Chuck

Wallace Matthews
October 30, 2007
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Seven years ago, Steve Phillips looked at Alex Rodriguez and saw a problem. Today, Omar Minaya should look at A-Rod and see a solution.

One general manager's 24-and-1 guy could just as easily be another's 54-and-156 guy. One guy's headache could be another guy's aspirin. One team's distraction could turn out to be another team's main attraction.

So what if it didn't work out for A-Rod in the Bronx? There are four other boroughs in this town and one other baseball team. The Yankees no longer have a spot for baseball's best player? Well, I'm sure they could clear a little spot for him in Flushing.

It was the Mets, remember, not the Yankees, whom A-Rod chose as his preferred landing spot in New York when he became a free agent in 2000. They could have had him cheaper than the $252 million Tom Hicks agreed to hand over to Scott Boras for a decade of service, but there was that one little hitch.

Publicly at least, Phillips thought A-Rod was too much the diva, a me-me-me-me guy who would tear apart the delicate fiber of his clubhouse. Besides, he already had a diva in the manager's office, and his boss, Fred Wilpon, didn't want to pay even the hometown- discount rate Boras was willing to accept. So like the good company man he was at the time, Phillips concocted his little yarn and took the bullet for his boss.

But now Phillips is playing a GM on television, Wilpon is a little freer with the cash and his new GM, Minaya, has yet to experience a case of sticker shock when it comes time to improving the ballclub.

Yes, the planets are aligned over Flushing Bay for a reconciliation between the Mets and Alex Rodriguez.

In the seven years since they passed on A-Rod, a lot has changed around the Mets. They have gotten a little better on the field and they have gotten a lot more tolerant in the clubhouse toward the concept of the 24-and-1 guy, hence Pedro Martinez. Then there's Tom Glavine. 23-and-1. Jose Reyes. 22-and-1. Lastings Milledge. You get the idea.

But one thing hasn't changed a bit. They still run second to the Yankees all the time. This was all supposed to change in 2007 - Your Season Has Come, remember - but in the end, all the October action, on field and off, took place in the Bronx.

But now they have another chance. All month long, the Yankees have helped the Mets by keeping them off the back pages. Now the Mets can return the favor. All Wilpon has to do is open the checkbook a little wider and do what he should have done in 2000. All he has to do is make Rodriguez a Met.

Think of how easy a transition this would be. Rodriguez could hold on to his apartment in Manhattan. He still could sunbathe in the park. (Flushing Meadow, not Central.) The Mets, having learned from past mistakes, could offer Alex and Cynthia their own reality show on SNY. (Anna Benson is going to be sooooo jealous!) And just like that, all those unsold luxury boxes and season subscriptions to Citi Field will vanish like Carlos Delgado during "God Bless America."

Best of all, with the stroke of a pen, the Mets can give their fans real reasons to go to the ballpark next year, aside from getting one last look at Shea Stadium.

For the first time in their history, the Mets would have the best player in the game while he still was the best player in the game. For the first time in their history, they could sign a free agent and watch him get better, not worse.

And for one of the few times in their history, the Mets' lineup would have a hitter you would delay a trip to the restroom to watch hit. Darryl Strawberry was that guy 20 years ago. A-Rod is that guy now.

Sure, they would have to rearrange some furniture - how about A-Rod to third, David Wright to first and Delgado to the American League as a DH? Or A-Rod back to short and Jose Reyes to Minnesota for Johan Santana? - but you're adding a Ming vase here. You can lose an end table.

And before you start carping about A-Rod's postseason performance or lack thereof, just remember that these are the Mets we're talking about. Chances are there will be no postseason. Unless, of course, Rodriguez does for them what he did for the Yankees this year.

There's really only one thing left for the Mets to do. Get that merchandising tent out of the attic and set it up outside the ballpark. The 24-and-1 guy they snubbed yesterday is the one guy they need today.

Chuck

And KO has got to love this line

bornredhead2

If this doesn't convince you of just how bad an idea sigining Arod is, I don't know what will.

Chuck

Klap trap also weighs in:

By BOB KLAPISCH
RECORD COLUMNIST




While the Yankee hierarchy and Major League Baseball reacted with outrage at Alex Rodriguez's decision to opt out of his contract on the night of Game 4 of the World Series, the Mets didn't seem to have a problem with it. In fact, early indicators suggest the Mets are leaning toward a full metal jacket courtship of the slugger, pending David Wright's blessing.

This is no small obstacle, since ownership is wary of offending Flushing's most marketable and loyal star. "We already have a third baseman," is what one high-ranking official said on Monday. That's the party line -- for now.

But the Mets are well aware that Wright volunteered in spring training to switch positions if it meant luring A-Rod to Flushing. The story was first reported in The Record on March 4.

Club officials plan to ask Wright if he still feels that way. As of Monday night, the Mets' third baseman was noncommittal, waiting to hear from ownership.

"Nobody has talked to me about any free agents," Wright wrote in a text message. "I would want to speak with Jeff [Wilpon] and Omar [Minaya] first."

Of course, there's no guarantee A-Rod would sign with the Mets, even if Wright moved to, say, second base. Could the Wilpon family write a big enough check? Apparently so. With free agents Tom Glavine ($10.5 million), Shawn Green ($3.7 million), Paul Lo Duca ($6.25 million) and Jose Valentin ($3.8 million) all likely to come off the books, Rodriguez's asking price of $30-something million isn't quite so prohibitive.

"We can afford him," one Met insider said confidently. "It's going to be a baseball question more than a money question. Do we want him? Is he a good fit for one team? That's what we have to talk about."

