A Brief But Obvious Point About MLB Players Not Liking A-Rod

Ready, Aim, Fire

Story in the Gray Lady today about players not being too thrilled about having to pay union dues for the defense of the biggest active PED cheater...

Um, guys?

If you really feel that he shouldn't be in the game, well, you've got the ability to take him out. And that goes for his teammates, too. Especially in a game that's out of hand. Just don't come to his defense when the hit comes.

But that's not how it works, is it? Throwing at a guy, even a guy as reviled as Rodriguez, might lead to a suspension. Sliding hard into a base he's covering, or throwing at him while he's in the base paths, and more or less taking the law into your own hands... it could mean money out of your pocket.

And as for his teammates, there's this... Rodriguez is hitting .279 since his return, and getting on base at a .378 clip. A homer and a steal in 40 ABs, 4 Rs and 4 RBIs doesn't sound like a game changer... but have you seen the cavalcade of clowns the Yanks trotted out at third before the last two weeks?

So the fact that guys don't like him? Does not matter. The fact that everyone, even Rodriguez, knows he cheated (again)? Does not matter. The fact that he's basically doing what he's doing right now purely to make it difficult for the team to wiggle away from the remaining years of his contract, rather than an honest effort to make the team better, or get them into a playoff?

Bingo.

And on some level, given that no one in their right mind will hire Rodriguez for anything ever again after this final fiasco is finished...

And "taking him out" just means that you'll save the world of a handful of more days before the tent collapses...

Well, it couldn't go down any other way, really. And in the interim, it tells us more about the players complaining about Rodriguez. Since we all know everything there is to know about him by now...

Editor's Note: Um, well, so much for my predictive powers. Ryan Dempster becomes a treasured Red Sox for lining A-Rod up; less of one for giving up a home run to him in the next at-bat. Red Sox vs. Yankees remains opera for people who don't think that opera is melodramatic enough.