Overblown Non-Story of the Week (Week of Nov. 17)

I'm going to take a slight departure from the norm in how I hand out the award this week. This week's award goes to the continuing saga surrounding Alex Rodriguez and his contract situation. As much as I hate to admit it, this can't be called a true "non-story". Rodriguez is clearly the best player in the game right now, so the question of what team he's going to play for in 2008 and beyond is noteworthy. Also noteworthy is the contract he will likely sign, which will likely be a record setting deal, though how much of a record seems to be in question at this point.

I'm making this story eligible for the award due to the sheer length of time for which it has dominated headlines, and the extreme extent to which it has been overblown. Speculation about whether A-Rod would opt out of the last 3 years of his already historic contract with the Yankees to seek a bigger, longer deal had been rampant throughout the season, and even as the World Series, which should be the primary focus of the baseball season, was going on, the A-Rod/Yankees obsessed media continued to dominate headlines and radio discussion. A-Rod's agent, Scott Boras, fueled this to the nth degree by announcing to the media during the final game of the World Series that A-Rod would, in fact, opt out of the deal. Boras and A-Rod were, predictably and hypocritically skewered by the media for making that announcement. While I certainly agree that it was in poor form, the simple fact of the matter is that had the media not been so clearly obsessed with the story to begin with, there wouldn't have been any reason to do so. The media was given exactly what it wanted.

Since that time, every mention of A-Rod by any team has been headline news. Team A says they aren't interested, Team B says it wouldn't make sense to sign him, Team C has a meeting with him but makes it "clear" that they aren't interested. And now today, with news that A-Rod is back in talks with the Yankees (who incidently, swore up and down that they would not negotiate with him if he opted out of his contract), the story is right at the top of the headlines again.

Look, I'm not an A-Rod hater like many are. The guy definitely has diva qualities to him, is rather thin-skinned, and has a few other notable character flaws. However, I quickly acknowledge that the bottom-line is that he is the best player in baseball right now, and would make any team better. If I thought the Phillies had the cash to get him, I'd be all for it. That being said, I really wish the media would quit shoving the guy down my throat. I think his October struggles are overexaggerated, but the simple reality is that he has yet to truly be a difference maker at any of his 3 stops. He is, after all, simply one player on a team, and his final destination is not going to significantly alter the balance of power in the baseball universe, especially if he just resigns with the Yankees.

So, while I can't fully classify this as a "non-story", I feel comfortable that it has been sufficiently overblown as to merit receiving this week's award.