Please, Let it be for the last time

Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

This segment explores issues that I wish would grab the check, leave the news-cycle, and go find somewhere to die.

Jays and Farrell

He has gone to his dream job. He didn’t want to be here. We obviously didn’t want him to be here too badly either. We got something of value for him in Mike Aviles. Yes, Mike Aviles isn’t worth that much, but neither is a manager. End of story.

Yet, this story is on permanent loop with every marginal piece of news exploding into an extension of this story’s news cycle. People’s expectations for what could have been compensation were too high. The fact that he went to the Red Sox seemed to put salt into the wound. It certainly helps to sell print copy.

I really don’t understand all of the hubbub over the trade. The idea that the Jays are a development team is a straw man. Farrell came from the Red Sox. Were the Sox crying foul when The Jays signed him?  If the Jays signed Tito would they be our development team?

The Jays organization made this move, because it was the best move for the organization, not because it was the best move for the Red Sox. Farrell has so far shown himself to be a very replaceable manager. Really, any manager is replaceable, especially if you get someone who would at least play at the MLB level.

Let’s turn the page, and start focusing on the issue that really matters: who is going to replace Farrell? As much as a manager doesn’t hold that much value, you still want the guy that can squeeze the most out of the club (Acta or Martinez anyone)?

AROD and the Yankees

ESPN HEADLINE: “Yankees GM: A-ROD not out of reach”

Um, thanks for the headline and the news, but I don’t think that this is actually a story. Print isn’t worth much if you are just stating the obvious. AROD isn’t out of reach? That is a really nice way to phrase the truth.

The truth is that AROD would be traded for any half-decent offer, or really any offer.  His contract is why the Yanks would get rid of him. Arod’s contract  is also why no team will trade for him unless so much of it is paid down that it would not be worth it for the Yankees to trade him.

All of the superficial nonsense is just the Yankees negotiating and trying to maintain AROD’s value. That is why you’ll read comments like these, “He’s still an above-average third baseman. … That means despite the contract that we had committed to him, that he’s an asset at this stage still. I don’t see us doing anything there. I don’t anticipate it. If someone wants to make phone calls, we’re more than willing to do all that stuff with any of our players, and that’s fine. You can run into something that way.”

All of this seems so obvious that it is pretty much public knowledge and yet I get to read a constant stream of ‘NEWS’ updating me on the situation. To steal Ditka’s new line: please, just stop it.