I honestly think that when he's put in a high-profile, high-pressure situation, A-Rod will just freeze. He thinks too much about being the hero and ends up grounding out weakly or watching a called third strike. The Yankees rolled to their division title, but truly great players (such as, again, El Hombre) will be the ones who don't disappear when everyone else does. A-Rod did disappear, turning in another miserable series (1-for-14 I believe it was this time). If he was a superstar, he'd be the guy that stood out. He'd buck the trend.

He may pay big money in the regular season (almost as much as baseball is coughing into his ridiculous contract) but if he's not going to step it up come October, we're left where we already are, i.e. with Pujols as our real offensive terror.

And aside from that, I just don't like the guy on a personal level. I can't blame him for his contract - if I was offered $252 million to do something that I loved, you can bet that I and everyone else would snap it up. But he's done nothing to justify that money - there are quite a few players in the AL who are better than he is, and he doesn't come close to touching Pujols. I can't discount his accomplishments, but I truly question if they would ever mean something in a late-game, high-profile, October do-or-die game.

A-Rod's always struck me as being too polished, too phony, and too egoistic to really, truly put aside what he wants and contribute to the good of the team. And no, I don't count a move to third base as being selfless. A-Rod wanted out of Texas badly (and who can blame him; Hicks is an idiot) and I think he'd have volunteered to pitch if it got him to New York, where he was thinking about winning a ring and some glory for himself. He definitely didn't want to go there just out of a totally altruistic desire to help the Yankees organization. Not that I can slam him for wanting out of Arlington. But it was, at heart, something for him. To make him look better. Pad his credentials, if you were.

I also think that he's a streaky hitter. He can get insanely hot for two weeks or a month, completely disappear, and then rev back up again to keep his stats at the level they are. And somebody, I think it was Bichette, said that stats are like a bikini - they show you a lot, but not everything.

And yes, I have seen A-Rod hit quite a few homers when the Yankees were already up or down too far for it to make much of a difference. I watch baseball all the time, every team.

And on top of that, I adore Adam, as my signature will probably tell you. He's humble, personable, low-key, genuine, and really, really talented. I want him in our bullpen. I want him to contribute to this Cardinals club, whether as reliever or starter remains to be seen. If he was given up for A-Rod - who's good but not out-of-this-world and subject to his own problems - this Redbird fan's heart would absolutely break.

I don't like the Yanks. I don't want Adam there. And I don't want to be the recipient of their problem player. I just say no.

I just wouldn't do it. Not that that even matters, as all is this is just (hopefully) idle speculation to liven up an always-churning Yankees hot stove while they continue their quest to buy a world championship every year. Perversely, this is exactly the direction they should take - dump their underachieving, aging prima donnas and build a nucleus around some young talent - but I'll be damned if I'll let them do it at our expense.

Wow. Look at that miniature novel. I think I need to shut up now.