Hi! My Name Is: Alex Rodriguez (3B)

Each day, "Piss and Wynegar" will present Yankees "player previews" for the coming 2008 season. In what can only be referred to as a "revelatory" strategy, we will use statistics, as well as opinion, to further our analysis.

Okay. We arrive at the nerve to touch all nerves. Here goes. Lecture style:

1. He is (very) arguably the best player in baseball.

2. In 2007, he produced one of the most staggeringly beautiful offensive years in the recent memory.

3. If he had gone to another team during the off-season the Yankees would have been a drastically worse team, and anyone who argues otherwise is being silly and melodramatic. (Tell us with a straight face that you wanted Joe Crede playing 3B this year instead of A-Rod.)

4. There is no statistical evidence to suggest that his presence hurts a team’s chances of winning. And the fact that he has never been on a championship team is what we call a fucking coincidence, not evidence.

5. The fact that he can’t get out of his own way when it comes to PR, and that his persona is ickily "phony" (and the fact that Scott Boras is an asshole) does not make him worse at playing baseball.

6. The Yankees made the playoffs in 2007 because of him. Truly. Literally. His Win Shares number was 39. Thirty-fucking-nine.

7. His 2005 and 2006 postseason performances were terrible. Undoubtedly. However, he is not a choke-artist. His career postseason stats include: 16 XBH (including 7 HR); .279 AVG /.361 OBP/ .483 SLG.

8. And, finally, although it might sound too nitpicky: The homerun he hit against the Indians in Game 4 of the ALDS in ‘07 mattered. It counted. The game was not over. In fact, it was close…made even closer by that HR. If you like to use the phrases “A-Rod” and “garbage time homerun” in the same sentence, stop.

Look, we don't love the guy and will, in no way, shape, or form, be apologists for him when he (inevitably) does / says something dumb. But, if you truly want the Yankees to win games, you should be truly happy to have Alex Rodriguez playing for your team.

To read earlier "Hi! My Name Is" entries, click here.