After a disappointing post-season last year, talk around New York baseball fans/writers was about whether or not the Yankees should trade Alex Rodriguez.

A-Rod silenced those voices this year, by having what could arguably be called the best April in the history of baseball: a .355 Batting Average, 14 Home Runs, 34 RBIs, a .415 On-Base Percentage, and an .882 Slugging Percentage. Most of these statistics led the league.

But consider this: what would fans and sportswriters have said if their "28 million dollar man" wound up April with a .235 Batting Average, 5 Home Runs, 11 RBIs, a .361 On-Base Percentage, and an .422 Slugging Percentage?

Because that's what he did in May.

Of course, April's stats are the only ones that are published on their own; May's are baked into the season-to-date numbers, hidden forever to anyone who doesn't know about ESPN's Splits page. I get the feeling, though, that had A-Rod's first two months of 2007 been reversed, and April 30th saw him hitting .235 and embroiled in a couple of on-field and off-field scandals, that the New York sharks would be smelling fresh meat.

Once again, perception meets reality and clocks it upside the head...