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September 04, 2006

Jeff Kent: It Will Never Be Good For A-Rod In N.Y.

From the L.A. Times:

Makes sense to Jeff Kent, who has lived New York, lived L.A., and sees what's coming for A-Rod.

"At this point in his career and the way he's playing, I don't know if he'll ever be able to do enough for the fans to appreciate him on a daily basis," Kent said. "I don't know if he'll ever get to a level high enough for them."

He could be MVP again.

"I don't know if that'll be enough," Kent said.

"With the expectations New York has," Kent said, "on every play of every day, when you don't compete at that expectation level, the weight of that pressure builds. If you're not mentally tough enough to handle it, it can have an effect on your game. You have to be seasoned. And I don't know if A-Rod has been seasoned yet."

A trade then. Those 27 homers and 96 RBIs before Sept. 1, a down year by the standards of his career and few others, would be good enough. He could be A-Rod again.

"Yes, you bet," Kent said. "That truckload of weight he's carrying with him, the majority of it will be dumped."

"You have to be seasoned. And I don't know if A-Rod has been seasoned yet."

Well, if he's not "seasoned" after this year, he'll never be - for sure. Just ask Nietzsche.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at September 4, 2006 09:53 AM

Comments

That's interesting coming from Kent. He was a bust in NY and couldn't do anything until he played out of the spotlight. He didn't win his MVP until he left NY. A-Rod has already won one here.

He is right about expectations though. Many fans saw ARod's 50+ HR seasons in Texas and thought those numbers would translate to NY. Even though he has already broken the single-season Yankee Stadium HR record for right-handed hitters and will be the only right-handed Yankee in the history of baseball with three 35+ HR seasons, he hasn't lived up to the expectations of some.

Other fans point to the money ARod makes, but neglect to acknowledge (or maybe don't realize) that the Yanks are paying Jeter, Giambi, Mussina, and Johnson (and Abreu next year) more than what they are forking over for ARod.

Posted by: christopher [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 4, 2006 10:41 AM

Isn't there a truck that Kent needs to be washing somewhere?

Posted by: JeremyM [TypeKey Profile Page] at September 4, 2006 09:02 PM