Like most of the Yankees, A-Rod hasn't had a good season. It's gotten to the point where Joe Girardi doesn't play him at all against right-handers, and he rarely starts against lefties, too. On Saturday night, he made his first start since July 22 and went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. If he doesn't start against left-hander Blake Snell on Sunday, he probably won't get back into the lineup until Wednesday at the earliest. The Yankees play two games without a DH at Citi Field on Monday and Tuesday.
Now, Girardi is in a bit of a bind when it comes to A-Rod. Carlos Beltran has indisputably been the Yankees' best player this season. At this point in his career, Beltran can't play right field everyday, so he has to DH on those days to keep his bat in the lineup. As a result, A-Rod has to sit. Nobody has a problem with that. Except over the past few weeks, Beltran has essentially been the regular DH with either Aaron Hicks or Rob Refsnyder in right field. It started about a month ago when Beltran had a bad hamstring and physically couldn't play the outfield, and it's continued throughout July.
If you base it strictly on A-Rod's numbers, it makes sense why he isn't getting any playing time. He entered Saturday's game hitting just .210 for the season and .199 against righties. Girardi is asked about A-Rod pretty much every day, and his answer is usually the same. He'll be back in the lineup when he has productive at-bats. Of course, the counterargument to that rings equally true. How can A-Rod contribute productive at-bats if he only plays once a week?
Personally, I'd rather see him in the lineup if only because I think he's a better option than the alternatives. Seriously, what's the benefit of playing Aaron Hicks or Rob Refsnyder and batting him ninth? Hicks is batting .189 this season, which is worse than A-Rod. Yes, Hicks in right field lets you DH Beltran. But when A-Rod's doing what he's capable of, it's clear which lineup gives the Yankees a better chance of winning. And they need as many wins as they can get over the last two months of the season to have any shot at the playoffs.
Girardi can make whatever lineup he wants. That's not the problem. The problem is that if he's not going to play A-Rod, there's really no point in having him on the roster. He's exclusively a DH, so it's not like you can put him in as a defensive replacement. And since you don't trust him against righties, you're probably not going to have him pinch hit. Even if you do, your options are limited, seeing as you'd need to burn another player to go in for him defensively.
Essentially, the Yankees are using a 24-man roster. Their four bench players on any given night are Hicks/Refsnyder, Ronald Torreyes, the backup catcher and A-Rod. Since you can't use your backup catcher, Torreyes doesn't play and A-Rod can only hit, whichever one isn't starting in the Hicks/Refsnyder duo is basically the only guy available. See where this is a problem? Nobody on the team has hit all season, but what options are there to replace them?
The Yankees owe A-Rod a lot of money over the next year and a half. He's indicated that he's going to retire when his contract expires at the end of next season, but is it worth it to keep him around and not play him? I've been among that group who thought it would be stupid to buy him out, but I'm starting to come around on that idea. Because what's the point of playing a man down every night? By wasting a roster spot on a guy the manager has no intention of using, you're limiting your options. Which hurts the team.
I'm sure the amount of sympathy for A-Rod among fans is minimal, but no one wants to see one of the sport's all-time great players go out this way. You want his final season to be like the one David Ortiz is having or end the way Peyton Manning's did. Heck, the Yankees would even take A-Rod's 2015 season, when he looked like the A-Rod of old (and was presumably doing it clean).
This isn't the first time this has happened with the Yankees and a veteran who's clearly at the end of the line. Bernie Williams got shuffled over to right field to make room for Johnny Damon. Jorge Posada had a very similar final season to A-Rod's. And Derek Jeter wasn't exactly the Derek Jeter of old the year he hung it up.
Of course, those three were in the final year of their contract when they went downhill quickly. A-Rod still has another year left. That's why the Yankees need to do something. Because this situation can't continue. (To his credit, he's taken being benched like a champ. And why shouldn't he? He's getting paid $25 million whether he plays or not!)
It's up to Hank Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman to figure out how they're going to handle the end of A-Rod's tenure in pinstripes. But right now, it looks like a buyout is the only option. Especially because they're going to clean house and get younger over the winter (Beltran and Teixeira are both free agents, and I don't think either one is coming back). Freeing yourselves of a 41-year-old who platoons at DH would also seem like a logical move in that overhaul.
Yes, buying him out will cost them $25 million. But, short of A-Rod pulling a Ken Griffey and retiring right now, that seems to be the only option that makes sense. They're not going to get any better with A-Rod on the roster. Especially with him sitting on the bench literally not doing anything other than taking up a roster spot.
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