A-Roid?

[brett]

Canseco claimed the other day that his new book has some dirt on A-Rod. I predicted that if there was any truth to it A-Rod would go on a major slump which appears to have happened. Say it ain't so.

[Myankee4life]

Canseco claimed the other day that his new book has some dirt on A-Rod. I predicted that if there was any truth to it A-Rod would go on a major slump which appears to have happened. Say it ain't so.

Why would that indicate that he was a user?

Also he is in a slump because he's trying to hit EVERYTHING out the park...he is one away from 500.

[rockin500]

Why would that indicate that he was a user?

Also he is in a slump because he's trying to hit EVERYTHING out the park...he is one away from 500.
didnt he do the same thing with other milestones? i thought i remember him pressing at #400.

hes not exactly known for his grace under pressure.

[TRfromBR]

If A-Rod knows himself to have been free of prohibited PED's, he would have been well-advised to regularly document his non-usage, through private, regular, random and independent medical testing. This would be powerful evidence in any libel suit against Canseco. He has too much at stake not to take such legal precautions.

[brett]

Why would that indicate that he was a user?

Also he is in a slump because he's trying to hit EVERYTHING out the park...he is one away from 500.


Oh yea, the 500 home run thing. Its wierd but I don't see why trying to hit #500 should put a player under pressure in this day and age. Still, I always thought that A-Rod was clean because he was always an off-season worker, and he never really saw a "surge" in his hitting.

But he seems to be a guy who can be menally manipulated.

[DoubleX]

I posted this in the Yankees forum about Canseco's remarks:


To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that A-Rod or anyone on the Yankees or any team for that matter, has juiced. But considering the source, Canseco, I'm not going to put too much stock in it. The first book I thought to be somewhat credible because he was writing based on his playing experience, but a follow-up book just seems superfluous, like he's going out of his way to capitalize on this whole steroid hysteria. Where's he going to get his information from now? It's not like he's been in locker rooms regularly with A-Rod or even a teammate. What, he heard it through the grapevine? He hired a private investigator?

I'm also skeptical about whether he'll be saying anything about A-Rod and steroids. I think he's just trying to stir the pot and make some noise and wouldn't be surprised if A-Rod comes up in some other way, such as rumored womanizing or revisiting his underground poker games or something.

There seems to be a general consensus in and around the game that A-Rod has been clean. I'm sure people within the game, being around the players all the time, have some idea about who might be or have been using, and if there was even a slight modicum of reason to speculate that A-Rod might have done something, I'm sure it would have been out there long ago - he's such an easy target. This doesn't mean that he hasn't done anything, but if he has, I doubt there would be a general opinion that he's been clean. Even Curt Schilling a few years back, said something to the effect that for as much as he might dislike A-Rod, he respects what he's done in the game because he's done it on pure ability and hard work. Coming from a loudmouth like Schilling who would never back down from taking a shot at someone if he thought he had reason to, actually says something to me.

A-Rod has also been so steady in his career, so when exactly would he have started to use? When he hit .358, winning the batting tile and hit 36 homeruns at age 20?! When he hit 42 homeruns at ages 22 and 23? When he moved to the homer haven in Arlington and hit 52 at 25 and 57 at 26? The guy just had great ability from the get-go, that it should be no surprise that as he hit prime, and while playing in a homer haven, he'd hit 50+ homeruns. Another thing is, that unlike Barry Bonds or Sammy Sosa, A-Rod's OPS+ has never had a huge and sudden spike. It was 160 at age 20 (amazing!), and his career high heretofore has been 167 (done twice), though he should surpass that this year. Plus, as a shortstop, it would seem counterintuitive to add a ton of bulk, thereby decreasing mobility.

[digglahhh]

If A-Rod knows himself to have been free of prohibited PED's, he would have been well-advised to regularly document his non-usage, through private, regular, random and independent medical testing. This would be powerful evidence in any libel suit against Canseco. He has too much at stake not to take such legal precautions.

