OK.
So apparently Alex Rodriguez has a torn labrum in his hip, which will either put him out for 10 weeks (according to his brother), 4 months (if the Yankees feel he needs surgery), or not at all (the initial approach the Yanks are taking.)
So where does the conspiracy come in? Well, you’re probably aware of Rodriguez’s admission that he took steroids for the three years he was with the Texas Rangers, but not when he was with the Yankees – not that this would make any sense. Rodriguez stated that he was pressured into the steroids due to the enormous expectations put upon him by his signing the largest contract in the baseball history with the Rangers back in 2001. Going from that to the MEDIA CAPITAL OF THE WORLD surely wouldn’t put any more pressure on him, would it?
Anyway, I digress. Going into this season, the focus on Rodriguez’s numbers was going to be extreme. Would they drop off? Has he been on steroids the whole time and only admitted to what Sports Illustrated had discovered, carefully distancing his illegal activity from the Yankees.
Let’s say Rodriguez was on PEDs until this season, having been introduced to them while in Texas, but this season stops taking them because of the SI report and because MLB tells Rodriguez that the next positive test he has he’s actually getting the suspension (I really find it hard to believe that the only people who are failing PED tests in the majors are middle relievers and light-hitting outfielders.) Rodriguez’s numbers would probably drop off, even compared to his “down” season last year. Maybe they don’t, but they are “performance enhancing drugs” – if your performance is no longer enhanced, it’s worse, no? Immediately the media has enough justification to say Rodriguez has been on PEDs the whole time; look at his numbers now after he admitted the drugs! The media becomes judge, jury, and executioner, just the same as it has been with Barry Bonds and others before him. It doesn’t matter if he was telling the truth and actually wasn’t on PEDs while a Yankee; his drop in numbers after his admission makes him guilty, regardless of how many public drug tests he has.
But now… now we have another reason for a dropoff in numbers. This is a serious injury (obviously, if the Yanks are talking 4 months), and has the potential to serious affect his ability to hit the baseball, if not his career in general (see Belle, Albert). If he in fact does have a torn labrum and is out for four months and comes back at the All-Star break, hitting around 15-20HR and a .270/.350/.490 line, the PED withdrawal argument is harder to justify. The following season with similar numbers? Hell, the guy turned 35 that season and he’s got a bad hip. Anything else becomes a result of the injury just as much as it could be a result of the PED withdrawal. Analysts will notice minute differences in his swing, shifting weight where he wasn’t before, and we’ll understand because we’re all getting older. Don Mattingly’s career went downhill fast when his back gave out, and no one accuses him of being a steroid user who quit during the 1990 season. Willie Mays’ last “Willie Mays-like” season was when he was 35; Mickey Mantle’s last season was when he was 36. It wouldn’t be unthinkable for Rodriguez to see his numbers drop, especially after this injury. We’ll mention Rodriguez’s glory days and how we thought he’d be the one to take out Aaron’s home run record, and later Bonds’ record just the same way they speak of Ken Griffey Jr. Steroids? Maybe, maybe not.
But maybe the Yanks hold off the surgery and Rodriguez plays at his expected MVP level. Well, then it’s amazing that he’s playing through the pain and still putting up those numbers, isn’t it? But if they let him play and he crashes and burns, then the surgery gets scheduled and it was the hip that was causing the drop.
There’s an out for Rodriguez every step of the way now, thanks to this injury. For someone who’s going to be out for potentially four months (and a team that’s potentially losing its best hitter for that same span), this couldn’t have come at a better time.
