Alex Rodriguez embodies best-case scenario for Yankees after Aaron Judge gloom

With Mr. October Reggie Jackson no longer in the good graces of the Yankees' organization, it's become incumbent upon the franchise to find their next replacement.

While Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams represent the bulk of the dynasty's relentless postseason success, it also helps to have a bonafide slugger whose steady heartbeat knows no October bounds. Undoubtedly, the Yankees were hoping to watch Aaron Judge evolve in that manner after inking him to a career-defining extension and naming him captain.

So far, the returns have been underwhelming, leaving Alex Rodriguez's 2009 postseason as the once-and-future champion in that particular department.

Rodriguez all but took over the playoffs during the Yankees' last championship run, delivering so routinely in moments of despair that it became almost old hat by his lead-flipping World Series Game 4 double. He hit .455 in the ALDS with a game-tying ninth-inning homer in Game 2. He hit .429 with a trio of homers in the ALCS -- and, yes, again, one of them tied Game 2 in extra innings.

Once upon a time, Alex Rodriguez was just like Yankees' Aaron Judge in playoffs

But there's a reason that "Pre-09 A-Rod" remains a predominant Yankees insult. Rewatch the TBS broadcast of Game 1 of the 2009 ALDS against Minnesota, if you have time on your hands and a need for nostalgia. When Rodriguez smacks an RBI single -- an otherwise forgettable moment during a deep run -- the broadcast discusses, at length, how the singular base knock might unburden him. A-Rod stands draped in playoff glory now, but entering that October, the prevailing wisdom was that he could not perform up to regular season specifications in big moments.

He was bumped down to eighth in the order by Joe Torre in Game 4 of the 2006 ALDS -- an ill-advised insult, but a warranted one, given Rodriguez's .071 average in the series. He hit an almost laughable garbage time home run in Game 4 of the '07 DS against Cleveland, coming through only once things had been ostensibly decided. And, yes, the line of demarcation on his postseason struggles was a Boston series -- he hit .421 in the 2004 ALDS against Minnesota, then .258 in the Yankees' rivalry-switching ALCS loss to the Red Sox. Then, he never hit again ... until 2009.

In other words, Rodriguez simply wasn't bringing the boom(box). Sound like anyone we know?

Judge's October career may never turn, whether he has Juan Soto alongside him next fall or not. But there was certainly a moment in time when it felt as if Rodriguez wasn't built for primetime, with plenty of years' worth of evidence in the rearview. Then, one special October, he proved that not only could he rise to the moment, but he could do so almost on cue, by request.

There was a post-09 A-Rod. Will a post-24 Judge follow his path?