ESPN’s Buster Olney has a suggestion for Jeffrey Loria’s next move after the inevitable failure of the Dan Jennings-from-GM-to-manager experiment: New York Yankees DH and steroid poster boy Alex Rodriguez.
"Eventually, Miami Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria will grow tired of the Dan Jennings experiment, of having a manager who hadn’t managed before last week . . . The next time Loria considers a change, assuming that conversation doesn’t take place until after the 2015 season, here’s a name he ought to seriously think about: Alex Rodriguez."
Wait, what?
I guess the logic here is that A-Rod has been around the game a very long time, and probably knows more about the ins and outs of baseball than you or I could ever claim. It also doesn’t hurt that Rodriguez is from Miami and reps the University of Miami from time to time. He is also on the last legs of his playing career–he sat out the whole 2014 season and was injured for most of 2013–and he is producing at an incredibly high level right now for the Yankees. A level that could be argued is on pace with his PED glory days; A-Rod is hitting .270/.371/.547 with 10 home runs, plus a 3-run blast in this afternoon’s game which bumped him to third on the all-time RBI list. And he’s putting these numbers up (presumably) without the aid of performance-enhancing drugs.
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A-Rod is, however, under contract with the Yankees through 2017. He is currently 39-years-old, and if he keeps on this hitting tear it would be understandable for him to want to play out the rest of his career. Or! Maybe he would want to hang up the cleats after this season if he keeps hitting, content with the fact that he came back after missing a year-plus and still producing in the big leagues.
Whatever the case, and whenever Alex Rodriguez calls an end to his playing days, it would be the most Marlins thing ever to bring in A-Rod as the skipper. But you know Jeffrey Loria has read the headlines today. And you know he loves the attention–he has to at this point, no matter how negative the publicity surrounding his laughable ownership stylings (it’s always negative.) And you have to think that light bulb has come on in Loria’s head, and he’s at least pondered Olney’s suggestion.
What do you think about the idea, Marlins fans? Sound off on the poll and leave your thoughts in the comments below.
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