The New York Yankees have not had a reason to put Alex Rodriguez in the lineup. Could adding the ability to play first base change that?
Alex Rodriguez has put together quite a career, despite being involved in a couple PED scandals. Last year, coming off of a PED-related suspension for 2014, Rodriguez looked like a whole new player. He was getting on base and hitting a lot of home runs; some even believed that A-Rod might be on his way to breaking the home run record before retirement. This year has been a huge disappointment for Rodriguez, as he can’t find his way at the plate.
A-Rod has been sharing DH time with Carlos Beltran, who has had a very good season. If the Yankees trade Carlos Beltran, Rodriguez may begin to play more games at DH. However, for the time being Rodriguez is caught in a spot where he can’t play the field at third base, but he also isn’t hitting better than Carlos Beltran. He wants to see more at bats, so he needs to make a change. He believes that change is working on playing first base and playing there while Mark Teixeira is battling a knee injury.
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During the 2015 season, the New York Yankees tried to move him to first base for awhile, but he quickly gave up on the task. Now in 2016, he has said that he wants to try again. With more pressure this season to perform at the plate, it seems like a good time for Rodriguez to work on anything that will get him in the lineup. Over the All-Star Break, he reportedly worked on fielding ground balls and taking throws at first base. When he was asked about his want to try the position, he repeatedly said that it was for the sake of managerial flexibility.
While Rodriguez claims that he wants to give Girardi more flexibility in the lineup, he’s mostly doing this for himself. If A-Rod can get more consistent at bats maybe he will perform better this season, which would be huge for a Yankees team that is caught in the middle.
If Rodriguez can add an ability to play first base to his resume this season, he can provide the Yankees with some sort of value as he attempts to finish out his contract through 2017. With an oft-injured Teixeira currently the number one first baseman and Rob Refsnyder as the backup, this may be the perfect time for Alex Rodriguez to test out his ability at that position.
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If it doesn’t work out, A-Rod will remain a semi-platoon DH that only gets 400 or so plate appearances a year. It won’t be enough to push him over the record in home runs during the next year and a half, but it seems like he will at least reach 700 career home runs. This is a move to try to stay valuable in the 22nd year of his career, and if it doesn’t work Rodriguez will retire in peace in the next year knowing that he gave his all for over 20 years.