Will the 2007 World Series Champion Boston Red Sox ever be the lead sports story? Watching ESPN this morning, I doubt they will. If it wasn't Alex Rodriguez leading the news on Monday, the rumor that the Los Angeles Dodgers will hire former Yankees manager Joe Torre and bring Don mattingly with him as the bench coach.
The Mattingly part makes some sense given the Dodgers drafted his son Preston in the supplemental 1st round of the 2006 draft. The son finished a disappointing 2007 season with the Great Lake Loons with stats that scream he will never be managed by his dad - 210/251/297 with 119 Ks in 404 ABs and a mere 22 walks. Regardless, the father/son angle is interesting.
In Arod news, the New York Times' Murray Chass lets loose on ARod. Some may only know Chass from the verbal lashing he gave the sabremetric community earlier this year, but he is generally well-respected in the baseball wroter community at-large. He wrote:
So goes the sincerity of a player whose personality at first blush is so engaging that he can dupe experienced reporters, as he did me 10 years ago. I have since learned that he is not what he appears to be on the surface, and whether he allows Boras to manipulate him or agrees with his strategy, he comes across as disingenuous....
If there is a team considering pursuing Rodriguez, it should remember that he has never played in a World Series, and he was a major reason his team didn't get there the past three seasons.
Ouch.