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Yankees’ Editorial: Should We Forgive Alex Rodriguez?

By Tyler Angelo

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I have talked about Alex Rodriguez way more times than I am proud of this off-season. He is at the top of every headline regarding the New York Yankees and it is getting in the way of other topics. I am afraid that this season will be known as the “welcome back tour” for Rodriguez in the same aspect that the last season was a “farewell tour” for Derek Jeter.

Let me clarify this, I am a die-hard Yankees fan and a just as big Derek Jeter fan. However, last season the sport and team took a back seat to the charade of Jeter retiring. It got in the way of the game and took some integrity away from the team. I know this is an unpopular opinion but come on, anyone who watched multiple Yankees games last season heard Michael Kay and David Cone say countless times something along the lines of, “this is the last time Jeter will ______.”

So, that being said I hope that this season doesn’t fall into the same scenario where every game Alex Rodriguez coming back is the headline rather than what the team did. I am proposing the question here and now, prior to the season, should we forgive Alex Rodriguez?

It is either a yes we will forgive him and move on to focusing on the game, or no we don’t forgive him and we should focus on the game. It can’t be a back and forth waver between the two in which we narrow the spotlight on to just him.

I believe that most people will choose to wait and see if he produces or flops before making their judgement. It is almost unfair to hate the guy and bash him for having tainted records but still ask him to produce the same numbers. We all need a much more realistic view of Rodriguez and to accept him for that player and not his past accomplishments.

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There have been a few people already who have given Arod the opportunity to make amends and are wishing him the best of luck this season. He met with the new commissioner Rob Manfred and turned him into a believer. Manfred was quoted in a 2o13 interview as saying that Rodriguez’s legacy was “sad and tarnished”. However, after his meeting he told ESPN in an interview that he looks forward to the much anticipated return of Arod.

In Robert Hatch’s article for NJ.com he also notes that Yankees’ radio voice John Sterling forgave Rodriguez. He says,

"“A-Rod, who Sterling has always had a soft spot for, told The New York Daily News that A-Rod recently offered Sterling refuge in his Manhattan apartment while he was in Florida preparing for spring training. “We talked right after the fire. Alex felt terrible about it,” Sterling told the News. (It’s unclear if Sterling took him up on the offer.)”"

If Brian Cashman comes out and says he forgives A-Rod then I might become a believer in his come back. Cashman has been one of his harshest critics this off-season and has made it clear that Rodriguez doesn’t have a spot on the team unless he earns it.

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