Except for Josh Beckett or Manny Ramirez

It boggles my mind to see how A-Rod attracts so much stupidity. Did Philip Klein even pay attention to the Yankees last year? If they had any other third baseman, there was no way in hell they would've even made the playoffs. It's like people are blinded by A-Rod Derangement Syndrome.

My skepticism about A-Rod derives neither from stupidity nor pyschological disorder. As I stated to Karol last night, the Yankees championship teams of the late 1990s were built not on amassing an arsenal of superstars, but putting together a collection of players who functioned well as a unit with solid defense, great pitching, and incredible situational hiting in the postseason. Guys like Paul O'Neil, Scott Brocius, Tino Martinez, Chad Curtis, Bernie Williams--none of whom would hold a candle to A-Rod statistically--nonetheless played masterfully together and seemed to always find a way to win. After the Yankees lost to the Diamondbacks in 2001, the top brass went into full panic mode and instead of building a team, thought that by adding one superstar after another (Giambi, Sheffield, A-Rod, etc.) they would be unstopable. It hasn't worked. When our pitching hasn't killed us in the playoffs, our bats have gone cold--and we don't seem to be able to get those clutch hits like we used to. I would not deny A-Rod had an amazing regular season last year, and all else remaining equal, the Yankees would not have made it to the playoffs this year without him. However, all else is never equal. If they didn't have A-Rod since 2004, they could have allocated more resources to getting another starting pitcher, perhaps beef up their bullpen, or get solid, slap singles hitters who would have delivered in the postseason. I should also point out that the Yankees made the post season for nine straight years before A-Rod came, a period that included 6 World Series appearances and 4 rings. The point is that when he was brought in here, there wasn't any doubt that the Yankees would be able to make it to the playoffs. The debate was over whether we'd return to winning the World Series again. Instead, we were treated to several years of pathetic postseason performances, dating back to the worst postseason collapse in history in 2004, continuing through the past three seasons in which we lost in the division series. While A-Rod did have an improved playoff performance this season, there was a clear dropoff from the regular season, and his 0-4, 3 strikeouts showing absolutely killed us in game 2 against Cleveland, a nail-biter that was exactly the type of game we used to win. For all the hype surrounding the $275 million man, I'm not ready to say that he's worth it based on the fact we were able to get to the playoffs for the 13th straight year.

Point taken, but you could make a more persuasive argument that signing other free agents and inking other huge contracts, e.g. Kyle Farnsworth, Kevin Brown, Randy Johnson, K. Igawa, Roger Clemens, Mussina, etc., etc., ad infinitum, hindered The Yankees just as much.

The difference being that A-Rod doesn't suck, and you're getting some value for your buck, albeit not value commensurate with his salary.

Everything always works out for Karol.

What will it take for me to get you in a Mets Jersey come Spring?