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A-Rod and 'Roids: By now you know that A-Rod aka A-Roid tested positive in 2003 for taking steroids. Many of you are probably shocked that this news came out, but I am not shocked in the least. I've felt for years that A-Rod has been getting a free pass in all this steroids talk, because he has been linked to Canseco since he was a teenager. I mean anyone who is linked to Canseco has to be suspect. Just because the guy is clean cut and a yes man doesn't mean he's not capable of taking 'roids. You can say shame on A-Rod all you want, but if you were willing to give him a free pass all these years well then you got played big time. The man is on historic pace to break the all-time home run record and records that immense are not meant to be broken so easily. That alone made me suspect of A-Rod to begin with. He also was not the biggest guy in the world when he was with Seattle when he first came up. He also played for the Marniners(Buhner, Edgar, Sorrento, Boone) and Rangers(Pudge, Juan Gonzalez, Canseco, Palmiero, Dean Palmer) who have quite a few guys who either were suspected of doing 'roids. bulked up pretty quickly, or who actually tested positive for taking 'roids. Put all those things together and you might be able to see why I have always had my suspicions. Not to mention that everyone keeps blowing off what Canseco says, but has the guy been proven wrong yet? No, I don't think he has.Impact on A-Rod & Yankees: So what impact will this story have on A-Rod's play and the Yankees? Well, whether the Yankees like it or not, A-Rod is going to be the story of this season and when he starts to get close to breaking the HR record he will be the story once again. A-Rod's performance and image could both suffer when this is all said and done. His image is going to take a big hit for sure and one would think that since A-Rod is so concerned about his image that his performance might suffer as well because of all the drama surrounding him. That is definitely not good news for the Yankees, who can't be happy that they are now stuck with A-Rod for another 9 years. Luckily, they have signed Mark Teixeira, which should take a lot of heat off of A-Rod on the field at least.
I also find it funny that for someone who is so concerned about his image that he would do things that are of low “ethics”, like cheat on his wife and take ‘roids. If he was really so concerned then he would probably stay away from things like that. Seems more to me like “concern for his image” is more like “hide from the public the fact that I’m a jerk”. Maybe A-Fraud is a nickname he got for a reason.
Yankees Management: If I'm Yankees management I'm kind of pissed that they found out about this one year after they sign him to a huge contract. I don't know, but it seems kind of fishy that this story was sitting around since 2003 and we are just finding out about it now. You would think that teams around baseball should at least know which guys tested positive if they play for your team at some point, then you at least can make the decision of whether or not to sign them. Sure they players would bitch that it isn't fair, but they shouldn't have taken the stuff in the first place.
Yankees Fans: The other element of this story is the reaction of the Yankee fans. First let me state that I don't think A-Rod is worth all the trouble he's caused since becoming a Yankee. He’s been nothing but drama since he came to the Yankees, whether it’s his fault or not. He's pretty much sucked all the fun out of rooting for the Yankees. If you are a Yankee fan then rooting for the Yankees during the A-Rod era has not been fun to say the least. Even if this current group of Yankees wins, it will be hard to take pleasure in that victory when most likely the biggest story will surround some sort of drama with A-Rod and completely take the focus off of the victory. To be honest, I just wish A-Rod was gone, whether it makes the team worse or not, they would definitely be more fun to root for. The steroids issue is just the last straw in my mind of what has been season after season of drama.
Jose Canseco: I was never a fan of Canseco as a player, but anyone who did not believe his claims about who was taking steroids owes him a big apology. Nothing that Canseco has said has been proven to be untrue and the A-Rod positive test just adds to his credibility on this issue in my mind. It seems like Canseco is doing a better job of outing steroid users then that stupid Mitchell Report did. I used to hate Canseco as a player, hell we used to call people "you big Jose Canseco steroid face" in middle school back in the mid-90's, but I respect him for what he's doing now, regardless of how shady his motives may be. The fact that MLB wouldn't even sit down and talk with Canseco is a joke. They clearly are covering their asses and didn't want someone like A-Rod to get caught up in all of this.
LA Angels: The Angels are finally starting to look at signing Bobby Abreu & Adam Dunn, which I feel they need to do because they are in desperate need of a bat. However, there is still a strong possibility that they use a combination of Juan Rivera, Gary Matthews, Jr., and Reggie Willits in left field and designated hitter. At this point, I'm starting to wonder if the Angels are trying to lose the AL West on purpose. Why they wouldn't go after Abreu or Dunn to DH at a discount price is beyond me. Dunn seems like he would be a perfect fit for the Angels, because when he isn't DH'ing he could also fill in for the Angels at 1B and OF, especially if Kendry Morales doesn't pan out at 1B. The A's are probably crossing their fingers that the Angels don't sign one of these guys.
Other MLB News:
- The Padres signed OF Cliff Floyd, who hit .268 with 11 home runs and 39 RBI for the Rays last season. I don't expect Floyd to last the season with the Padres, because he is the perfect player to come off the bench for a playoff contender. Expect to see Floyd traded around the deadline, because that is the only way this move makes sense for both sides.
- Andruw Jones signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers in an attempt to resurrect his career. This is an excellent move for the Rangers because there is no risk involved and if Jones performs well they can trade him or one of the other players in their crowded outfield. Jones will join and OF that includes Josh Hamilton, David Murphy, Nelson Cruz, Marlon Byrd, and Frank Catalanatto. This is also a good move for Jones who will get to play in a hitters park if he does make the team.
- The Diamondbacks signed reliever Tom Gordon to a one year deal, which should help them replace Brandon Lyon and soon to be departed free agent reliever Juan Cruz.
- The Dodgers strengthened the back end of their rotation by signing Randy Wolf to a 1 year, $5 million deal. Wolf was 12-12 last season with a 4.30 ERA in 190.3 innings and should be a solid addition to the back end of the Dodgers rotation.
- The Mariners have some interest in Garrett Anderson, but they also are interested in Ken Griffey, Jr. and Bobby Abreu. If I'm the Mariners, I sign Abreu cheap and then deal him at the deadline for some more prospects.
- The A's continue to look for ways to help their team improve and are showing interest in SS Orlando Cabrera again. At this point, Cabrera doesn't have many options and would be wise to sign with the A's, where he would be guaranteed a full time role and might even have an outside shot to make the playoffs.
More: MLB & MLB Weekly
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