{"id":225,"date":"2012-10-18T16:41:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-18T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jessegolomb.tumblr.com\/post\/33856200399"},"modified":"2012-10-18T16:41:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-18T21:41:00","slug":"with-a-rod-yanks-torpedo-sinking-ship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/2012\/10\/with-a-rod-yanks-torpedo-sinking-ship\/","title":{"rendered":"With A-Rod, Yanks Torpedo Sinking Ship"},"content":{"rendered":"

On the field and off it, in the short-term and long, the Yankees\u2019 handling of A-Rod has been nothing short of wrong.<\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not clear where this goes from here.<\/p>\n

The Yankees could end up taking a cue from heartbreak past. They could surge back from 3-0 to advance to perhaps the most unlikely World Series in franchise history, quieting questions and putting off answers until another day.<\/p>\n

Much more likely, they will go loudly into the night. (UPDATE: In case you went into frustration-induced hibernation after Game 3, they already have.) The Alex Rodriguez trade rumors,\u00a0of which I am extremely skeptical<\/a>, will continue to swirl.<\/p>\n

In fact, the storm has\u00a0already begun<\/a>. As I write this, the Yankees are already down 6-0 in an elimination game. By the time you somehow waded through a sea of A-Rod columns to find this one, the 2012 Yankees \u2013 and Rodriguez\u2019s career in pinstripes \u2013 could be over.<\/p>\n

But regardless of how these Yankees are remembered (and right now, the odds on \u201cfondly\u201d aren\u2019t looking too hot.), one thing must be said:<\/p>\n

The Yankees\u2019 handling of Alex Rodriguez during the postseason \u2013 and this is putting it kindly \u2013 has been straight up wrong.<\/p>\n

On the field and off it, in the short-term and the long, the Yankees have diminished their chances of winning.<\/p>\n

By treating one of history\u2019s greatest sluggers as a mere nuisance unworthy of the stripes which he has so dutifully earned, they\u2019ve hurt their chances against the Detroit Tigers of 2012, the Tampa Bay Rays of 2013, and all of baseball\u2019s elite moving forward.<\/p>\n

I get it. I\u2019ve watched the games too. A-Rod looks finished, roasted. His bat speed is laughable, his confidence non-existent, his once majestic swing reduced to a pathetic flail.<\/p>\n

The man who was supposed to end up blasting more homeruns than anyone else now looks incapable of ever hitting a single one again.<\/p>\n

Still, looks can be deceiving: There\u2019s no doubt A-Rod\u2019s skill set has diminished, his 18 homeruns in 2012 being just one indicator of batting prowess passed. But it\u2019s worth remembering that he hit .315 in July \u2013 albeit without much power \u2013 before fracturing his wrist and then returning for the stretch run, stripped of his once-legendary ability to hit a baseball.<\/p>\n

Is Alex still hurt? Is this set of 25 or so at-bats merely an embarrassingly bad small sample?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

And guess what? Neither do the Yankees.<\/p>\n

Which makes it all the more perplexing why they\u2019ve treated this situation like one settled, seemingly already\u00a0having launched<\/a>\u00a0a smear campaign of their $114 million third basemen (\u2018Confirmed by team sources,\u2019 by the way. Are they even trying to disguise this stuff anymore?), just minutes after they announced their decision to bench him for the third time in five crucial contests.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve played this game for a long time,\u201d Rodriguez told reporters before Wednesday\u2019s rainout. \u201cBottom line is: anytime I\u2019m in any lineup, I think that lineup is better. It has a better chance to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bottom line: A-Rod\u2019s right. Especially when his absence requires the presence of the even more punchless Eric Chavez, who is 0-15 during these playoffs.<\/p>\n

When you have one of the game\u2019s greatest, you give him a chance to figure it out.<\/p>\n

In baseball, 23 at-bats is not much of a chance.<\/p>\n

(Just ask Robinson Cano, who recently vanquished a dubious streak of his own: hitless in 29 postseason ABs.)<\/p>\n

But even worse than giving up on one of the game\u2019s greatest, and likely doing it too hastily \u2013 the Yankees have banished A-Rod when they needed him most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel I can bring that type of impact and I\u2019m also at any point ready to break through,\u201d A-Rod said, flanked by reporters. \u201cI thought my at-bats in some of those game got a little bit better. The last two, I hit two rockets. Anytime I\u2019m in the box the game can change, and everyone knows that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teetering on the verge of capsizing, without their captain to steady the ship, the Yankees should have listened to Alex, and given him a chance to right all that has gone wrong.<\/p>\n

They\u00a0needed<\/em>\u00a0him to find his stroke. They needed it yesterday \u2013 when, instead of playing baseball, he was answering questions from reporters and providing half-shaken, half-confident responses like the ones above.<\/p>\n

Yet, even if the Yankees are convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that their third baseman is fried \u2013 and it remains to be seen how they could be \u2013 and that any A-Rod plate appearance is destined to end in a trip back to the dugout, and that the best course of action is to trade him, and trade him tomorrow \u2013 then it boggles the mind why it made sense to torpedo a sinking ship, plummeting Rodriguez\u2019s trade value to depths previously unseen.<\/p>\n

Hey Cashman, it\u2019s Jeff Loria. We\u2019re interested in Alex.<\/em><\/p>\n

But we know you want no part of him. You\u2019ve made that exceedingly clear. You want him gone, ASAP.<\/em><\/p>\n

So here\u2019s what we\u2019ll do: We\u2019ll give you Mark Buerhle. And you\u2019ll give us Alex Rodriguez.<\/em><\/p>\n

And you\u2019ll pay ninety-five of the hundred-and-fourteen million dollars remaining on Alex\u2019 contract.<\/em><\/p>\n

And, if Brian Cashman is serious about trading Rodriguez, as most seem to believe, he will have no choice but to say yes.<\/p>\n

Because when you\u2019ve made your disdain for a player this clear, that\u2019s about the best offer you\u2019re going to get.<\/p>\n

Because when you\u2019ve backed yourself into a corner like the Yankees have, the best offer you get might just be the one you can\u2019t refuse.<\/p>\n

Jesse Golomb is (unfortunately) a Yankee fan.<\/em><\/p>\n

He’s also the Editor-in-Chief of TheFanManifesto. Follow him\u00a0on twitter<\/a>, or drop him a line\u00a0via email<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On the field and off it, in the short-term and long, the Yankees\u2019 handling of A-Rod has been nothing short of wrong.
\nIt\u2019s not clear where this goes from here.
\nThe Yankees could end up taking a cue from heartbreak past. They could surge back from 3-… Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1010,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1010"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions\/849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/my.vanderbilt.edu\/artofblogging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}