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You say goodbye, and I say hello. -- Noted A-Rod fan Paul McCartneyWill Friday be the last time we ever see Alex Rodriguez on a baseball field? Uh, dont bet your copy of the Biogenesis client list on it.I spent the last few days polling 24 executives from all across baseball. Heres how they voted:? Hell be back: 9? No, he wont: 13? Hell be in some teams camp next spring: 2Of all the surveys Ive ever conducted, in my never-ending quest to get hired some day by the people who call you at home in the middle of dinner every night, this might have been the most fun. Heres what Ive learned:In a shocking development, people feel strongly about this guy! Both ways!On the one hand, there were the never-to-be-seen-again voters. The best word to describe them would be vociferous.Done, said one, succinctly.The second you bring him in, another voter said, it means that every day someones asking the manager: Is A-Rod going to pinch-hit tonight? Its a huge distraction.Hes not a good player, another said.OK, OK. We catch your drift. But then we had our hell-yes-hell-be-back voters. What they saw in that press conference Sunday was a man who was lying through his front molars when he said he was at peace with the Yankees carefully crafted exit plan.Hes four home runs away from a club three players in history have joined, said one exec, in reference to the Bonds/Aaron/Ruth 700-Homer Club. You really think hes just going to go home?Somebody will bring him in to get 700, another said.And then you had your hell-at-least-show-up-in-spring-training voters, like the exec who quipped: Anyone, including Garth Brooks and Will Ferrell, can play in a spring training game.But if there was one overriding sentiment emanating from the we-havent-seen-the-last-of-him crowd, it was summed up by this exec:The Miami Marlins will take him, he said. One hundred percent chance.The Miami Marlins will take him? For everyone who has noticed this is a popular theory on talk radio and social media platforms from coast to coast, youll be delighted to learn its just as popular a theory in baseball front offices.Of the nine voters who dont think this is the end, five of them predicted Rodriguez would be a Marlin by next spring at the latest. And even a couple of the thats-a-wrap voters said that if A-Rod winds up anywhere, it would be Miami.So why Miami? Thats like asking Jerry Seinfeld: Why the Mets? Because some things are just meant to be, right?? Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is a native New Yorker and has had a longtime affection for displaced Yankees icons.? Speaking of which, Lorias manager, Don Mattingly, happens to be -- guess what? -- a displaced Yankees icon. Who knows A-Rod well, by the way.? This was the team that brought in Barry Bonds as hitting coach. So you really think these guys would be afraid of the A-Rod circus? Yeah, sure.? If theres any other place in North America thats not known as New York, where people might actually buy tickets and cheer A-Rod, its Miami. Where he lives. Where he fits right in on the streets of South Beach. Where the University of Miamis baseball stadium bears his name. And where, of course, displaced Yankees fans go to work on their tanning skills.So theres a big difference, said the exec who first advanced this theory, between Alex Rodriguez in Miami and Alex Rodriguez in Texas or Cleveland or anywhere else.Theres also one more reason that maybe isnt so obvious. A-Rods friends say he wants to buy a team. Theres speculation that Loria will look to sell his team in the next few years. So you connect the dots.But now that weve lined up all the reasons this clearly has to happen, its time to look at the other side. Which can be summed up with this question: Have you watched this guy play lately?Hes 3-for-31 since the All-Star break. Hes hitting .108 when he falls behind in the count. Hes batting .149 vs. relief pitchers, .150 against power pitchers and .179 against pitches 94 mph or harder.So if youre a National League team thinking hed be a threat to come off the bench late in a game and hit a long ball, this would seem to be excellent evidence that hes getting totally overmatched by exactly the sort of pitchers he would face late in a game.Hes got to cheat so bad to hit a fastball, its scary, one scout said. And if you dont know that, youre not paying attention. If you just execute a pitch, hes out.My good friend Buster Olney theorized the other day that if the Marlins signed A-Rod, he could spend the winter gearing up to be a part-time first baseman against left-handed pitching. Which makes sense -- except that this fellow has started exactly two games in the field since 2013. And when the Yankees gave him a chance to try his hand at first base last year, that experiment was over within two weeks, by mutual decision.I saw him over there in spring training, and he was really bad, said the same scout. And I was at the one regular-season game (April 11, 2015) he started at first. They could have charged him with three errors. Thats how bad it went. I still remember his comment: This is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be.So is there any evidence at all that A-Rod can play first base, even part-time? At age 41? If there is, its based on nostalgia, not on actual real-life facts.Finally, theres one last indication that the most likely outcome here is, to quote the New York Daily News brilliant back-page headline, A-Dios. Other teams say the Yankees called around aggressively a couple of weeks back, trying to convince every club in baseball to take A-Rod off