The Yankees skipper doesn’t believe his relationship with A-Rod was fractured during the playoffs … but says a conversation with the three-time AL MVP is ‘on the to-do-list’
Joe Girardi fully expects Alex Rodriguez to be his starting third baseman in 2013, but the Yankee skipper doesn’t regret benching the slumping slugger while the Bombers were being swept in the ALCS by Detroit.
“I made decisions based on the season, a month, what I’d seen,” Girardi said at his season wrap-up press conference Wednesday at the Stadium. “For me to go back and say I would have changed anything, these weren’t just let me go off the top of my head and make a decision. These were things we evaluated a lot before we made out decisions. I don’t look back and second-guess myself, no, I don’t.”
Girardi, who also pulled slumping outfielders Nick Swisher and Curtis Granderson from the starting lineup for a game apiece against the Tigers, said a conversation with Rodriguez remains “on the to-do list” in the coming weeks.
But the manager reiterated that he doesn’t believe his relationship with A-Rod or the others was fractured during the playoffs.
“I hope not, but if it’s something I have to do, I will work on that,” Girardi said. “I hope not. I was making moves trying to win ballgames. If it comes to that, I’ll work on it. The one thing that I have been, I’ve been honest with our players. I will continue to do that and I will do my best for this organization to win every game.”
Girardi reiterated that he believes Rodriguez was healthy after missing more than a month late in the summer with a broken bone in his hand. But A-Rod batted just .120 with no extra-base hits or RBI in postseason play, and he was practically an automatic out (0-for-18 with 12 strikeouts) against right-handed pitching.
Rodriguez, who ranks fifth on the all-time home run list with 647, has five years and $114 million remaining on his contract with a full no-trade clause. GM Brian Cashman said over the weekend that A-Rod no longer can be viewed as “a superstar,” but the Yanks still expect him to be an “above average” third baseman.
“I think there were some comments that maybe Alex is not an MVP candidate. He hasn’t been for the last couple of years,” Girardi said of the three-time American League MVP. “But as I said, you’ve seen players who’ve made adjustments who’ve gone back to being extremely productive. There was talk about Derek (Jeter). There was talk about Ichiro (Suzuki), that he wasn’t the same player, and look how good he was for us, what he did over that two months span and in the playoffs.
“So, can Alex be a very good player again?” Girardi continued. “Absolutely. I don’t have any question in my mind. Because I think the desire is there. As far as being a heads-up player, I think that’s there. As far as being a 45-50 home-run guy, we don’t see much of that in baseball, at all. How many guys hit 40-plus homers this year? Four, maybe five? So I don’t anticipate that’s going to happen, but I think he can be a very good player … You always have a chance as a player to rewrite things and make adjustments.”
