What If A-Rod Was A Sox?

Posted by Mike Giardi April 16, 2008 at 10:34 pm

I know Alex Rodriguez can be disingenuous. I know he hasn’t exactly shined in the postseason. I know that he’s not the most popular player in the league. And finally, I know that there are remain some rumblings about possible steroid use (thanks to Jose Canseco). But barring a big injury - the man will be worth many of the millions that the Yanks will pay him. I mean, he looks every bit like the hitter he was in his 20’s now in his early 30’s. Heck, maybe even better.

You wonder then - if A-Rod was legitimately going to walk away from the Bronx last offseason - just how much interest the Sox would have had. Oh sure, I know what  the Sox said at the time, but are you telling me they wouldn’t have thought long and hard about putting together a big, fat offer for him? Considering the dearth of middle of the lineup boppers, and that Manny’s deal is set to expire, I still think they would have been prominently involved.

That’s not to say it would have been the right thing to do. If A-Rod can’t keep a low profile in the Big Apple, what would have happened to him here in the smallest big city in the country? For starters, he would have been driven crazy by the Sox fan base. Ask any one of those players on the roster now just how much breathing room they get when they go out. Answer: zero. This place can be suffocating. Its part of the appeal about working here, from my perspective. Everybody’s got an opinion. I mean, everybody. I think my Mom just ripped me for something I said on the air last weekend. I can’t say that I didn’t deserve it. But for a player like A-Rod, who has the reputation of having “rabbit ears,” I think that would be a move that eventually the Sox would have regretted. Now that’s something for the Yankee organization to ponder, but with their deep pockets, it would have been just another drop in their 1.3 billion dollar bucket.