Yankees and ARod: The Long Goodbye

Alex Rodriguez will suit up for the Yankees one final time on Friday, Aug. 12 at Yankee Stadium, against the Tampa Bay Rays.

This divorce has long been in the making. From the initial struggles of Alex Rodriguez at the beginning of the 2016 season to the trades that the Yankees made at the deadline to deal away high-priced stars and the most recent impending retirement of Mark Teixeira; no one should really be surprised at this latest bit of news.

What is a bit shocking though is that this all seems somewhat amicable. Both the Yankees and ARod get pretty much exactly what they wanted; the Yankees free up a roster spot–able to call up one of their prized prospects (Aaron Judge?); while Rodriguez comes off in a mostly positive light, in a way earning his pending $27 million as a special advisor/instructor and liaison for Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner through Dec. 31 of 2017.

During Brian Cashman’s follow up presser, he addressed the $27 million gorilla in the room stating, ‘he (Rodriguez) gets everything he deserves.’

So after Friday night’s contest against the Rays, Rodriguez will indeed be released, then head back home to Miami to be with his family.

Rodriguez won’t begin his new post until the start of Spring Training 2017 when he will likely be tasked with helping groom infield prospects such as Gleyber Torres, Jorge Mateo, Miguel Andujar, Wilkerman Garcia, and Tyler Wade; in addition to refining the swing of most, if not all of the top Yankee minor leaguers.

Yes, technically, even if the Yankees had flat-out released Rodriguez, they still would be on the hook for his entire salary through next season. But this way, the Yankees keep Rodriguez (a brilliant baseball mind and excellent teammate) within the organization, making him earn some of that final base salary.

I for one, don’t necessarily agree on how the two sides got to this point. For a team struggling so mightily to score runs, Joe Girardi insisted on keeping Rodriguez glued to the bench. I get that his skills may have deteriorated, but it’s impossible for any player to get into any type of groove when he only sees a hand-full of at-bats over the span of a month or two! It seems like just yesterday, the Yankees were down to as little as 4.5 games back of an AL Wild Card spot.

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Wouldn’t it have been wise for Girardi to switch up his lineup once in a while to simply ignite a spark? Maybe if he had done so, the Yankees wouldn’t have needed an all-out fire sale. Maybe by now this club would be atop the Wild Card standings. But alas, we’ll never know.

Brian Cashman says the team ‘had no choice’ but to release Rodriguez. Well, yeah–you backed yourselves into a corner. Luckily, Rodriguez has taken the high road, repeatedly saying: “I’m at peace with my decision.”

For those who will remember ARod fondly (myself included), you can take solace in knowing he was one of only three players in MLB history with 600 home runs, 300 stolen bases, and 2K runs scored while finishing as a 14-time All-Star and 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner.

As for those who will only pay attention to PED abuse, and that primadonna moniker members of the media enjoyed throwing around, well, I guess you finally go your wish. In less than a week, you’ll never have to worry about seeing number 13 on a field again as a player.

However, his impact on the game will last long into the night. Because whether you like him or not, Rodriguez has forever changed the game of baseball as we know it.

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So whether ARod decides to continue in his stead as a special instructor, use his astute baseball acumen for TV (like he did for Fox during last season’s playoffs), or one day purchases a share of a major league club, this certainly won’t be the last time you hear the nickname ARod.

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