Shea-Rod? Hopefully Not.

11/6/07

7 years ago, following a World Series loss at the hands of that other New York baseball team, the Mets- yes those Mets, were considered to be among the first choices where Alex Rodriguez wanted to play upon becoming a free agent.

He had grown up a Mets fan, claimed Keith Hernandez was one of his favorite players, and reportedly was overjoyed in 1986 when the Mets won the World Series.

He wanted them, and they wanted him. Sort of.

Upon hearing the demands of private jets and luxury suites, not to mention the hundreds of millions of dollars which would have needed to be invested in him, Steve Phillips- one the finest baseball minds of our generation (that was a joke, in case you were wondering) decided he was not worth the money.

So in the winter of 2000, the Mets organization didn't want to spend the money to bring A-Rod here.

7 years later, they would be crazy not to make the same decision.

Lets think about this for a second. The obvious talent and production is impossible to ignore or dispute. The man is arguably the greatest player in the game, with the ability to completely change the look of a lineup. He hits for average, power and drives in runs. Last year he proved he could hit in the ninth inning of close games, and despite another disappointing October, Rodriguez was hardly the reason the Yankees were unable to get out of the first round.

Unfortunately, despite all of the numbers he puts up on a yearly basis, he has yet to prove hes capable of leading a team to success. In Texas he made himself comfortable finishing in the basement of the American League West. With the Yankees, his post season misery was highly publicized, however it was his personality which seemed to provide as many headlines as his play on the field.

The Mets are coming off a season in which they suffered a collapse unlike any other in baseball history, and one of the biggest problems down the stretch proved to be team chemistry and the character of the team.

Bringing in Alex Rodriguez and all of his baggage would certainly provide a jolt to the lineup, however alienating himself from the other 24 players would prove to be detrimental in the long run.

Theres the issue of where he would play, with David Wright and Jose Reyes taking up 3rd base and Short Stop, respectively. And despite the ridiculous rumors of the Mets trading Reyes (it wont happen, I guarantee it), unless they can find a taker for the overpaid and underachieving Carlos Delgado- good luck there.

A-Rod simply doesn't fit anywhere on the field anymore than he would fit on this team off it.

Spending $300 million dollars on A-Rod would essentially be like placing a really expensive bandage on a bleeding gunshot wound.

He's not going to replace the 200 innings Tom Glavine pitched, and he's not going to hold 7th and 8th inning leads when giving the ball to Billy Wagner.

The bottom line is, Alex Rodriguez seems to have chosen that playing in New York wasn't for him.

Hopefully the Mets give him no reason to reconsider.