Yankees Editorial: Can Chase Headley And Alex Rodriguez Co-Exist?

Alex Rodriguez thinks he’s a third baseman. Chase Headley is a third baseman. Only one can play the position at a time. Kinda says so in the rules. A-Rod played short once upon a time. But at 40 with bad hips and coming off the juice that won’t happen.

Headley played first base at time for the Yankees when Mark Teixeira was hurt. Headley also has played in the outfield during his career. According to Ryan Hatch of NJ.com, Headley wants no part of that.

"Chase Headley, who signed a four-year, $48 million deal with the team this offseason after playing the second half of 2014 in the Bronx, said Tuesday that the reason he came back to New York was to play third base. “[During contract negotiations], you know, I said, ‘I don’t want to make any demands, but this is what I do best,’ ” Headley said. “So for me to be here, that’s, you know, that’s what makes sense.”The elephant (or “monkey,” as Headley put it endearingly) in the closet is of course the other semi-third baseman on the team, Alex Rodriguez, who’s already in camp, and has said he’s going to compete for the third base job. Said Headley of playing another position: “If I thought I was coming in here to be a first baseman or a left fielder, or whatever, I wouldn’t have [come] back,” he said. “That wouldn’t have made sense for me or the Yankees.”"

Headley is right. A-Rod should not be playing the field very often. He should be DH’ing when he plays. If he plays.

Headley is an excellent third baseman. I don’t have to throw out fancy defensive stats to make that claim. If you had two eyes and watched the Yankees after he was acquired you could tell.

Headley should be that confident because at this moment he is the right choice for the Yankees at the hot corner. A-Rod thinks he can, because he’s A-Rod and he should have that confidence in himself.

There is going to be a point where A-Rod thinks he should be playing more than he should. At that point, Joe Girardi needs to lay down the law. Also, A-Rod needs to learn first if he wants to play.

So yeah, A-Rod and Headley can co-exist. As long as A-Rod realizes he isn’t the man for the hot corner. Of course since this is A-Rod, this could take a while.