Hell, he’s lived the modern game.ĪRod has seen what works and isn’t some old fart with ideas stuck twenty years in the past. He has a steel trap of a mind and seems to know everything about baseball - the history, what smart moves to make, how to pitch guys, and from reports, he seems to have a strong grasp of the modern game. He’s charismatic, interesting, inquisitive and brilliant when he starts getting into the details and mechanics of the game. The time we’ve seen Alex on TV has been a revelation, too. The same team that has over-performed in seasons past is historically under-performing in 2017 Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

What's going on with the Yankees second-order winning percentage? New York City, NY, USA The New York Yankees celebrate after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays at Citi Field. Francesa retirement alone would make Alex’s transition a cakewalk It also puts that weird interview that left some bad blood between the two in the annals of history. He already dominates as a media personality with his work on MLB on FOX, why wouldn’t his several years on the other side of the line help him in managing the press? Plus it helps that Mike Francesa is retiring, since nobody in New York can excoriate a manager and whip up a frenzy like The Sports Pope. While Torre and Girardi were generally viewed by the media as curmudgeonly leaders who simply took the blame, Rodriguez is gregarious, a huge personality, perfect for the Big Apple and perfect to suck the attention toward him instead of a struggling reliever or slumping hitter. It is a vital attribute, allowing the players to play the game while the manager plays matador with the press. Joe Girardi had a similar ability in his own right.Īlex brings this trait as well, though in a different way. One of the great attributes of Joe Torre, a man in the running with Casey Stengel and Joe McCarthy for the title of greatest Yankee manager, was his ability to deflect attention from his players. He knows that fishbowl as much as the one he’s lived in for his whole life.

New York reporters spent more than a decade shredding his postseason struggles and building his legend, interviewing him, profiling him, studying his every move on the field and off it. For that alone, he has shown he can handle the media, particularly a New York media he knows intimately. Somehow he was as present on gossip magazines as he was on Sports Illustrated. But him? I could probably identify six just off the top of the head. I don’t think I can name any other girlfriend or wife of any major league player besides Alex. From his phenom days in Miami to being first overall draftee by the Mariners to becoming a superstar by the age of 20, his foray to the Rangers, his massive contract, and then all the way to New York City, his every step has been analyzed, commented on and dissected. A-Rod’s entire life has been lived in some variously sized fishbowl. But that's fine, because the Yankees managerial job is not a normal job, even in the world of Major League Baseball - they're made for each other. They should do it again, this time with Alex Rodriguez.Īlex Rodriguez has not lived a normal life, even for a sports superstar.

Last time they needed to replace a longtime manager, the Yankees looked inward, to a past contributor of one of their many titles in Joe Girardi. The expectation of success, the ever-encroaching press, the intense interdivisional competition in short, it’s a pressure cooker.

It’s a prestigious position, though not without its challanges. For only the second time in two decades, the New York Yankees need a new manager.

Tigers vs ny yankees score yesterday