The Circus Is Back In Town

I can't believe I'm writing this, but the A-Rod circus may be exactly what the Yankees need right now.

Alex Rodriguez returns to the lineup Friday and with him comes all the controversy surrounding his PED use, womanizing, alleged pitch tipping, etc.

If you were the rest of the Yankees, wouldn't you rather be talking about that or how disgustingly poor the team's been playing?

And Thursday night was another horror show as Mariano Rivera allowed back-to-back homers in the ninth in an 8-6 loss to the Rays at Yankee Stadium, the Yankees fifth loss in a row.

The script was frighteningly familiar, yet the outcome was no less painful.

Andy Pettitte was terrible, allowing four homer in six innings, the offense rallied, but couldn't get the big hit to put the Yankees over the top, and the bullpen couldn't stop the bleeding with Rivera, this time, giving up the winners.

There's no use analyzing the game. The problems remain the same ... and quite depressing.

So let's focus on A-Rod (hey, it beats electroshock therapy, though maybe we can try that on some of the players to get them out of this funk).

A-Rod drives me nuts. I detest all the off-the-field garbage. I hate his attention seeking, his awful decisions, the stupid things he says in the media, his dalliances with strippers and Madonna, his photo kissing himself in the media, the steroid use (doesn't matter if also used in high school and with the Yankees or just with the Rangers, he's a flat-out cheat) ... all of it. And his teammates hate it, too.

But the irony (and I mean real irony, not the Alanis Morrissette kind) is the Yankees need all that garbage right now.

The locker room is going to change Friday. Suddenly, reporters are going to flock to A-Rod to talk about this crap. He's going to be the focal point and Mark Teixiera, CC Sabathia and the rest of the team will fade into the background. And the hope is that maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to relax a little. Stop pressing.

Of course, the Yankees will need more than that. They'll need to perform on the field.

And that's the dangerous part of A-Rod's return.

He's back and so many people are hoping that alone will fix all that ails the Yankees. It won't.

He's a great player and an amzing hitter, but he can't pitch, he's certainly not a reliever, and he's not going to come up every time there are runners in scoring position. Heck, he's not even going to deliver a hit every time he does, though we'll be quite happy if hits around .300 in those situations.

The Yankees don't expect A-Rod to be the savior and fans have to realize that, too. But just as importantly, A-Rod himself has to realize he's not going save this team.

We've seen two A-Rods in his time in New York. There's the guy we saw in 2004, '06 and '08. He's they guy who was continually trying to impress and be all things to everyone and hit 700-foot, five-run homers. Then there's the guy who relaxed in 2005 and 2007 and flourished with two MVP seasons.

The Yankees need A-Rod to be himself. And A-Rod needs to trust his teammates and just let his talent (whether it's natural or chemically enhanced) take over. He just needs to play ball and trust everything will fall into place.

If he does, that will go a long way to righting the Yankees' ship.

One More Thing On Thursday's Game
Can we relax about Mariano Rivera? He's coming off shoulder surgery and his arm-strength isn't there yet. Give it time. He's not done yet. And even if his velocity does not return, that still doesn't mean he's done. We have seen pitchers adapt to a loss of velocity (Trevor Hoffman comes to mind). Mo can adjust, too. Remember, he supposedly has a wicked change he's never used in games, and that gives him the option of changing his repertoire. Just give it a little time.

Runners In Scoring Position
Thursday
2-for-11 (.182)
Season
66-for-268 (.246)

Up Next
Today at Orioles, 7:05 p.m., YES
CC Sabathia (1-3, 4.85 ERA) vs. Jeremy Guthrie (2-2, 5.05)

Now would be a really good time for CC to put it all together.