their hands. They were willing to pay all the money except the prorated minimum. They wanted virtually nothing back.From what we can deduce (since hes still in New York), every team in baseball said, No, thanks. From what we also can deduce, the Marlins would have to have been one of those teams. Which means they also must have said, No, thanks.So who does that leave -- the Nippon-Ham Fighters? One AL exec walked us through every team in the American League and laid out all the reasons A-Rod didnt fit with any of them. Then he turned to the jury (namely, yours truly) and rested his case.I dont see it, he said. I actually kind of hope someone signs him. But I just dont see it.Yeah, but amazingly, 46 percent of the voters in our little pool do see it -- as a spring training sideshow if nothing else. So have we witnessed the last of A-Rod? Maybe not.Remember, said one of our voters, nobody grows up dreaming of being in the 3,000-Hit, 696-Home Run Club.Cheap Off White Vapormax China . 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Mens Fake Vapormax . -- Cam Newton pranced into the end zone, placed his hands over his chest and did his familiar Superman pose. Wholesale Vapormax Flyknit . Hey!" The lower tier of the School End of Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea choral section in this particular part of South Africa Road London, W12.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers can draw a degree of inspiration from the Kansas City Chiefs.But how much weight that carries might depend on the result between the teams Sunday afternoon at Bank of America Stadium.The Panthers have won two games in a row since starting the season with only one victory across their first six games. A year ago, the Chiefs were 1-5 before rebounding to make the playoffs.It has been done before, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said, referring to the Chiefs responding from a miserable start.For as much commotion as Carolina quarterback Cam Newton has caused around the NFL the past couple of weeks regarding officiating and a dialogue with commissioner Roger Goodell, the Chiefs have their own quarterback news.Thats because Alex Smith, who missed a game with what was listed as a head/ear injury, will be back in action.I feel like I can go through a normal week, Smith said. Im pumped to get back and get going.Smith missed the victory against Jacksonville, with Nick Foles filling in. But the Chiefs (6-2) count on Smith, and thats part of the reason why coach Andy Reid said he thought it was best that he take a week off after hitting his head hard in a game against the Indianapolis Colts.The Chiefs look comfortable when Smith has been at the controls.He runs their offense very well and he has some pretty good weapons around him, Rivera said.Smith also will have the services of running back Spencer Ware, who has been cleared from the leagues concussion protocol. Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin (groin), however, will not play, joining defensive end Jaye Howard (hip) on the sideline. Linebacker Justin Houston (knee) is unlikely to make his return as well.Having all the available big-play threats is something that the Chiefs figure they might need this week because Carolinas defense.It jumps out on film how strong they are, Smith said. Theyve played a lot of football at a high level.The Panthers (3-5) are coming off victories against Arizona and the Los Angeles Rams (3-5).You could say theyre back on track, Reid said.Still, the Panthers have an uphill climb in the NFC South, but its not something theyre coonsumed with at the moment.ddddddddddddWeve been focusing on one game at a time and that has been our approach and were not going to change that, Rivera said.The past two weeks, Newton said the Panthers have reaped the rewards that come with putting in the work.We knew we were doing the proper things, Newton said. We were still trying to have the winning ingredients.Newton has been at the center of whats an ongoing conversation regarding protection of quarterbacks, particularly after he called out NFL officiating for what he claimed was putting him in unsafe situations after the most recent home game.Newton said he doesnt want to be caught up in that or other topics that could be distractions.My job is to win football games, not grade myself, he said.Yet Newtons protection is one of the key components for Carolinas game plan.Weve got to keep our pocket clean for our quarterback, Rivera said.Newton said the Chiefs have a very opportunistic defense and we have to control the line of scrimmage. I think thats one of the challenges of the game.Newton said struggles on offense have popped up frequently, pinning the responsibility on the Panthers.We have to have answers, he said. It doesnt matter what defense is called.Carolinas injury situation seemed unclear, with center Ryan Kalil and linebacker Shaq Thompson listed as questionable.Linebacker Thomas Davis 12 tackles and one interception against the Rams were a boost for the Carolina defense while linebacker A.J. Klein filled in for Thompson.Rivera said the Panthers appeared to be a fatigued team, something he attributed to coming off the West Coast trip. He said the energy level will need to be high by the weekend when encountering the Chiefs.Rivera said he can tie some of his success as a coach to spending time on Reids staff with the Philadelphia Eagles. Rivera was the linebackers coach under Reid from 1999 to 2003.This will be only the sixth meeting between the teams, with Kansas City winning the most recent matchup 27-21 in December 2012 at home. ' ' '