When I heard that New York Yankees GM Brian Cashman was angry with Alex Rodriguez over a tweet he had sent out, I figured that A-Rod had said something embarrassing or offensive.
A-Rod did neither.
All the Yankee thirdbaseman did was send out a tweet on Tuesday night which said, “Visit from Dr. Kelly over the weekend, who gave me the best news – the green light to play games again!”
When Cashman learned of A-Rod’s tweet, he told ESPN, “You know what, the Yankees want to announce something. Alex should just shut the f@*k up. That’s it. I’m going to call Alex now.”
OK, I can understand Cashman not being happy at being blindsided. Washington Nationals superstar Bryce Harper and Nats manager Davey Johnson recently had a similar, if less acrimonious row over Harper’s rehab schedule from a knee injury.
Yet if I’m a GM and I hear one of my star players is ready to play, I would consider it cause for celebration. At worst, this is just a simple miscommunication and did not warrant such anger from Cashman. If I was Cashman, instead of dropping a f-bomb, I would have said to the effect:
This is the first I’ve heard that Alex is ready to play. I look forward to speaking with Alex about his recovery and hope he will soon rejoin the team.
Of course, Cashman could have called A-Rod and ripped him a new one. Some things are best said behind closed doors.
For his part, A-Rod calls Cashman’s reaction “over the top” and speculated that the Yankees are trying to delay his return to the active roster so they can declare him medically unfit play and recoup 80% of his $28 million salary this season through insurance.
A-Rod has not played in 2013 due to off-season arthroscopic hip surgery. In 2012, A-Rod struggled during the post-season and was removed for a pinch hitter by Yankees skipper Joe Girardi.
Rodriguez’s name also surfaced this past off-season when the Miami based Biogenesis clinic listed him and several other MLB players as receiving performance enhancing drugs. Several years ago, A-Rod admitted using PEDs between 2001 and 2003 while he was a member of the Texas Rangers. Earlier this month, speculation abounded that MLB may suspend A-Rod for 100 games because of his connection to Biogenesis, but MLB has taken no action at this point.
Earlier this evening, Cashman expressed regret over the tone of his remarks and ceded the team is “clearly better” with A-Rod than without him. In light of the fact that Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira will undergo season ending wrist surgery, A-Rod might be back in pinstripes sooner rather than later.
