Most Popular Article of the Week: Alex Rodriguez, Robert Refsnyder, First Base & Brian Cashman Can’t Help His Damn Self

And the award for the longest post title goes to.....

Good morning/afternoon Yankees fans. I feel like we haven’t ranted in a while and I tend to get a bit cranky when I don’t have baseball so whatever, let’s do it. Earlier this week it was announced that Alex Rodriguez would begin taking ground balls at first base over the All Star break and while some may have just read that and moved on with their lives I, the eternal pessimist I guess, can see where this is leading. I know where it’s leading because I’ve seen it a million times before. Alex Rodriguez is about to make Robert Refsnyder a thing of the past at the position because the contract and not the performance always dictates the playing time in the Bronx. Brian Cashman just can’t help his damn self, can he?


Let’s predict how this is going to go. Alex is going to start getting the bulk of the right-handed at bats at first base while Refsnyder sits on the bench. Why? Because the Yankees “want to try to find a way to get his bat going and into the lineup” while “giving Carlos Beltran more half days off at the DH position.” If anyone has the gonads to ask about Refsnyder they will be told that the days Beltran is at DH and Alex is at first Refsnyder will be in right field but we all know that’s a lie. Teixeira will be at the DH position some and Aaron Hicks will have to play the outfield as well for whatever reason possesses Joe Girardi and Refsnyder will once again be the odd man out. Like he always is.


When are the Yankees and the fans going to stop letting the contract dictate the playing time and the decisions made by our beloved team in the Bronx? Who cares what Alex makes this year and next? If he’s not producing by the month of July, and he’s not, then do what any other successful team over the past 10 years have done. Eliminate the contract and the black hole from the team. Designate him for assignment, trade him and eat salary or let him rot on the bench. The San Francisco Giants do it (three World Series in the past five years) and the Boston Red Sox do it as well (two rings since breaking the Curse of the Bambino) but the Yankees just refuse to.





And another question, why Refsnyder? We haven’t seen a prospect treated like this since I don’t know when. Since George Steinbrenner was running the show I guess. “He needs to show more with the bat” is an excuse not to call him up, he does that and still doesn’t get the call up. “Refsnyder is a man without a position” is an excuse, he learns second base, the outfield, third base and first base and is about to get his playing time ripped from him again. I’m tired of it. Refsnyder is not a blue chip prospect or anything like that and I know I talk him up like one sometimes but that’s only because I see the potential in him. He’s less of a Derek Jeter in his prime and more of a Scott Brosius to me. A solid hitter, a tough out and not one that you’re going to draft high on your fantasy team but he is a player that helps a team win. The ultimate goal. If Cashman could just get out of his own way.