SEATTLE — Robinson Cano left the Yankees as a free agent, but at least he got to wait until the year was over.
His friend and former teammate, Alex Rodriguez, was not so lucky.
“They handled it the way they think is right, but I know Alex and nobody would like being released in the middle of the season,” Cano said of Rodriguez being released earlier this month. “But whatever it is, you’ve got to understand this is a business. What else can you do?”
Cano’s departure for the Mariners and $240 million turned out OK, as he’s returned to his All-Star form after an injury-marred 2015 season.
Even after leaving The Bronx, Cano said he “always” stayed in contact with Rodriguez, whose representation has said he won’t play for the rest of this season — but left the future unclear.
Cano, who went 3-for-4 Monday in the Mariners’ 7-5 win over the Yankees, knows how he would handle a similar situation.
“I don’t know [if he will play again],” Cano said of Rodriguez, who has 696 career homers. “I would love to see him get 700 home runs. … If I was him, I would play. It’s only four [home runs]. If it was 20, it would be different.”
The second baseman also believes Rodriguez would do well in his new role as special adviser to Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner.
“He’s gonna be really good,” Cano said. “He’s got a lot of knowledge about the game.”
CC Sabathia will make his 23rd start of the season Tuesday and his stunning beginning and ensuing crash have been well-documented.
In his first 11 outings, he tossed 65 ¹/₃ innings and gave up just two homers, posting a 2.20 ERA.
In 11 starts since then, Sabathia pitched 65 innings, but surrendered 13 home runs with a 6.78 ERA.
If the Yankees want to keep whatever faint hopes they have at a run at the playoffs alive, they’ll need more of the former from the lefty over the last six weeks of the regular season.
There doesn’t appear to be a simple fix. He was alternately terrific and terrible in his last appearance, a 7-4 loss to the Blue Jays on Aug. 17.
While he gave up a season-high seven runs — all earned — he also struck out a dozen, three more than he had all year and his highest total in four years.
And without a pair of defensive mistakes by Chase Headley at third, the damage could have been far less for Sabathia.
“It’s just some mistakes,” Joe Girardi said. “I’ve not seen a huge difference. It comes down to a pitch or two.’’
Still, he has coughed up eight homers in his past five starts.
Sabathia is also walking batters at a higher rate than he has since 2002, his second season in the majors.
Now the Yankees are waiting for a second wind from their 36-year-old, who hasn’t thrown 200 innings in three seasons.
Aaron Judge and Tyler Austin returned to the lineup after Girardi gave both rookies the day off Sunday.
Each has cooled off after fast starts to their major league careers, and the day off did not seem to help as Austin went 0-for-3 Monday and Judge went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Girardi has insisted, though, that both will continue to get consistent playing time.