He's in a union though, a union which consists of numerous players on PEDs who fear nothing more than clean superstars voluntarily submitting to drug tests, thereby creating an implicit association that those who don't are admitting their guilt by absence of voluntary, non-union supported concessions.

A-Rod is constantly accused of being selfish, or caring about his numbers too much. In one respect, your suggestion would be the ultimate validation of such accusations. If the other stars of his generations have to risk being tainted in order to show loyalty to the strongest union in the country, then why not A-Rod. How do you think it would be spun if A-Rod went out of his way to validate his numbers beyond anything any other player had done? He'd look like a disloyal stat whore, who places his individual glorification above loyalty to his fellow union members and representatives.

When a leveraging body enables people like A-Rod to go from virtual chattel to $252M contracts, A-Rod has to shelve his desire to go piss in a cup because some loose canon media whore shoots off his mouth on a publicity tour. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

[digglahhh]

Coming from a loudmouth like Schilling who would never back down from taking a shot at someone if he thought he had reason to, actually says something to me.

Unless he's in front of Congress that is...

[DoubleX]

Like I said above, I think the ultimate thing in A-Rod's favor is his consistency. He never had a huge spike in production and his play has never become one-dimensional. At age 20, he had a 160 OPS+. That's incredible, and since then his career high is 167 (which he'll probably pass this year). Just shows that from the start, he was extremely talented and he's performed consistently since then. His power numbers spiked in Texas because offense spikes there and he was entering his prime as a player. So if he has been using, it hasn't made much of a difference and/or he's been using for his entire career. The other thing is that as a SS, it would seem counterproductive to add lots of bulk, thereby losing some mobility.

[KCGHOST]

This is silly. You are speculating about something Canseco might have "written". It could just as easily be that Arod is fond of threesomes, or has a weekly colonic,or had an affair with Canseco's first wive, or any of a number of things. To speculate about what Canseco is going to "write" and then moving into serious discussion about it is absurd.

Wait until we have a little heat to this fire and then we will see.

[Captain Cold Nose]

This is silly. You are speculating about something Canseco might have "written". It could just as easily be that Arod is fond of threesomes, or has a weekly colonic,or had an affair with Canseco's first wive, or any of a number of things. To speculate about what Canseco is going to "write" and then moving into serious discussion about it is absurd.

Wait until we have a little heat to this fire and then we will see.

Not to mention the reason why ARod is slumping, or the implication players today shouldn't feel pressure to accomplish anything. Who's to say who feels pressure from where? And mentally manipulated? Based on anything more than hearsay?

[TRfromBR]

This is silly. You are speculating about something Canseco might have "written". It could just as easily be that Arod is fond of threesomes, or has a weekly colonic,or had an affair with Canseco's first wive, or any of a number of things. To speculate about what Canseco is going to "write" and then moving into serious discussion about it is absurd.

Wait until we have a little heat to this fire and then we will see.

A weekly colonic? I always thought he was anal-retentive.

[TRfromBR]

He's in a union though, a union which consists of numerous players on PEDs who fear nothing more than clean superstars voluntarily submitting to drug tests, thereby creating an implicit association that those who don't are admitting their guilt by absence of voluntary, non-union supported concessions.

A-Rod is constantly accused of being selfish, or caring about his numbers too much. In one respect, your suggestion would be the ultimate validation of such accusations. If the other stars of his generations have to risk being tainted in order to show loyalty to the strongest union in the country, then why not A-Rod. How do you think it would be spun if A-Rod went out of his way to validate his numbers beyond anything any other player had done? He'd look like a disloyal stat whore, who places his individual glorification above loyalty to his fellow union members and representatives.

When a leveraging body enables people like A-Rod to go from virtual chattel to $252M contracts, A-Rod has to shelve his desire to go piss in a cup because some loose canon media whore shoots off his mouth on a publicity tour. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Always good to see you in top form, digglahhh. You remind me of Thomas Paine, one of America's greatest heroes.

P.S. Concerning the actual content of your post: As usual, you got it right.