Hey Y'all,

First of all, congrats to the winner of the contest.  Kudos.

Secondly, sorry I haven't been on in like 4 months.  Truthfully, I wanted to win the contest and really thought I had a shot.  but oh well, what's done is done and I'm over it.  Plus, school came into play and I've just been busy.

BUT....I'm back.  Not like before, but I'm back no doubt.  I'll be posting about the Giants, Yankees, maybe the Mets, maybe the Sox, who knows.  Definetly will make an update about the draft.

So...hey again guys and girls!

-InTikiITrust

Call him a ball-slapping loser.  Call him an image-driven fake.  Call him an overpaid choker.  Call him a traitor for backing out of the World Baseball Classic.  But in this case, he made the right decision.

When Alex Rodriguez announced he would not be playing for either the United States or the Dominican Republic next March in the World Baseball Classic, the Rodriguez slowly bashers began to come out.  There has only been a few blogs about this today, but I’m sure more will come.

Like him or not, Alex Rodriguez made the right choice.

The World Baseball Classic, a now 15 country tournament because of Cuba’s removal from the tournament, was the creation of Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig earlier this year.  Countries include the United States, Dominican Republic, Japan, Canada, and Venezuela.  Some of the finest players in Major League Baseball and around the world will be participating in this event, including Barry Bonds (United States), David Ortiz (Dominican Republic), and Ichiro Suzuki (Japan).  However, we will not see Alex Rodriguez, the winner of two of the past three Most Valuable Player awards.

Understandable, in my opinion.  If you were the most complete player in all of baseball, why risk injury in something that will have no affect on the regular season or postseason?  The minute a big name player gets hurt in the World Baseball Classic, which I pray does not happen, fans, sportswriters and owners will be complaining about the timing of this event.  Could you imagine Albert Pujols breaking his hand after getting hit in the wrist by a pitch?  Would the Cardinals be happy about that?

Another reason Alex Rodriguez is right in not participating in the World Baseball Classic: the length of the regular season.  162 games is a heck of a lot of games.  In addition to those 162 games, the Yankees are always perennial favorites for the postseason.  While it is true the World Baseball Classic is not extremely long (the entire World Baseball Classic is under a month in length), the games are still being played and teams are still traveling.  Players will also be emotional drained, considering they are playing for the love of their country.  Players love their off-season time and the World Baseball Classic will cause players to condition earlier and play more games.  If you are lucky enough to play in the World Baseball Classic and the World Series in the same year, you would be playing at least 180 games in a one year span.  Can anyone argue that that is not a lot of games? 

Another issue that comes up is money.  Rodriguez is making 25 million dollars this year and playing in the World Baseball Classic would not affect his money, but think of all those players in the last year of their contract or in an option year of their contract.  An injury in the World Baseball Classic might destroy their chances at a better deal.  We all want to get paid, correct?

Sadly, Rodriguez is always under scrutiny because he is one of the most hated players in all of sports.  The man can never win with the media or the fans: play for one country and get criticized for not playing for the other.  Avoid the tournament all together and get criticized for not playing for a team. 

But why criticize Rodriguez?  Why risk injury and put your body on the line for a glorified exhibition?

As always, comments/suggestions/criticisms are welcomed and encouraged.