You say goodbye, and I say hello. -- Noted A-Rod fan Paul McCartneyWill Friday be the last time we ever see Alex Rodriguez on a baseball field? Uh, dont bet your copy of the Biogenesis client list on it.I spent the last few days polling 24 executives from all across baseball. Heres how they voted:? Hell be back: 9? No, he wont: 13? Hell be in some teams camp next spring: 2Of all the surveys Ive ever conducted, in my never-ending quest to get hired some day by the people who call you at home in the middle of dinner every night, this might have been the most fun. Heres what Ive learned:In a shocking development, people feel strongly about this guy! Both ways!On the one hand, there were the never-to-be-seen-again voters. The best word to describe them would be vociferous.Done, said one, succinctly.The second you bring him in, another voter said, it means that every day someones asking the manager: Is A-Rod going to pinch-hit tonight? Its a huge distraction.Hes not a good player, another said.OK, OK. We catch your drift. But then we had our hell-yes-hell-be-back voters. What they saw in that press conference Sunday was a man who was lying through his front molars when he said he was at peace with the Yankees carefully crafted exit plan.Hes four home runs away from a club three players in history have joined, said one exec, in reference to the Bonds/Aaron/Ruth 700-Homer Club. You really think hes just going to go home?Somebody will bring him in to get 700, another said.And then you had your hell-at-least-show-up-in-spring-training voters, like the exec who quipped: Anyone, including Garth Brooks and Will Ferrell, can play in a spring training game.But if there was one overriding sentiment emanating from the we-havent-seen-the-last-of-him crowd, it was summed up by this exec:The Miami Marlins will take him, he said. One hundred percent chance.The Miami Marlins will take him? For everyone who has noticed this is a popular theory on talk radio and social media platforms from coast to coast, youll be delighted to learn its just as popular a theory in baseball front offices.Of the nine voters who dont think this is the end, five of them predicted Rodriguez would be a Marlin by next spring at the latest. And even a couple of the thats-a-wrap voters said that if A-Rod winds up anywhere, it would be Miami.So why Miami? Thats like asking Jerry Seinfeld: Why the Mets? Because some things are just meant to be, right?? Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is a native New Yorker and has had a longtime affection for displaced Yankees icons.? Speaking of which, Lorias manager, Don Mattingly, happens to be -- guess what? -- a displaced Yankees icon. Who knows A-Rod well, by the way.? This was the team that brought in Barry Bonds as hitting coach. So you really think these guys would be afraid of the A-Rod circus? Yeah, sure.? If theres any other place in North America thats not known as New York, where people might actually buy tickets and cheer A-Rod, its Miami. Where he lives. Where he fits right in on the streets of South Beach. Where the University of Miamis baseball stadium bears his name. And where, of course, displaced Yankees fans go to work on their tanning skills.So theres a big difference, said the exec who first advanced this theory, between Alex Rodriguez in Miami and Alex Rodriguez in Texas or Cleveland or anywhere else.Theres also one more reason that maybe isnt so obvious. A-Rods friends say he wants to buy a team. Theres speculation that Loria will look to sell his team in the next few years. So you connect the dots.But now that weve lined up all the reasons this clearly has to happen, its time to look at the other side. Which can be summed up with this question: Have you watched this guy play lately?Hes 3-for-31 since the All-Star break. Hes hitting .108 when he falls behind in the count. Hes batting .149 vs. relief pitchers, .150 against power pitchers and .179 against pitches 94 mph or harder.So if youre a National League team thinking hed be a threat to come off the bench late in a game and hit a long ball, this would seem to be excellent evidence that hes getting totally overmatched by exactly the sort of pitchers he would face late in a game.Hes got to cheat so bad to hit a fastball, its scary, one scout said. And if you dont know that, youre not paying attention. If you just execute a pitch, hes out.My good friend Buster Olney theorized the other day that if the Marlins signed A-Rod, he could spend the winter gearing up to be a part-time first baseman against left-handed pitching. Which makes sense -- except that this fellow has started exactly two games in the field since 2013. And when the Yankees gave him a chance to try his hand at first base last year, that experiment was over within two weeks, by mutual decision.I saw him over there in spring training, and he was really bad, said the same scout. And I was at the one regular-season game (April 11, 2015) he started at first. They could have charged him with three errors. Thats how bad it went. I still remember his comment: This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.So is there any evidence at all that A-Rod can play first base, even part-time? At age 41? If there is, its based on nostalgia, not on actual real-life facts.Finally, theres one last indication that the most likely outcome here is, to quote the New York Daily News brilliant back-page headline, A-Dios. Other teams say the Yankees called around aggressively a couple of weeks