Randomization: 07/25/06

The FJM crew laments...they got the wrong one! Reports flying this morning that ESPN has fired baseball analyst and known hack Harold Reynolds. This New York Post report is the only information I can find on the story right now, and no reason is given for Reynolds' dismissal.
(Please note that I'm not at all complaining, because Reynolds was AWFUL, but I'm just curious what he could have said/done to finally get the ax.)

The bad news here is that Reynolds, while awful, was hardly the worst of ESPN's stable of Baseball Tonight regulars. They'd better hope that Peter Gammons comes back soon, because taking Reynolds away from a group that includes John Kruk, Steve Phillips, Tino Martinez, and Jeff Brantley isn't what I would call "addition by subtraction". The lone voices of reason on that show in Gammons' absence, Tim Kurkjian and Buster Olney, aren't allowed on the show often enough to make a positive impact.

(And Olney is often on too much of a Red Sox/Yankees kick for my taste. The thought that he can be considered a voice of reason really says something about the state of affairs.)

And, of course, the king of overbearing, oft-uninformed baseball analysts at ESPN is still led by that Joe Morgan guy. That's enough to upset just about anyone sensible.

Speaking of ESPN...I sure hope they're enjoying this relentless and merciless destruction of Alex Rodriguez.

After all, they're responsible for about 80% of this.

A grand example of the irrational behavior towards ARod came this past Thursday, when Rodriguez hit a three-run home run that happened to account for all of his team's offense in a loss to Toronto. Yes, ARod committed a horrendous error. Of course, the Yankees were already behind because Jaret Wright is a useless gas can.

And where was Captain Jetes to lead the offense out of its funk? How about the Giam-bino-roid?

ESPN leads the way in pumping up David Ortiz because he's so OMG CLUTCH, even though OMG CLUTCH is a myth that's brought to the frontline by a bunch of walk-off hits that override the body of work. And when ARod is undeniably OMG CLUTCH, it's forgotten about and swept aside because the game isn't important enough.

When he was playing nearly impeccable defense the last two years (especially considering the move he had to make), it wasn't good enough. He's not playing anything remotely close to impeccable defense this year, and he's paying for it. Now, every error he makes kills his team, even though the same fanbase refuses to acknowledge how awful Derek Jeter is at playing his position.

The Yankees are not playing to their full potential this season, and ARod has not had his best year offensively (or defensively).

But Yankees fans and ESPN need to wake up and realize that ARod is really not the biggest problem here. He's just the easiest target.