He went out of his way to praise Reyes and nothing more. The media decided to create another controversy and ran with it.

No wonder the newspaper industry is gradually becoming extinct.

Kudos to Jack Curry for providing a voice of reason:

Alex Rodriguez has said a lot of dumb things, many of them recently. He will probably say a lot more dumb things in the future. He said a dumb thing on Tuesday. Still, anyone trying to attach intent or malice to Rodriguez’s words is searching for something that is not there.

Most of the reporters who heard Rodriguez gush about Jose Reyes by saying he wished Reyes was a teammate realized that Rodriguez was going over the top to praise Reyes. His remarks were all about Reyes, and they had nothing to do with Derek Jeter or Johnny Damon, Rodriguez’s Yankees teammates.

When Rodriguez was asked about Reyes’s speed after the Dominican Republic beat the Florida Marlins, 10-1, he even paused after starting his answer to smile and force out a laugh. It was obvious he was speaking casually and was showing affection for Reyes.

"I wish," said Rodriguez, who stopped, laughed, then started again. "I wish he was leading off on our team or playing on our team. That’s fun to watch."

It is obvious Rodriguez should have chosen his words more carefully, but he did not say he wanted Reyes to replace Jeter or Damon. He picked a dubious way to compliment Reyes, nothing more. Rodriguez likes to appease people and, in his world, saying he would like to have Reyes as a teammate was the ultimate compliment. Because Rodriguez has a cyst on his hip, he and Reyes may not be teammates in the World Baseball Classic after all.

Seemingly fearful of the potential headline, "A-Rod Wants Reyes on Yankees," Rodriguez later said, through a W.B.C. spokesman, that his comments were not intended as criticism of Jeter. Rodriguez has had a strained relationship with Jeter since criticizing him several years ago, and was concerned that he had crossed him again.

Rodriguez also called the Yankees and asked them to contact the New York reporters who had covered his news conference and repeat that he was praising Reyes, not disparaging anyone. He did a dumb thing. Again. But presuming that he was dissing his teammates is even sillier.

I do agree with you on one thing – A-Rod NEEDS to shut up and play ball once and for all. Nothing good ever comes out of his interviews because the media can’t wait to pounce on anything he says.

He needs to go the Steve Carlton/Eddie Murray route and stop talking to the media altogether.

nail right on the head. No wonder the newspapers / print media are becoming extinct. A-Rod’s quote was taken out of context, and these self-righteous jackals jumped on Alex again. The remainder of Alex’s quote:

"Anytime you have that type of speed… I mean, we have a guy in Gardner that’ll be fun. That’s probably the most fun you can have, watching those guys run."

Abraham’s becoming a joke, almost as bad as those who post in his comments section. I’m starting to think “NoMaas” has had Abraham pegged all along. Maybe I’m in the minority and I’m actually interested in what Alex has to say. I just don’t need all of these media pundits offering up their interpretation. I’m perfectly capable of drawing my own conclusions. Report the news, don’t create it.

The guy needs to be the center of everything. This is what’s called a narcissistic personality. It drives a great need to succeed in him. But he will not ever be the other guys who shun the press. Those guys were angry men who isolated themselves. Arod is a needy guy who NEEDS the attention. He’ll seek it, he’ll create it until he cannot do it anymore.

Think Reggie Jackson and then realise he’s able to drive it further because he’s more dominant and because the media world has changed and spinning this stuff to get audience is the media game today.

problem is solely confined to sports media either, Ed. It’s widespread throughout major media in this country. About the only news broadcast I take seriously is BBC America.

Regards Abraham, I started to notice it last season when he began proclaiming his various conspiracy theories on how Girardi was dealing with the media, especially regarding details about injuries. It’s just grown worse. I still enjoy Pete’s reporting, but I can live without his analysis of events.