1. In today’s Post I wrote this column about how the moons have aligned in such a way that the Yankees actually need Alex Rodriguez.
As I point out in the piece, from a big-picture perspective, the Yankees would be better off if A-Rod didn’t play this season and they could recoup his insurance money, which they possibly could put toward acquiring other players in July or August. The Yanks – again from the big picture – also wouldn’t mind if the Biogenesis scandal led to a 50- or 100-game suspension for A-Rod.
In that scenario, the Yankees also do not have to pay A-Rod during a suspension and it would open a window – a very small window – in which they could conceivably try to void the rest of his contract.
To that end, the Miami New Times, which broke the original Biogenesis story, has this piece online today in which their original whistleblower steps forward to explain his involvement with the clinic, its owner, Tony Bosch, and his interactions with investigators from both the Florida government and Major League Baseball.
If his account proves accurate and his documents sound, it will be another blow to the major leaguers who allegedly appear on them, which includes A-Rod.
This is beginning to have that Mission Impossible feel to it. A-Rod is down in Tampa and eyewitnesses I have spoken with say he looks great. That he is moving well and that the ball is jumping off his bat. He is rehabbing a second hip surgery and trying to return sometime after the All-Star break, right around his 38th birthday.
With Kevin Youkilis in need of surgery for a herniated disc and lost for at least 2 1/2 months and possibly for the season, and with Mark Teixeira on the DL again and wrist surgery looming over him as a possibility, the Yankees could sure use even the .800-ish OPS A-Rod sported most of last year.
But while he is moving toward a field, we have this other stuff ongoing.
Such as does A-Rod even want to play? There is certainly a school of thought that Rodriguez does not believe he can play capably without chemical enhancement and does not want to humiliate and reveal himself further by even trying.
Another school wonders if Rodriguez wants to subject himself to the public ridicule he will have to endure in The Bronx and on the road if he does come back, and might just decide it is best to find a way to reach an agreement to get most, if not all of his remaining dough (he is owed $86 million after this season through 2017).
And then there is simply the question if Bud Selig’s enforcers will build enough of a case to get to Rodriguez first and suspend him before he even steps on the field for the Yankees or shortly thereafter.
With A-Rod, you never just get baseball. You get the drama, too.
2. Before the rainout yesterday, I was sitting at the Stadium and thinking how little $400 million-plus buys you these days.
There were the Yankees and Dodgers – baseball’s only $200 million-plus payrolls – and they were really background noise in New York sports yesterday.
There was Matt Harvey going for a no-hitter yesterday afternoon and Zack Wheeler making his debut at night. And folks were waiting on Game 6 of the NBA Finals to see if the Spurs could beat the Heat and win another title.
And it was not as if the Dodgers-Yankees were wanting for storylines, what with Don Mattingly’s return to the Stadium and Yasiel Puig’s New York debut.
Still, the electricity was doused by far more than the heavy rains. Well, maybe if A-Rod were back, it would get more attention.
3. It is amazin’ what a little bit of hope can do. The Mets, even with a doubleheader win yesterday, are tied for the fourth-worst record in the majors. Yet, just having the combo of Harvey/Wheeler pitch, and pitch well, makes the whole atmosphere around the club at least a little brighter.
If you are a Met fan, you can dream that June 18, 2013 was a beachhead, a day when the organization began going in a better direction. It was a day when both Harvey and Wheeler earned victories, and a fan base felt like winners again – at least for 24 hours.
Look, the Mets are still not good enough. There are just too many holes in the lineup and bullpen, too much negative karma still to reverse.
But there always has to be a start to something good, and in baseball that start usually begins with talent. And we already knew about Harvey’s talent and now we have glimpsed the skill of Wheeler and it no longer is some far-off blueprint about them uniting.
Of course, there will be growing pains – though I keep expecting a pothole or three for Harvey as the league adjusts to him, and we just have not seen that yet.
But if you are a Mets fan this morning, go ahead and dream. Why not? You have dealt with quite a lot of baseball-induced misery for a while. And if you are not going to dream today, when exactly are you going to?