There comes a time when you can’t keep tossing a guy into the lineup when he’s clearly past his prime.
Alex Rodriguez is past his prime and the New York Yankees have consequently decided to remove the veteran third baseman from the starting lineup for Game 3 of the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers, per SportsCenter.
Instead, Eric Chavez will start in Rodriguez’s place. You know, that guy who seems like he must be at least 40 years old by now.
It doesn’t matter that Chavez is 0-for-11 with six strikeouts in the playoffs. The Yankees’ patience with Rodriguez is clearly wearing thin, as he’s gone 3-for-23 with 12 strikeouts in the postseason (Chavez can get at least three hits in his next 12 at-bats, right?).
This is a 14-time All-Star, three-time American League MVP and world champion, mind you. We are talking about a player who has hit 647 lifetime home runs, with a career .300 average.
But it’s pretty clear by now that the 37-year-old has slowed down dramatically.
He can’t get around on fastballs as well anymore and that’s been exposed in the playoffs. He’s a guy who thinks he’s about to hit a home run locked in on a fastball, but sees it instead blow past him for strike three. He’s a guy sending baseballs to female fans instead of sending baseballs out of the park.
He’s so past his prime that a guy who really is 40 years old, Raul Ibanez, is upstaging him.
The Yankees have dropped their first two games of the ALCS to the Tigers and they go up against Justin Verlander on Tuesday night. The last thing they need is a guy who is deteriorating physically and looking up into the stands rather than looking to make a difference on the field.
Joe Girardi made the right choice subbing Ibanez in for Rodriguez in Game 3 of the ALDS against the Baltimore Orioles, and he’s making the right choice keeping Rodriguez out of the starting lineup in a critical game for the Yankees.
It’s time for the Yankees to move on and try to salvage their season and leave Rodriguez behind.
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