What’s In Store For Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees Next Year?
With the close of the New York Yankees’ season, it has now been over a year since anyone has seen Alex Rodriguez play a game of baseball. Following his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season. Yet, despite his suspension, Rodriguez is still on the Yankees roster with a contract running through the 2017 season.
We know Rodriguez will be on the Yankees next year, the question now is whether or not he should be guaranteed a starting spot come Opening Day. According to ESPN, during his year end press conference, Joe Girardi told the reporters Rodriguez will get a chance to prove himself. “I think that is the thing we have to do. I believe he is going to be 40 next summer and we need to see where he is physically at.”
New York Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez is congratulated in the dugout after hitting a grand slam home run Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Girardi also stated that he has remained in touch with Rodriguez via text message throughout his suspension, according to a report by ESPN New York’s Andrew Marchand. Thus, it seems that Girardi is prepared to give Rodriguez a fair shake come spring training and the beginning of next season.
It really is only fair to give A-Rod a shot to prove himself again, besides the Yankees are paying him more than $20 million next year so they should be getting their worth. As a Yankee fan, I understand all too well the bitter taste he has left in our mouths over the past decade. So with that said, I am going to propose something that may seem radical, however, just hear me out.
Alex Rodriguez should have the opportunity to compete for the starting shortstop position next season. And if given the opportunity, he will easily win.
Like I said, hear me out. With the retirement of Derek Jeter, the Yankees are left with a void in the six spot. Why go out and spend more money on someone like a Troy Tulowitzki, when you are already paying Rodriguez. There are of course several points that could be raised about this, so lets discuss them.
“I think that is the thing we have to do. I believe he is going to be 40 next summer and we need to see where he is physically at.” — Joe Girardi
The first is that A-Rod will bring shame to the position that was just previously filled by a hall-of-famer. I disagree. We all know Derek had a better career and will be a better shortstop than Rodriguez in the end, simply because he was a truly genuine player. It is clear that Jeter is an all-around great guy and role model to many, as he should be. Thus, this move means no disrespect to Jeter, and we need to realize that in the end, this is a business and sometimes these things happen.
What if A-Rod can’t play shortstop anymore?
That is a very valid point, yet, Alex hasn’t played in over a year, so whats to guarantee he can play third base anymore? To build on that, according to baseball-reference.com, he hasn’t played more than 100 games at third since the 2010 season. Also, despite playing the last decade at third base for the Yankees, Rodriguez still has played more games at shortstop in his career.
I can’t add any experience to back it, but from what I have been told by former athletes, professional players don’t really forget how to play a position once they have learned it; especially after playing it for 10 years and nearly 11,000 innings. They may need a tune up to get the rust off and possibly some games to get used to it again, but they still know how to play. Therefore, given a full spring training at SS and half of April, I don’t see any reason why Rodriguez couldn’t play the position again at an effective level.
Lets look at the 2014 major league Yankees roster specifically at shortstop. Besides Jeter, the Yankees had Stephen Drew and Brendan Ryan. Both players have career batting averages lower than .260 and both have batted over .280 only twice in their careers. Rodriguez’s average is .299, which although it may be skewed for obvious reasons, it is still over 40 points higher.
So we have established that Alex is a better offensive player, but how is he defensively compared to Ryan and Drew. In the field, he has averaged about 1.5 more errors per season than Drew and Ryan. However, he has also played three and four more seasons at short than the others respectively. Also, his fielding percentage is nearly identical to theirs at 97.7 percent. Fielding percentage, which is the calculation of the sum of putouts and assists divided by the sum of putouts, assists, and errors is the way in which a player’s defensive ability is truly measured (baseball-reference.com).
Of course, Alex could remain at third base, be the designated hitter, or even play first base for the season. However, realistically Chase Headley and Zelous Wheeler do a fine job at third, Beltran will likely be the full-time DH and Teixeira will get the nod at first 99 percent of the time. I am not saying Alex can’t fill-in at the other positions, but his main position should be shortstop.
Lastly, as Girardi said, Alex is going to be 40 years old next season. At this point based on his past stats, it is easy to say he should do all of the listed above, but only time will tell. It will be critical for him to participate in a full spring training before any permanent decisions can be made. However, the thought of him returning to shortstop should be in the back of everyone’s mind at this point as a viable option.