If you thought pinch-hitting for Alex Rodriguez in a tight playoff game is tough just wait until the Yankees have to release him with, say, $60 million-ish left on his contract.
This relationship is now on that slippery slope. That pinch-hit at-bats in Division Series Games 3 and 4 are merely going to be remembered as a demarcation point at which the bubble wrap around Rodriguez’s feelings was removed as an obstacle to do the right thing with him.
I am sure few facts haunt Yankee decision makers more than this one: At the conclusion of this season, Rodriguez will be just halfway through his 10-year contract. And in the first half of that pact – what is supposed to be the gravy years – Rodriguez’s OPS has gone from the 1.067 that moved the organization to extend his contract to .965 to .933 to .847 to .823 to .783 this year.
You can see the trend line. It is an anvil dropped from an airplane, plummeting in one direction – and quickly. Does anyone believe this will change in the coming years? Rodriguez turns 38 next August. Now, Derek Jeter and Ichiro Suzuki went through career resuscitations this year, both at age 38.
But Jeter and Suzuki are lithe and agile, retaining much of the quick-twitch athleticism of their youths. Rodriguez has thickened, his joints have faltered on him. We could wonder about if the use of steroids helped him in real time, but have deteriorated his hips and knees prematurely. However, whatever the cause – natural or not – Rodriguez is far removed from the unique specimen who combined elite dexterity with powerful size.
Can he recapture at least a piece of that nimble past? And, if not, how much more of a slide will the Yankees endure before chowing down on the largest financial meal in the history of the sport. Rodriguez has five years at $114 million left on his contract at the completion of this season. What are the chances he makes it to the 2017 finish line as a Yankee? Ten percent? How about 2016? ’15?
Joe Girardi insisted pinch-hitting Raul Ibanez for Rodriguez with one out in the ninth of Game 3 was not a precursor for the near future. But Girardi also said before Game 3 he was unswerving in his belief in Rodriguez in the clutch and then made the most high-profile maneuver of his managing career by sending Ibanez up with the Yankees down 2-1. Ibanez homered to tie the score, and homered again in the 12th inning to lift the Yanks to a 3-2 triumph.
In addition, Girardi had talked earlier in the Division Series about not wanting to uproot Rodriguez from the No. 3 spot because of the up-and-down the order impact it would have on others. And then Girardi installed Rodriguez at fifth last night against lefty Joe Saunders. What will it be when the Yanks face righty Jason Hammel in Game 5 today? Fifth? Seventh? Not in the lineup at all?
That pinch-hit – and Eric Chavez batting for A-Rod with the Yanks down one and two outs in the 13th last night — opened a new world in A-Rod’s status with the Yanks. If Girardi can pinch-hit for one of the great power hitters ever with the Yanks down by a run on two occasions then he can pinch-hit for him at any time in the future. He can sit him against more righties.
You can imagine Rodriguez will be the primary third basemen next year. But what if his Division Series troubles against righties – 0-for-11 with nine strikeouts in the first three games – is symbolic of a future in which he cannot handle righties?
With all the problems this year, Rodriguez still produced what amounted to major league average numbers for a third basemen. That might not be worth his $27.5 million average salary. But it is good enough to keep him playing regularly. But we have to assume the numbers are going to dip further, to below average and then to something lower than that.
At that point, if it were to occur, what would be the reason to keep him around? The money is a strong reason. But would an organization invested in winning it all every year waste a roster spot for financial reasons?
Of course, this is based on the assumption that A-Rod cannot stop the negative lava flow of his career. He is prideful and hard working and full of pedigree, so maybe there is a resurgence in there. But the trend line is not pretty and as the pinch-hit in Game 3 emphasized a new phase in Rodriguez’s Yankee career has begun.
The kid gloves are off.