What Do You Do With an MVP?

Trade his ass. A-Rod wins AL MVP award, Rangers want out of his preposterous contract:

the Rangers are willing to listen to offers from other teams for the All-Star shortstop – not that many could afford the seven seasons and $179 million left on his record contract.

After becoming only the second player from a last-place team to win a Most Valuable Player award, Rodriguez confirmed Monday that the Rangers talked to him about a possible trade.

“They presented me with a situation,” Rodriguez said. “Whatever they want to do, I’ll want to cross that bridge when the time is right. I’m not closing or opening any doors right now.”

….Rodriguez finished second in the MVP ballot twice, to Oakland’s Miguel Tejada last year and the Rangers’ Juan Gonzalez in 1996. This time, he received 242 points in voting by the Baseball Writers’ Association and was the only player listed on every ballot.

“I felt like I was driving myself crazy over this award. It was painful to come in second place,” Rodriguez said during a conference call from his vacation in Mexico. “There’s nothing like winning it. I couldn’t be happier.”

The only other player from a last-place team to be MVP was Andre Dawson of the Chicago Cubs in 1987.

….Rodriguez hasn’t been able to turn around the fortunes of the Rangers, who have finished last in the AL West in all three of his seasons while he led the league in home runs.

This year, A-Rod hit .298 with 47 homers and also led the league in runs (124) and slugging percentage (.600), along with 118 RBIs that were second in the AL to Delgado’s 145. The Rangers were 71-91.

Hart said the Rangers will continue the commitment they made to young players midway through manager Buck Showalter’s first season. They won’t be big spenders in free agency as they work to cut their payroll from more than $100 million last season to the $70 million range. [AP]

Hmm, A-Rod’s $25 million would just about do it – what a coincidence.

Strange year – since A-Rod’s numbers were actually down for him, and his team blew eggshells, I can only guess this was a “career award,” a makeup. I’d sure rather see him with the Dodgers than the Yankees. what would the Yankees do with Jeter anyway?