Wright seemed to feel Rodriguez was a perfect match -- and that was before A-Rod blasted through the greatest regular season of the last 50 years. Putting aside his insatiable appetite for money and ruthless negotiating tactics, the Mets ultimately will have to decide if A-Rod's 50-plus homers and 150 RBI are worth the tidal wave of controversy that would follow him into the clubhouse.

Last March, this is what Wright had to say to reporters:

"If Omar [Minaya] or someone from the front office approaches me and says, 'Hey, we're looking, Alex has an interest in coming to Queens,' I'd be the first one to offer to play anywhere they want me to because like I said, a guy like that just makes a team completely better from the get-go."

What remains to be seen is whether the Mets' interest would tempt the Yankees to reenter negotiations. It's hard to know who's bluffing and who's not. Friends of Rodriguez believe he would have a sincere interest in playing for the Mets – at the right price, of course – regardless of how it would damage his Yankee legacy. It's worth noting that Rodriguez was house-hunting in Greenwich, Conn., in the last few months, and the idea of staying in New York was seconded by his wife, Cynthia.

The other issue is where Wright actually would play. Second base is the obvious choice, but there's nothing that says he could learn the position quickly, if at all. And the wear and tear of turning double plays also might factor into the Mets' thinking.

And then there's the dark cloud that seems to dog Rodriguez wherever he goes. You can now count the Yankees as part of the anti-A-Rod army. Despite general manager Brian Cashman's graciously worded statement that bid farewell to the third baseman, the organization's truer feelings were reflected in the comments of one high-ranking official, who was disgusted at the timing of Rodriguez's opt-out on Sunday.

Not only did the announcement upstage the World Series, but, as the official said: "He had [agent Scott] Boras tell the media before he told us. That's not right."

Asked if the Yankees would use the 15-day window during which they can negotiate exclusively with Rodriguez, the executive said: "No chance. Absolutely none. We're done with him. He'll never play here again"

A-Rod and Boras didn't make any friends in the commissioner's office, either. Protocol says that no news is generated during the Series; the industry-wide blackout is observed in deference to the sport's premier event. But Rodriguez was the prime topic of discussion during Fox's broadcast Sunday night, trumping the Red Sox' sweep of the Rockies and their second world championship in four years.

"There was no reason to make an announcement [Sunday] night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "[Sunday] night and [Monday] belong to the Boston Red Sox, who should be celebrated for their achievement, and to the Colorado Rockies, who made such an unbelievable run to the World Series."

One baseball official suggested A-Rod opted out on Sunday because he knew the Yankees were about to hire Joe Girardi, whom he didn't want to play for. So instead of bolting after Girardi's coronation and making it appear he was rejecting the new manager, A-Rod left hours before, under the guise of not having enough time to assess the direction of a team in transition.

That ploy may have saved Girardi some embarrassment, but it didn't buy A-Rod good will anywhere else. Except, maybe, in Queens, where the fantasy lingers: just how would those 150 RBI look in the Met lineup, anyway?

Kid A

Totally agree.

swataz

Now watch the Mets actually sign him. lol

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Hojo of 1991

So, Klap, who catches, who pitches, and who the hell ios left for the bench?

mets84

I thought this was funny:

"Nobody has talked to me about any free agents," Wright wrote in a text message. "I would want to speak with Jeff [Wilpon] and Omar [Minaya] first."

had no idea journalism was getting done this way. I kind of imagine klapisch was all like, "d00d u wn2 mve 4 arod?" and wright was like "I dnt knw, ask Omar, kthxbye".

RkFast

Of COURSE those two *******s want the Mets to get him...so their NEXT column

A) Blast the **** out of them if they dont for being cheap.

or

B) Blast the heck out of them if they do for "trying to be like the Yankees"

These two douchebags are KINGS of setting the tone for their own material.

And I just had to LOL at the prospect of "unsold seats and boxes" at CitiField.

RkFast

OMFG...how does this guy keep his job?

Bay Ridge Dave

I will certainly live if the Mets passed on A-Rod...

BUT....

(1) Bad FA crop does not mean can't try and make trades. This team needs changes. Just on principle alone, Omar CANNOT trot out the same entire cast of characters.

(2) Don't sign crap FAs to bad deals and try and pass them off as solutions, as SP used to do...

(3) I am ok with picking up a piece or two on the cheap.

mets84

It's not like it ain't true.

15 Day DL Alou

I am not sure I would want ARod at a discount with these two horse a$$es trying to justify it.

15 Day DL Alou

all kidding aside, that is not journalism it is Wallyism. You have to see the lovely pictures he paints for himself, he is in a no lose situation, Mets pass on ARod like I am sure he already suspects he has a year or more of what if articles in the hopper everytime someone fails to come through, 156 will be the new curveball, hell they will likely be intertwined.

Mets sign him and he has a endless opportunities to paint the Mets as the Yankees stooge brother who picks up the chicks they already slept with.

Mets sign him and the Mets win with him, Wally writes an article self glorifying himself as the reason the Mets and ARod came together.

See, that is the thing that is most puzzling about Wally, he thinks somehow he is different than Fred Wilpon or Jeff Wilpon. Somehow he thinks writing for Newsday elevates him to as yet unseen by the commoner intellectual stratosphere, but really all he is at heart is an over inflated ego who is not sure why he is not in control.

mets84

oh, no doubt. which is why it's enraging and depressing when he says something like "chances are there will be no postseason." given the history of the mets it's hard to argue with him - perhaps even given what's likely to transpire next season it's hard to argue with him. and that's when I cease to be amused and actually hate the guy.