"And that's just as good as money"

I don't think I've ever read a story about baseball that is both completely cynical and engages in some of the most clichéd and hoary hackery about the sport as this from Tim Marchmann. But you gotta love this.

In leaving as he has, Rodriguez has also made himself larger than Joe Torre's retirement, the ascension of a new generation of Steinbrenners (both of whom, bizarrely, go by diminutives of the same name), and the replacement of Torre. Everyone always felt that no matter how many MVP awards he won and no matter how many times he carried a team that's gone months without reliable pitching, he had still never done anything to be as outsize as Reggie Jackson or Mark Messier or whoever. He has now. Derek Jeter may have four rings, but he never responded to press reports that he was about to be offered a $150 million contract by essentially severing ties with a team. If money is how you show respect in sports — and it is — A-Rod has more respect than any jewelry can ever earn.

First of all "jewelry" can't "earn" respect. Winning four rings has earned Derek Jeter enough "respect," that despite a lack of range in the field and really good, but not dominant numbers on offense (in this age of the power-hitting shortstop), he will enter the Hall on the first ballot. Oh, and by the way, Mr. November made $21.7 million last year.

Secondly, Rodriguez didn't turn down an offer from the Yankees because they never had the opportunity to offer it (Boras' strategery being, no doubt, that he didn't want a public offer from the Yankees which, in turning down such a huge number, could have scared away other teams). But never mind. In what universe does turning down $150 million from one of the very few teams with the resources and willingness to offer it in the first place (remember, that's $30 million/per year) earn someone "respect?" Amazement, maybe. Derision, surely. But not really what I'd call "respect."

Look, nowhere has Alex Rodriguez been more defended and lauded than on this humble blog (well, maybe, Ken Tremendous can make a claim to that), and we'll have to wait for the ghostwritten memoirs to learn his real motivation for leaving Yankee Stadium -- confines that have been decidedly more friendly for him recently. But his timing was crass, going along with his agent and not even entertaining a proposal from the Yankees was unnecessary, and his reasons for leaving are bullshit. And what he's done more than anything -- even for those of us who enjoyed watching the best player in the game for the last four years and will miss the 150 runs he scored last year -- is cement his reputation for not being able to stand the glare of New York for very long. And for a level of narcissism rare even among professional athletes.