I’ll wait.
It works doesn’t it? Alex Rodriguez is one of the best hitters of all-time, a dedicated student of hitting, a tireless worker, a proven gifted teacher who loved to share his knowledge with youngsters and a player who has made real mistakes in the past.
Stop there. The rest we do not know about. Rodriguez’s latest contrition tour is certainly nearing. Will he own up to his mistakes? Will he convince people that he really has moved into a positive place?
My guess is he will try. After all, he sold it once after his 2009 steroid outing and generally received the best coverage and fan support of his Yankees tenure. Of course, he ended up betraying all of that. Plus, when it comes to Rodriguez will anyone ever believe he is sincere — or simply putting on yet another act?
I actually think you can make a case Ramirez is the more offensive of the two. Both are repeat losers in the PED dragnet. But no one ever questioned if A-Rod — like with Manny — had stopped trying on the field as a protest about future salaries or treated defense as a necessary evil needed to hit. He never attacked an aged traveling secretary. Ramirez did that.
Yet, Ramirez benefitted from a perception of zaniness rather than cruelty — “Manny being Manny” became shorthand for poor behavior. No one sees A-Rod as zany. Calculating, yes. Fraudulent, definitely. Self-absorbed, you bet.
Because the Yankees owe him $61 million for 2015-17, they may bring A-Rod back after his yearlong suspension to see if he has anything left or to try to get insurance money in case he proves incapable of playing. But once that drama concludes, A-Rod will be a man without a team. I can’t imagine any of the three clubs that employed him — Mariners, Rangers or Yankees — wanting anything to do with a man who I believe loves baseball, hates irrelevancy and would want to stay involved in some fashion.
Of course, I never thought any former employer of Ramirez would dance with him again. Yet Epstein — who saw the best and worst of Ramirez in Boston — decided Ramirez had turned around his life and would be a good tutor and role model for youngsters, particularly struggling, touted prospect Javier Baez.
Perhaps, this could happen for Rodriguez — someone such as Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria thinking there is upside PR value in employing A-Rod in his Miami hometown. But keep in mind Rodriguez disenchanted fellow players in a way Ramirez never did by essentially suing them all when he sued the players association. Ramirez never publicly took on the commissioner and the whole sport in what for months was a scorched-earth legal and media assault. Finding an A-Rod ally within the confines of the game is difficult, and unearthing someone in power who will put his name to employing him (beyond the Yankees in the short-term) is akin to hunting unicorns.
Maybe time and a well-choreographed “I’m a changed man” barrage will heal wounds, change perceptions enough to provide a way back into the sport for Rodriguez.
My suspicion, though, is all that has led to this moment will not go away, and there will be a lifetime penalty for A-Rod being A-Rod.
Astros’ Springer leaps into ROY conversation
For much of the first-quarter of the season, the AL Rookie of the Year debate was between international men of distinction — Masahiro Tanaka and Jose Abreu. Even with Abreu spending a few weeks on the disabled list with an injured left ankle, that duo remain the front-runners.
But after a tortuous first 15 games in the majors (.180 batting average, .467 OPS, no homers, five walks, 23 strikeouts), Astros super prospect George Springer is more than honoring his pedigree. In the 22 games since, the righty-hitting outfielder hit .333 with a 1.161 OPS, nine homers, 13 walks and 27 strikeouts. He is the first significant prospect of what the Astros expect to be a steady wave that carries them from oblivion to consistent contention. And Houston is 12-10 during Springer’s surge, which might not sound like much, except when you consider the Astros have lost at least 106 games in each of the past three years and were 10-20 — a 108-loss pace — before the hot streak began.
Boston’s Xander Bogaerts and the Yankees’ Dellin Betances might also push their way into Rookie consideration, as might Kansas City’s Yordano Ventura if his elbow injury really only costs him one start.
Giants have a happy, spacious home
The Giants should stand as an example to the Mets that playing in a big park can bring not only happiness, but championships. The Giants have won two of the last four titles and — continuing their even-year excellence — lead the NL West.
They generally have done that with superb starting pitching and excellent coordination of a strong bullpen by manager Bruce Bochy. But this season they have been a high-end offense. Here is something amazing: They began Wednesday’s games with three outfielders qualified for the batting title — Mike Morse, Angel Pagan and Hunter Pence — with better than an .800 OPS. No other NL team had more than one.
Morse was a buy-low ($6 million) reclamation project gone right. He’s healthy, has 10 homers and is kind of Pat Burrell 2.0 for San Francisco. The Giants were oft-criticized for giving Pagan a four-year, $40 million deal and Pence a five-year, $85 million pact to prevent losing them to free agency. But the Giants operate more off the grid than any other organization, they like what they like (which is often their own), and they don’t listen to outside noise, particularly from the sabermetric crowd.
And, for the record, Pagan had an .806 OPS as a Met at Citi Field from 2009-2011. The only Met outfielder with more than 100 games who has done better in that stadium is Carlos Beltran (.848).