The circumstances were slightly different last night, however.
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For a player reviled as a “24-and-1 guy” by a failed Mets GM and nearly universally considered around the league as a clubhouse cancer, it was the ultimate team sacrifice. “And that’s hard for me to say, because I believe in Alex”.
This is how it ends for Alex Rodriguez? While it’s certainly not a surprise that Girardi kept a player who is hitting.204 out of the lineup, Rodriguez was furious because Girardi hinted over the weekend that the 41-year-old would play in the entire series against Boston. However, it looks like we can cross off the Rays as a possible destination for Rodriguez if he wants to continue his playing career. “(Girardi) has his opinion; I have mine. “He just said, ‘We’re trying to win games.’ It was surprising and shocking”. He has his opinions and I have mine. He said the comments were made during an emotional time. I’m human. … I’m not saying he won’t play these next two days, but I’m managing to win the games.
He said he has no regrets about how things eventually worked out. “My heart can get tugged at. It got me going a little bit”. I’m human. There is a human element to me. “So we started the homestand off the right way and it’s a good way to start the series”.
Going back on that promise is pretty damn weak, isn’t it? He’s now coaching the South Burlington 9 and 10 year old little league team playing in tthe eastern regionals in Rhode Island. Girardi admitted that A-Rod likely would not have seen any time against Boston if Wright hadn’t been on the mound.
“I know he wants to play”.
To be sure, A-Rod did plenty to tarnish his own image, and he sowed the seeds for deep resentment within the Yankees’ organization, as he would be the first to admit. But that’s not a reason to pull the rug out from under him this week. You know, I don’t know. He was not about to yield to Rodriguez’s wishes for a steady diet of at-bats when he couldn’t produce as the designated hitter and the Yankees had finally come to grips with the recurrence of 1965. They didn’t have to do any of this. The Yankees could have released A-Rod on Sunday and it would have been 100% justifiable.
But they did do all of this. Now that’s not happening, and it reflects poorly on Girardi and the Yankees because they’re backtracking. That is why no one should be surprised if another team reaches out in the next couple of weeks or for next season and Rodriguez’s tenure as a Yankees organizational adviser has the staying power of a Donald Trump news cycle. How does everyone else in the clubhouse feel about that?
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“Joe believes he’s done”, one source told me. The official explanation was that the ball did hit the yellow line, but it rebounded back into the field, meaning it was still in play. “I’m competing, too, so I actually kind of enjoyed it, to be honest”. Either way, if A-Rod strikes out five times and makes an error instead, well, who cares? But a productive roster spot is worth more than $27 million for the next two seasons (in Yankee money), especially when a cost-controlled minor leaguer such as Aaron Judge or Clint Frazier may take his place. I doubt that was their intention, but it happened.
