Newsday "Rodriguez' Future Won't Be in Seattle" By Jon Heyman

[Bluesexy's daddy]

When the time comes, I bet that the dodgers will outbid the Mets for ARod. When ARod was drafted by seatle he was dissapointed that he did not go to the Dodgers. He will use the mets, the braves, and anybody else willing to play chump to make the Dodgers pay top dollar. By then Rupert will forget how he felt after watching Kevin Brown dissapoint him after the huge contract.

ARod goes to L.A.

Deion. Deion has never been guilty of low self esteem. His ego and gripey's in the same club house would be entertaining.


------------------
If you don't like the YANKEES go to another sight.

[yankoholics anonymous]

Baseball INSIDER
Rodriguez' Future Won't Be in Seattle

By JON HEYMAN

The Mariners announced that they will not be trading Alex Rodriguez. That's this week, anyway. As we learned from the continually evolving Ken Griffey Jr.

trade talks, nothing is as it seems when it comes to something this important.

Nothing the Mariners say aloud changes the fact that their chances to keep Rodriguez in Seattle beyond this year are smaller than Griffey's remaining fan club in that city. Though the Mariners' proclamation made sense from a p.r. standpoint, it also will make no sense to hold on to Rodriguez this summer if they're out of the race. Why let him walk at year's end and get nothing in return? Only the Angels would be foolish enough to do something like that.

Although this week's announcement probably lifted the spirits of folks in Seattle - already knocked for a loop during the Griffey soap opera - it's only a temporary state of relief. The two sides can talk all they want about how lovely it would be to work things out long-term, but the Mariners must know by now how remote that chance is. If Rodriguez wanted desperately to remain a Mariner, he would have countered their $135-million offer to him.

He's a 25-year-old superstar who yearns for his freedom, which will come in one year, no matter what he and the Mariners are saying publicly now. Rodriguez is particularly careful about what he says because he knows what can happen if you make a misstep, or a dozen missteps. He learned that from Griffey, who wound up being loathed in the place he put on the baseball map. The Mariners learned something, too. The less said about trades the better.

Rodriguez probably will like Seattle a lot more now that he's out from under Griffey's shadow. However, it's not going to be enough to keep him there long-term. If the Mariners are in the race this summer, and they've made enough good moves to be there, perhaps they will keep Rodriguez for the entire 2000 season. However, if they truly believe they're going to keep Rodriguez beyond this year, then they are deluding themselves.

The Mets and Dodgers are likely to wage war over Rodriguez next winter, and either locale would give him a chance to become the sport's biggest star. A poll of 20 baseball executives determined that Rodriguez is already the game's best player, ahead of Griffey even, and Rodriguez probably would like to let the rest of the world in on this secret. It wouldn't be stunning to see the bidding get to $25 million a year. That's something else he won't get in Seattle.
---------------------------------------------
Down time for Prime Time Deion Sanders is no longer on center stage, thanks to a two-year hiatus from baseball and the presence of Griffey in Reds camp. "It's wonderful not to have the attention," Sanders said, a switch for the man who calls himself Prime Time. "I've been in the spotlight since I was 7 years old." With their well-stocked outfield, Sanders is considered a longshot to make the Reds. Even if he does, he won't be in centerfield, the spot reserved for the $116.5-million man known as Junior. Still, don't bet against Sanders making the roster. General manager Jim Bowden is almost as big a fan of Sanders as he is of Griffey (Bowden's dog is named Prime Time).

"The sky's the limit," Sanders said. He said life's problems made things difficult for him last time he played baseball, in 1997, when he batted .273 for Cincinnati. He was going through a bitter divorce, his father had just passed away and he said he attempted suicide during that period. "Now I have peace," he said.

Sanders is unfazed by his position on the bottom of the depth chart. "My critics have critics, so why would I listen to critics?" said Sanders, 32, who had arthroscopic knee surgery in January and might play his first game in the next day or two. "Baseball is a challenge. When I was 5 years old, I could roll out of bed and cover a guy like white on rice." Or Sanders on Rice.

"Everyone has a challenge in life," he said. "This is it for me. I've got options, more options than the Oklahoma Sooners." Sanders finds it rich that journalists criticize him for playing two sports and spreading himself too thin. "Most of you guys write for two papers," Sanders pointed out. Touche.
---------------------------------------------
Bad timing It's a shame that Dick Williams' arrest for indecent exposure occurred just two months before the Veterans Committee met because it caused them not to even consider an extremely worthy Cooperstown candidate. Committee chairman Joe Brown said Williams' arrest had nothing to do with Williams' unusually poor showing this year, but other people involved in the discussions said there was a debate as to whether to even allow members to vote for Williams. Next year, with time for this controversy to blow over, Williams, a winner almost everywhere he managed, should make it.

"I think Sparky [Anderson] would have made it regardless. But that probably had something to do with it," Williams said of his arrest. "I hope it doesn't affect me later on." Williams pleaded "no contest" to the charge Jan. 17 after he was spotted naked in the doorway of his motel room in Fort Myers, Fla. The police report cited two witnesses who said Williams also was involved in an obscene act, but Williams said he wouldn't have pleaded "no contest" had he known that was in the police report. He said he has since passed two lie-detector tests on the subject of whether he committed an obscene act. "I knew nothing about the [obscenity] charges. Otherwise, I wouldn't have left there," Williams said.

"I assure you, I had no intention of being seen . . . If I'm not eligible for the Hall of Fame, I have to live with it. It would be a great honor, but my life doesn't depend on it." Williams remains a Yankees consultant, but he said they all agreed it would be best if he didn't perform his usual scouting duties in Florida. "Maybe if I came there, it would stir up a big can of worms," Williams said.
_____________________________________________

Y.A

[Butnud]

Rumor had it that ARod would be the Yanks 3rd baseman and Jeter would remain at Short. It would never happen but it could be a great change in pace for the Yanks and their title championships

------------------
Today. I consider myself the luckiest man on the face the Earth. -Lou Gehrig-