back, trying to convince every club in baseball to take A-Rod off their hands. They were willing to pay all the money except the prorated minimum. They wanted virtually nothing back.From what we can deduce (since hes still in New York), every team in baseball said, No, thanks. From what we also can deduce, the Marlins would have to have been one of those teams. Which means they also must have said, No, thanks.So who does that leave -- the Nippon-Ham Fighters? One AL exec walked us through every team in the American League and laid out all the reasons A-Rod didnt fit with any of them. Then he turned to the jury (namely, yours truly) and rested his case.I dont see it, he said. I actually kind of hope someone signs him. But I just dont see it.Yeah, but amazingly, 46 percent of the voters in our little pool do see it -- as a spring training sideshow if nothing else. So have we witnessed the last of A-Rod? Maybe not.Remember, said one of our voters, nobody grows up dreaming of being in the 3,000-Hit, 696-Home Run Club. Roman Harper Jersey . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Danny Abramowicz Jersey . The FA rejected Wilsheres appeal that the length of his punishment was "clearly excessive" and said Thursday his suspension begins with immediate effect. He will miss league matches against Chelsea on Monday and West Ham on Dec. https://www.saintsjerseyssale.com/2013f-jared-cook-jersey-saints.html . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. Saints Jerseys 2021 . But when it comes to determining if Raymond will find a place on the Leafs roster when training camp concludes in a week, well, that decision will ultimately fall to the head coach. Bobby Hebert Jersey .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. CLEVELAND -- LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers got a late scare, but their winning streak over the Orlando Magic remained intact.James scored 23 points, Kyrie Irving added 20 and Cleveland beat Orlando for the 15th straight time, 105-99 on Saturday night.Cleveland built a 22-point lead late in the third quarter, but the Magic steadily got back in the game and trailed 88-85 with 4 minutes to play.J.R. Smith took over, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 11 points in the quarter as the NBA champion Cavaliers improved to 3-0. They havent lost to the Magic since Nov. 23, 2012, in Orlando.Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue was unhappy the Cavaliers didnt put the game away earlier against an 0-3 team.I thought we let our guard down because of their record, and not playing them as a good team, he said. Theyre struggling right now but they have a good team and we didnt respect that.Smith, who missed most of training camp in a contract dispute, made 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and Cleveland forced a shot-clock violation. James followed with two baskets, including a left-handed finish at the rim.Serge Ibaka converted a three-point play and hit a free throw, cutting the lead to 98-95 with 45 seconds left, but Smiths 3-pointer from the corner pushed the lead to six.J.R. was able to knock a few down in the fourth quarter when we needed it the most, James said.We leave J.R. Smith open, and hes the only person you cant leave open out there, Orlando center Bismack Biyombo said.Smith scored 16 points and Kevin Love had 19 for the Cavaliers. Evan Fournier scored 22 points while Ibaka added 19 for Orlando.James put together a personal highlight reel in the first half. He converted a four-point play in the second quarter, hitting a 3-pointer while being fouled in front of Clevelands bench with the shot clock winding down then made the free throw.James drove past Fournier aand dunked over Nikola Vucevic despite getting hit in the face in the first quarter.dddddddddddd He also motored down the lane for a dunk at the first-half buzzer.TIP-INSMagic: G Jodie Meeks (fractured right foot) has not played in a preseason or regular-season game. He was acquired in a June 29 trade with Detroit.Cavaliers: Rookie G Kay Felder made his NBA debut and scored his first points on a drive to the basket. ... C Channing Frye is away from the team because of the death of his mother. He also missed Fridays game in Toronto.ADVANCE ANALYSISMagic coach Frank Vogel saw plenty of the Cavaliers while he was on the Pacers bench.Theyve grown into what everyone thought they would be when they were put together, he said. Obviously, they won the championship, and now Cleveland looks like a finished product.BACKUP PLANLue has been using Iman Shumpert at backup point guard, but doesnt want to overload the veteran.Its a hard position to play, Lue said. I know he can guard point guards defensively. As far trying to get him to learn the whole playbook, thats not fair. Thats not going to happen. Hes going to make some mistakes. We just have to live with it for right now.BASEBALL FEVERHighlights of Game 4 of the World Series between the Indians and Cubs were shown on the arena scoreboard. The crowd cheered on several occasions as the Indians built the lead to go ahead 3-1 in the series.I looked too, Lue said. Im guilty of that.Several thousand fans attended a watch party across the street at Progressive Field.UP NEXTMagic: They play in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, still searching for their first win of the season.Cavaliers: They host Houston on Tuesday night, seeking their first win over the Rockets at Quicken Loans Arena since March 11, 2012. ' ' '
