A-Rod=Griffey Jr Circa 1999?

A-Rod=Griffey Jr Circa 1999?

A fellow blogger and card carrying member of Red Sox Nation at MVN wonders when comparing Arod to Griffey in 1999;

"At 30 years old, Ken Griffey, Jr had 1883 hits and topped 170 hits seven times in his career. He amassed a total of 1270 RBI. At 30 years old, Alex Rodriguez had 2067 hits and topped 170 hits nine times in his career. He amassed a total of 1347 RBI. You can see where this is going.
This is nothing against Junior, who, even through battling injuries throughout his 30s, made two All-Star teams and will reach 600 home runs for his career next year. Scott Boras has claimed that A-Rod is worth the astronomical figures he is demanding because he will, in time, break the all-time home run record, and the all-time hits record. His statistical findings are that, given all the milestones Alex will chase, break, and create will generate revenue through local television networks, ticket sales, merchandise, etc and validate Rodriguez’s salary. I’m not saying he won’t, but whenever you are basing a value on something that may happen, just remember, Ken Griffey Jr was Alex Rodriguez in 1999. Ask the Cincinnati Reds how that worked out for them …"

Obviously the main difference here is the injury issue. Griffey had shown even in 1999 that he had a propensity to get hurt missing significant time in 95 and 96. A-Rod had some minor injury issues early in his career and since has been a rock even showing the ability to fight through injuries. Also, ARod clearly takes better care of his body and won't risk hurting himself by running into any walls(as much as it hurts me to admit) not to mention the difference in positions and years on artificial turf.