I'm neither a Yankees nor a Red Sox blogger, but this little bit by Trot Nixon, criticizing Alex Rodriguez as "not the Yankees type" while simultaneously praising and feeling sorry for Jason Giambi, is just too much.

First, my definition of "Yankees type" is pretty much any player who's (a) good (EDIT: This is obviously referring to the front-line players, not the usual scrubeenies who populate the bench and the high minors for the team.); and (b) paid a ton of money. I'm pretty sure that fits Rodriguez to a T. Nixon's implication that there is some kind of class or dignity that's supposed to come with being a Yankee is a crock. I'll always hate Jorge Posada for shoving Tony Phillips after a collision at the plate (and not being punished for it), but Posada is one of those guys that Nixon claims epitomizes the Yankee Way.

And the second part, while it won't get the attention the criticisms of Rodriguez will, is at least as noxious. Whatever Giambi did with steroids or anything else he did to himself. He ended up with some fat paychecks, awards, adulation, endorsements, and the ability to play the game at the highest level due to some combination (it's impossible to name percentages, even approximate) of hard work, talent, and illegal drugs. What he's going through now sucks, to be sure, and you can talk about the immense pressure to succeed and the competition that created his perceived need for an edge over other players to reach the highest level, but in the end, it comes back to this: he did it to himself. I'm not the vindictive type (usually), so I certainly don't wish ill on Giambi, neither for the steroids nor for the defection to the Evil Empire, but I'll never once feel sorry for him either.