A-Rod: Breaking Records but Not Bank?

When people think of Alex Rodriguez, some words that might come to mind include (but not limited to): liar, cheater, chump, choke artist and some other words that are certainly not appropriate. In short, they see baseball’s biggest monster, who happens to play for baseball’s Evil Empire. Long gone are the days that we looked at A-Rod as the young prospect from Miami ready to break some serious records in the big leagues. However, if any attention has been paid to the Yankees since the return of Mr. Rodriguez, he is doing exactly that: breaking records.

Since Rodriguez has returned to the league after a long investigation and a year suspension, he has been a non-stop train to a successful year in baseball. According to Baseball Reference, his OPB since becoming DH is one of the best in the league standing at .358 with 137 at bats and a batting an average of .255. Facing the Yankees’ biggest and oldest rival, the Boston Red Sox in Fenway, Rodriguez hit the 661^st home run of his career, moving him ahead of Hall of Famer, Willie Mays. Now with A-Rod on his next quest to surpass another Yankee legend, Lou Gehrig, in RBI numbers (1,993), people must begin to think, how much bank is Rodriguez making right now due to his record breaking performance of a year so far, and the answer is none really.

In 2007, Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $275 million contract that contained a marketing agreement. The agreement is separate from his player contract stating that the Yankees had the right to designate a “milestone” valued at $6 million for each occurrence. Unfortunately for the 39 year old, he has reaped none of his rewards. According to MLB.com, New York Yankees general manager, Brian Cashman, has made it very clear that the Yankees do not plan on paying Rodriguez for his “milestones” due to their obligation not to. The organization has been reluctant to pay A-Rod due to their inability to truly profit off his “milestone” achievements. Cashman said in a presser with the MLB back in early May, “We have the right but not the obligation, in quotes, and it’s as simple as that…if we choose to pursue something, we’ll choose to pursue it. If we choose not to, it’s our right not to. In both cases, we’re honoring the contract.”

The truth is, everyone seems to be loving A-Rod all over again. The #FORG1V3 t-shirts have been selling like churros at DisneyLand and fans can be seen wearing them throughout Yankee Stadium. It sounds like Rodriguez is regaining his reputation and should probably take a key from Rihanna and ask for what’s owed to him.

– Nicolette

Just Because, Mike Trout

Well of course we all love Mike Trout-not only is he extremely hot, but there is no doubt he is the Angels’ All-Star and MLB’s favorite rookie to the sport!

Trout has earned the respect among his peers and among Angel’s fans because he’s batting, oh you know, .297/.386/.543 for a 163 OPS. Not too shabby.

Trout is constantly in control of the game, whether it’s running the bases (like his feet are actually on fire) or blasting the ball to the ends of the stadium. Plus did you see his steal to third against the Red Sox?! It doesn’t get much more impressive than that.

Even Bryce Harper loves the kid. According to the Washington Post, Harper said Trout is “the best player in baseball, and I don’t think anybody can argue with that.”

And I’d like to see someone try and argue that!

But seriously, what do I love better than watching that cute face on Subway commercials? Seeing a 23-year-old make a name for not only himself in the majors, but also making a name for the sport.

Oh, and I guess enjoying my beer and brat while watching the kid at an Angels game pretty much tops the list.

– Taylor

The New Big Guns in Texas: The Houston Astros

When most people think Texas sports, they think the Dallas Cowboys or the Texas Rangers, but it looks like there’s a new big gun in town. And boy, do we love those when it comes to Texas.

The Houston Astros have been proving who the real southern all-stars are with their 31-19 season and sealing 1st place in the AL West so far.

All-star (game) worthy pitcher Dallas Keuchel was handed his first loss of the season during their Memorial Day game against the Baltimore Orioles, but otherwise batters like José Altuve are proving the Astros may be playing champion baseball all season long.

However with Jed Lowrie out, it should be interesting to see how the Astros offense carries on until he returns injury-free.

Bottom line, we’ll see if Houston fans actually have something real to cheer about this baseball season, or if the hot-dog stands are yet again going to be the main event at Minute Maid Stadium.

– Adrienne