I've seen a lot of articles lately about Alex Rodriguez lately and how his days in a Yankees uniform are numbered. The rumor mill says that his days are numbered and he would be the grand finale in the Yankees decision to go "all in" with the new Yankees youth movement. The Yankees have made a lot of moves over the last week.....so is the time right to cut him? If not now, then would there be?
Not to be mean and throw ARod under the bus here but if we are being honest with ourselves he has been gone for awhile now. He is jut a shadow of his former self. He is now just the extra body on the bench that Joe Girardi has to figure out if and when he fits into the lineup on any given day. I don't envy Girardi right now. How do you justify giving a guy at bats when he has a .205 BA, 9 home runs and 29 RBI's on the season? By doing so he is literally stealing playing time from someone else for no reason other than he is a big name earning big money. If the past week has showed us anything it's that this school of thinking just doesn't work anymore.
So what do the Yankees do? No matter what they do, he is still going to be paid roughly 27 million dollars by the time his contract expires. He has approximately 7 million dollars owed to him this year and 20 million to be paid to him no matter what happens. He could lounge on the beach next year and not play in a single game and he still makes 20 million. So knowing that, do the Yankees let him play, or do they cut him now?
The popular answer may be to cut him now. He's not contributing to the team anyways and the Youth movement is in full swing. Gary Sanchez has already been called up and the Yankees could give him those at bats and give the Yankees some more versatility. At the same time though, would it hurt to just let him play out the rest of the season? The Yankees are not a playoff team and since we were sellers at the trade deadline why not just give him his last hoorah and let the fans enjoy watching him for a little while longer? The Yankees could let him try and get to his goal of 700 home runs. He is only four away, I have a feeling the Yankees will want to give him every opportunity to reach that goal.
I may not be the biggest ARod supporter and I won't hide that. I do not condone the choices he has made in his career and he is not a role model, but I think the Yankees have invested in him so much that they will let him play it out and show us if there is any pop left in his bat. He's not holding the team back at this point. The damage has been done and the Yankees probably don't want to throw away that money.
I do think the Yankees should cut ties at the end of the season. It's time to fully embrace the Youth movement and give them the chance to contribute. The Yankees aren't the only ones who have been forced with this kind of decision back in June the Dodgers cut Carl Crawford eating the 35 million left on his contract, so if you are looking for any kind of silver lining....at least ARod isn't quite that expensive.
ARod has been center stage in some important moments over the years but it's time to move on. He knows he is on borrowed time and says he would be "at peace" with the Yankees cutting him and I believe him. At 40 years old he knows his playing days are coming to an end. It may be best for both his sake and the franchise to say goodbye at the end of the season....and there is nothing wrong with that.
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