[新聞] SUPERMAN A-ROD IN LINE FOR $30 MILLION A YEAR
SUPERMAN A-ROD IN LINE FOR $30 MILLION A YEAR
FROM：NEW YORK POST
http://0rz.tw/372Nq
June 18, 2007 -- IT is easy to forget now in the fusillade of more homers,
more RBIs, more greatness that Alex Rodriguez actually slumped for nearly
a month this season.
Yet embedded in that slump were signs that Rodriguez would not only come
out in a powerful way, but that this season is so much different than
last; that this version of Alex Rodriguez can have a bad streak and it is
nothing more than that. Sometimes a slump is just a slump, even for A-Rod.
“He was just a major league player going through a tough period,” hitting
coach Kevin Long said.
The tough period is most definitely over. A-Rod is again chasing history,
another MVP award and, perhaps, the first $30 million annual contract. He
set the tone for a Yankee rout last night with a two-run homer in the first
inning off Orlando Hernandez.
In an 8-2 Yankee victory over the disheveled Mets, he also lifted a
sacrifice fly, walked, doubled and possibly headed afterward to the Daily
Planet to meet up with Lois Lane.
In his last 28 games, Rodriguez has 12 homers and 34 RBIs. That is more
homers than any Yankee has all season and as many RBIs as Bobby Abreu. Yet
it is the 22 games that came before this stretch that accentuates his
season.
In that span, Rodriguez managed just one homer, five RBIs and hit .225. But
here is the thing, as opposed to last year, Rodriguez’s whole game did
not sink with his offense. Rodriguez’s defense has been so much better
than in 2007, those 22 games included. He did not take his offensive
failures into the field, symbolic that he was not being mentally
overwhelmed by the struggles.
Why did A-Rod fall into that slump? He had authored a Ruth-ian start:
14 homers, 34 RBIs and a .400 average in his first 18 games.
Nevertheless, the Yanks were just 8-10 because just about no one else was
hitting. Rodriguez earnestly began to try to carry a reeling team. The
counteraction was that opposing pitchers hardly threw strikes. A-Rod was
chasing and came out of the good swing/groove that had delineated his
awesome opening act.
ꄊ "I got myself out and I had to make an adjustment and accept the walks,”
A-Rod said.
He re-invested in his teammates, putting faith Yankees who had always hit
before would hit again. He began accepting base on balls, and if you
follow the genesis of this latest sizzle, A-Rod walked before he ran off
this tear.
ꄊ " To me, even when he was not living up to April, he still looked relaxed,"
Joe Torre said.
In fact, Torre said this fiery period is more impressive than April
because Rodriguez did not let a chilly phase unnerve him. Instead, A-Rod
now has 27 homers and 73 RBIs. He is on pace for a 65-homer, 177-RBI season.
Do you wonder what that might mean on the open market? I bet Scott Boras
does.
In the May 22 edition of LA Weekly, A-Rod’s agent was quoted as saying,
“I’ve said it before - there’s going to be a $30 million-per-year
contract. I don’t know when, but there will be one, because baseball
revenue will keep growing, and I’m all about the percentage of revenues.”
Well, Boras has just one client who can pursue that and it is the one
already making a record $27 million a year, the one on pace for a 65-homer
season.
Rodriguez can opt out after this season, and the strong feeling around
baseball and within the Yankee organization is Rodriguez will do just that.
It is just so interesting that in the season in which he has most
conclusively proven he can handle New York, Rodriguez can escape.
In fact, Boras will probably use that as negotiating leverage: Look,
there is no Kryptonite for this player any more. His current hot streak,
after all, came in the same period as front-page revelations involving
Rodriguez and a woman not his wife.
Nothing seemingly can stop Rodriguez now. He has somehow found a way to
funnel out all that used to nibble at his psyche and skills. It is now
just him, that TNT swing and the baseball. And, for most of 2007, the
baseball world hasn’t stood a chance.
joel.sherman@nypost.com
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