I'll Boo A-Rod If I Want

Since he went 5-for-5 on May 25, A-Rod is 13-for-70 (.186) with two homers and nine RBIs over 20 games. Yesterday, against the MLB-worst Nationals, he may have been the worst Yankee of all. He struck out looking (on three consecutive pitches after going up 2-0), he grounded back to the pitcher (on the second pitch), and he grounded to third (one the second pitch). So I'm now supposed to be excited because he drew the walk?

Well yes, but why am I angry at A-Rod? Because he didn't steal! Why didn't he steal? Who knows. Brett Gardner is fast, but he was able to steal second on a PITCH OUT. You're telling me that A-Rod couldn't steal second? And if not, then why was he still in there? If Angel Berroa can't steal second then why is he on this team?

Now, this may have been a moot point if Cano hadn't grounded into a tailor made double play. But I feel like certain people continue to give A-Rod a pass just because he's won MVPs in the past.

When I was at my Yankee Stadium a few weeks ago for the Thursday afternoon game, I was one who booed A-Rod when he got out early in the game, but cheered him when he finally came through. A fan in the area said that we couldn't cheer if we had booed before. Why not? I paid for my ticket? It's a free country. And I owe A-Rod nothing. The best line came from the guy sitting behind me: "I paid money for my seat. I'll boo when I want. I'll cheer when I want. Sometimes A-Rod is a great guy and sometimes he's a bum, just like me. But I'll decide for myself what I want to do, thank you very much."

I couldn't agree with the guy more. There's a part of me that feels bad: A-Rod just came back from hip surgery and has been playing every game and just looks exhausted and lost out there. But then I realize that he's the one who keeps asking himself into the lineup. The Yankees have two guys on the bench who could play third if A-Rod asked for a day off to rest. Maybe that's the best thing for him.

And I know some people will make it seem like I'm just jumping on a bandwagon saying that once again, Cano proved he shouldn't have been hitting 5th, but I have been saying it for a while now. Regardless of his 4-4 day yesterday or his solo homerun to break up the no-hitter last night, the Yankees would be better constructing their lineup differently. Why not permanently move Swisher up (since he's second on the team in OBP) and bat him either before or after Damon? Why not move Teixeira back to cleanup. Or, since A-Rod still has a .379 OBP but a lower SLG than normal, why not bat A-Rod 3rd and Tex 4th? That way you'll have a chance of having more runners on in front of Tex.

Lastly, please, PLEASE, move Posada up before Cano. Posada is second to Tex in SLG and OPS, and has hit into only 3 GIDPs this year to Cano's 8 (and Cano is also in the top 10 in the AL in outs made). I know they're little things, but if the past few weeks have shown us anything, it's that little lineup tweaks can sometimes help jumpstart guys on offense. And after being shut down by John Lannan last night, they desperately need a jumpstart.