JEFF Weaver lost Wednesday night, yet won anyway. In defeat, the Cardinals pitcher honored himself against the Mets in the NLCS opener, pitching well for the second time in as many playoff rounds this season.
A week earlier, Kenny Rogers, like Weaver another one-time Yankee we all thought was too small for October, devastated his former team with 72/3 shutout innings in ALDS Game 3. He followed that with 71/3 scoreless frames yesterday against the A’s in ALCS Game 3.
A year earlier it was another Yankee castoff, Jose Contreras, who went 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA in the playoffs for the champion White Sox, reversing the pinstripetinged perception that he was incapable of handling all that came with this time of year.
So for those convinced Alex Rodriguez will never shed his October handcuffs, the advice is to, at least, reconsider. Not only is Rodriguez more talented than Weaver, Rogers and Contreras, but he also is nowhere near the basket case Rogers had been.
If Kenny Rogers can be an October star, so can Alex Rodriguez Perhaps Rodriguez simply needs what Weaver, Rogers and Contreras all received: liberation from New York (Rogers also was an October bust for the Mets). But that is not the lesson being absorbed by Brian Cashman.
For Cashman, this is about time, a belief that with more chances in any uniform, Yankees included, Rodriguez will flourish in the postseason.
“Reggie [Jackson] always says to me that as long as you have a bat in your hand you can rewrite tomorrow’s newspaper,” Cashman said yesterday. “Alex has a lot of career left to rewrite tomorrow’s newspaper.” Will he do so as a Yankee?
Recognizing already an obvious storyline of the offseason, Cashman again insisted, “I can’t say this any more strongly. I expect Alex to be the third baseman of the Yankees next year and for years to come.” What else is he supposed to say? The Yanks made hasty trades of Rogers, Weaver and Contreras, in large part due to their October failures (combined 0-3, 8.72 ERA as Yankees). Only the Rogers deal was not a Yankees disaster, provoking Cashman to say, “We (the Yanks) have been guilty of changing the seats way too quickly.” In addition, Cashman does not want to openly market Rodriguez, potentially be disappointed in the offers and further dent A-Rod’s fragile psyche by keeping him under those circumstances.
At this point, every other team is cognizant of Rodriguez’s situation in New York; plenty already have made offers and plenty more will. If Cashman hears an offer too delicious to shun (think young, high-ceiling arms) then he would more seriously pursue asking Rodriguez to waive his no-trade clause.
But if Rodriguez is staying, then the Yanks must hope that if Contreras, Rogers and Weaver (two runs, 102/3 innings this postseason) can re-write their October history, than Rodriguez can, as well. In fact, Cashman offers an apt comparison of a player who like Rodriguez had compiled a legendary career but whose postseason history was soiled. Through 1999 and his first year as a Yankee, Roger Clemens had mainly demerits for how he had performed in the playoffs.
However, beginning with his one-hit, 15-strikeout ALCS tour de force against, coincidentally, the 2000 Mariners of Rodriguez and Lou Piniella, Clemens did a lot to recast his October name.
One item that encourages Cashman about Rodriguez is that “I saw him dismantle the Twins (in the 2004 AL Division Series) and shine in the first four games of that ALCS against Boston.” However, Rodriguez is RBIless in his 12 postseason games since, hardening the perception that he is incapable of shining in October for the Yankees.
“I see attributes that should allow him to conquer the postseason, as well,” Cashman said of Rodriguez.
Cashman said he already believed this possible, but that, yes, the reversals for Contreras, Rogers and Weaver do help “reinforce” his thoughts.
If those players, October duds as Yankees, can distinguish themselves at this time of year, then why not Alex Rodriguez?
