A Look Back At 2008: Alex Rodriguez

It's been a while since I've posted a "look back" on 2008. Been busy and with the lack of Yankee news I haven't been motivated to do it. I also need to find a way to shorten the posts up as in my opinion they get a little lengthy. Having said that, here's my 2008 look back on Alex Rodriguez.

Statistically speaking, A-Rod had another rock solid year. He hit 302, went yard 35 times, knocked in 103 and scored 104 runs. Most guys would kill to have seasons like that. and it's hard to say that a guy that performed that well had a bad year. But that's just what I'm going to do. Calling Alex's year a "bad year" may be a little much, but he definitely underperformed and fell short on expectations. For starters, he was pretty far from clutch, hitting only 271 with RISP. His OPS with RISP was 274 points below what it was in 2007 and 73 points below his total from 2006. Plain and simple, Alex didn't come through when it was needed most. Considering his salary, his position in the lineup, and the general baseball awesomeness that is A-Rod, it was definitely well below expectations. A couple of clutch hits here and there and maybe the Yankees would have kept their streak of postseason baseball alive.

Another huge problem with A-Rod this year was the # of double plays he grounded in to. In th month of August alone, he hit into 11. Considering his season total was 16, that's pretty bad. the Yanks win-loss record in August was 13-15. A lot of that in my opinion had to do with A-Rod's struggles. Again, had he played up to his normal standard, the Yanks very well could have played October baseball.

One bright spot for Alex in 2008 was that he had tied for the best fielding percentage (.970) in the AL at his position. He improved slightly on his 2007 fielding percentage (.965) and greatly improved on his dead-last in the AL 2006 fielding percentage (.937). Could a 2008 Gold Glove be in Alex's future? I'm going to guess it will be Mike Lowell but we'll see.

Taking everything into account, J-Boogie's final 2008 grade for Alex is a C. He had a solid year at the plate but didn't really help the greater good when I look at the big picture and put his season into context. He's capable of more, a lot more.

If you want to check out any of the previous 2008 look backs, click on this link "2008 Look Back." It'll take you to my previous look back posts. Next up: Bobby Abreu

Peace, love and Pinstripes,

J-Boogie