Poor little rich boy…

He has my dream job; he is everything that this world says we should aspire to: good looks, being athletic, wealthy, famous and having a really cool, fun job.

Why do I feel sorry for him?

I, for one, do not subscribe to what folks say is important because if being rich, gorgeous and important is all that is required for true happiness then why are there so many divorces in Hollywood with stories of drug and alcohol abuse, therapists, mental and emotional breakdowns and the like?

But I digress…yes, even on a brand, spanking new blog.

Anyway, my first official linked article (release balloons and confetti) is from Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (a personal fave and a pretty nice guy…but don’t tell him I said that) who writes A-Rod desperately seeking himself that I think captures the essence of his paradoxical nature.

A-Rod picked USA!...

He went through so much soul searching before he decided to represent the USA at the inaugural World Baseball Classic and I guess after another round of psyche-sifting has decided to represent the Dominican Republic. I remember his first stack of waffles on the subject a few years back and when he finally made up his mind (or found someone to do it for him) one poster on Baseball Think Factory quipped sarcastically “At long last our long national nightmare is over!!!”

I honestly think that at some level that is how Rodriguez feels, that in Times Square (before the first WBC) there were a million people huddled against the cold reading a marquee waiting eagerly for his decision to come across the news feed just waiting to erupt in joyous relief upon learning than Team USA would indeed have A-Rod manning third base while in downtown San Pedro De Macoris babies were crying, he was being burned in effigy soldiers were shooting looters on sight once they heard the news that they would have to rely on a lesser talent to patrol the hot corner.

...and burned in effigy in D.R.

Personally, probably it all went wrong for him when he retained Scott Boras. Sure, it’s simplistic but make no mistake, Boras sees dollar signs wherever he goes; he was once booted from Sunday School for berating Judas Iscariot for being a lousy agent for only getting 30 pieces of silver for the Son of God. Boras saw Rodriguez as a cash cow of aurochian proportions and made sure that he positioned his client to be able to turn everything he touched into gold.

Boras no doubt drummed into the head of the young Rodriguez that he was the sun moon and stars ergo worth every blessed nickel some Hick(s) would be able to throw at him. Yes, he has ignored Boras’s advice at times but for the most part, he heeded the agent of doom. The man stated repeatedly that he wanted to be a New York Met but ended up miserable in Arlington for three years. When it appeared at the end of 2007 that he might again end up where he didn’t wish to play he again took matters into his own hands.

I don’t buy the line that Boras was pulling the strings when he signed his new deal with the Yankees. In 2000, Boras was seeking a quarter billion and got it, seven years later he was aiming for $400 million and missed badly. Here is a discussion of how Boras primed everyone for Rodriguez’s 10 year/$252 million contract--he was not shy about what he was gunning for and he reached it. When Boras was making statements that $350 million would be the starting point for negotiations and that $32 million was the minimum base annual salary etc. it wasn’t because he was priming teams for a lesser amount--that isn’t his M.O. Boras shoots high and keeps his client out on the market until somebody reaches it.

Don’t forget, A-Rod signed his first mega deal in late January but his second just about 2-3 weeks after the World Series ended--bottom line, Boras was reined in by Rodriguez.

It’s a shame that such a prodigious talent has so much baggage and so many insecurities. I can’t help but wonder what he would be like today had he simply gone to the Mets in 2000 and said “Let’s get something done.” Yeah, he wouldn’t have been as wealthy but it’s a shame that despite being an all-time great that he will be defined by money and the man he retained by so many.

Ever since he signed his deal with Texas he has been in spin mode trying to convince folks that he’s not a greedy drone created by Scott Boras and raised on Madison Avenue but that he’s just a guy that is extraordinarily good at what he does for a living. However, Boras just didn’t enrich him, he painted a target on him that caused his faults to be magnified and his virtues explained away as a trifle.

I think that is why we see the Alex Rodriguez we see today. He has gone from great to somewhat buffoonish and his link to Madonna reminds us of the decline and fall of Jose Canseco (without the corresponding erosion in talent). It may give small people a warm feeling of schadenfreude should things end badly for A-Rod but I really hope he can escape whatever demons are pursuing him and we remember him as the man that bested Barry Bonds.

Best Regards

John