Good Riddance

Strange feelings abound with regard to Alex Rodriguez this morning.

Before he arrived in the Bronx, I had no love for the man. I, like many, thought he was a sublimely-talented mercenary and an amazingly egotistical a-hole to boot. My gut reaction when they first picked him up was not completely positive.

But much like Johnny Damon, I got over my loathing once he put on the pinstripes, because – as we’ve discussed before in this space – when you root for a sports team, you’re basically rooting for laundry. It took some getting used to, sure, but it helps to win two MVPs in four years.

Now that he appears to be leaving for Chicago, Boston or the West Coast, I have to say I’m not as disappointed as maybe I should be.

That’s not to say I’m happy to see him go. I was looking forward to watching ARod chase down the all-time milestones in a Yankee uniform, and to be honest, a sappy part of me was looking forward to the classical stage-play that might have been: ARod conquers his legitimate need for validation, and his rocky relationship with the media and fans, to adopt his rightful place on the throne of the greatest sports empire known to man. Like Aragorn, or something.

And his direct on-field contributions will be missed, of course. While I’m not convinced he would have repeated his amazing 2007, he still will be worth a good 5-6 wins above average over the next few years at least. As such, the Yanks are probably looking at an 85-90 win season next year, barring additional moves.

However, there is a hell of a silver lining around this dark cloud.

For one thing, the Yankees have now freed up a chunk of change for next year and beyond. They had been talking about a $200 million commitment, for a guy who is already 32. That’s money that will be put to good use signing free agents, draftees, or international players – and paying a superstar almost $30 million when he’s 40 isn’t my idea of good use (hello Roger!). Let somebody else saddle themselves with that kind of financial commitment (I will also say this here: if the Sox sign him, they REALLY, TRULY lose all claim to this “underdog” fantasy, and that’s the end of that, yes? Not that I actually think they'll do it - I'm just sayin').

For another thing: while it was easy to overlook ARod’s flaws when he was hitting bombs into the black bleachers in centerfield, the reality of it is, he was never really likable. I wanted him to be likable, and I think he wanted to be likable, but he never got there – maybe because he felt he had to compete with Jeter, maybe not. Who knows. But it wasn’t always easy to root for him (much like Giambi, in a different way). He has this habit of saying these incredibly-egotistical-yet-so-clearly-insecure-and-defensive things. For whatever reason, ARod (and wife) were at times an obnoxious circus, and when he takes his home runs, he’ll also take that side of the ARod experience. Not a bad thing.

Finally, I don’t think losing his contribution necessarily hurts the team as much as it appears. The Yankees offense was nuclear last year with ARod, but take him away and they still have a good lineup. And with the continued growth of the young pitching already on the roster, and the farm system starting to really produce, I think you can see how those extra 6-7 wins ARod would provide can be cobbled together – and cobbled together the right way, with pitching. They’ll still be a good team – and with better pitching, they may even be better geared towards postseason success. Just floating that thought out there.

The irony is, ARod makes noise about wanting to win a title, but he just left a team that’s getting set up to make a nice run at multiple titles in the very near future. His loss.

So, the reality is that there are lots of things I’m going to miss with ARod gone – but there are lots of thing I’m definitely not going to miss. It feels like I'm getting an old enemy back - the ARod I used to love to hate. I hope the Steinbrothers stick to their guns and don’t negotiate with the son of a gun, and use that money to re-sign Posada and Mariano and rebuild a team that has the pitching to contend in 2009, if not sooner. Yankeeland need not be worried.

So long, ARod. I guess everyone was right about you. Thanks for the memories, and don’t let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.