Why Should New York Yankees Fans Treat A-Rod Better?

There’s a growing trend among New York Yankees fans. The trend is Alex Rodriguez deserves better treatment after the “years of mistreatment” from fans when he was a player.

I’m sorry, are we forgetting just HOW his last few years as a Yankee unfolded?

Remember how he sued the Yankees?

After getting caught in the Biogenesis scandal, A-Rod was facing a 162-211 game suspension for his involvement. During the appeal of MLB’s initial ruling, A-Rod sued the New York Yankees team doctor, and team hospital (New York Presbyterian) for misdiagnosing the hip injury that resulted in him missing most of the 2013 season. Part of the suit alleges:

Defendants, after performing, understanding and analyzing the MRI, had diagnosed Plantiff as suffering from a superior labral tear at the left hip; and without informing the plaintiff of the diagnosis, knowingly cleared the Plaintiff to resume playing as a third baseman for the New York Yankees during the [2012] season playoffs, thus allowing the Plaintiff to further injure himself and the necessity for additional surgeries.

Now, while the Yankees as an organization weren’t specifically named, A-Rod is trying to throw someone who looks after the ENTIRE TEAM under the bus. I mean, this is the guy who ultimately brought Mariano Rivera AND Derek Jeter back for their final seasons. Why would the Yankees keep someone around who didn’t have the best interest of every member of the team in their best interest, including Alex Rodriguez?

A-Rod was like Gerrit Cole

A-Rod wasn’t brought to New York to win more MVP’s than championship’s, he was brought them to bring more championships to the 96-00 totals. And he only brought in 1 extra championship. He was touted as someone who would win the team multiple championships. But when it came down to winning those championship’s, A-Rod was nowhere to be found. As a Mariner, A-Rod was 18-53, good for a .339 postseason average.

As a Yankee, A-Rod had only 3 series out of 14 playoff appearances with a batting average of .270 and lower. The man finished with a career postseason batting average of .259, and 41 RBI’s, over the span of 19 postseasons series/appearances (his last postseason appearance was the 2015 Wild Card game going 0-4). Specifically as a Yankee, though, he went 54-205, good for a .263 batting average as a Yankee. This isn’t the stuff that brings home the gold.

Is Gerrit Cole doomed to A-Rod’s fate?

If Cole win’s a couple Cy Young’s, and an MVP, it’s not why he was brought to the Yankees. He’s bringing brought to New York to win multiple World Series championships. So, unless Cole decides “The pressure is too much, I need to take steroids,” like Alex did multiple times, Cole is doomed to be treated just as harshly as A-Rod was. But can you really blame Yankee fans? We were promised something from A-Rod, and he failed to deliver. We’re promised the same thing from Gerrit.

And before you start with “Oh, baseball’s a team sport! It’s about the contributions from all 9 (in the American League it’s 10 with the DH) guys on the field!” stop and think about this:

A-Rod has a career 117.8 WAR, with a .295 career batting average in the regular season, as well as over 3,000 hits, at over 660 home runs. Derek Jeter had a WAR of 72.4, with a career .310 regular-season batting average, with 260 career home runs, and finishing in the top 10 of hits for his career. I’ve posted A-Rod’s postseason stats. Jeter’s were .308 with more home runs and more RBI’s in the postseason than A-Rod’s. By EVERY metric, Jeter shouldn’t be outperforming A-Rod in the postseason. They were both paid to slow the game down and win when it mattered most. But A-Rod, when the lights shone brightest, couldn’t do it, and Jeter could. Why should we treat A-Rod better than we treat Jeter when Jeter actually got the job done?