Submitted by Skot, Oct 25, 2007 19:22

Tim,

You are being ridiculous here. First of, Rodriquez is not the best player in the game. In my opinion, he is just a very good player. Just numbers don't make you the best player. The best batter or even a great one, is one who pitchers are afraid to pitch to. The pitchers almost always, never go Strike 1, then Strike 2 on the best hitters. Look at David Ortiz, Barry Bonds and even Manny Ramirez. When the pitchers are pitching to these guys, they are afraid. If a runner is at 2nd base with 1st base open, these guys are more likely to be walked than pitched to. Me being a Yankee fan, has seen Arod being pitched to many times in such situations. I have seen pitchers strike him out on 3 pitches many times. Even in game 2 vs Cleveland, with a potential winning run at 2nd base in the 9th inning, and with 1st base open, Cleveland pitched to Arod and got him out. I don't sense the pitchers being ever afraid of Arod. In fact, this could be one of the reasons for his big numbers. Inspite of him hitting so many home runs, pitchers still are not afraid and they do pitch to him. And Arod being a good home run hitter, hits them out once in a while. But the fear factor is totally missing. If the Yankees get Mike Lowell instead, they will not miss a beat. They don't lose on defense and don't lose much on offense. They may actually lose a lot of distractions.

You are out of your mind in suggesting that he will get north of 300 million. Frankly, I don't see him getting more than 150 million. The yankees should call his bluff and offer him an extension of around 25 million for a couple of years beyond his current contract and dare him to opt out. If he does, good riddance. If he does not, we will still be left with a very good player.

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