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A good way to describe the New York Yankees this year, besides injuries, is drama.
All of that drama can be credited to the Alex Rodriguez saga that just won’t seem to go away. Reports suggest that MLB will suspend Rodriguez for the rest of the season and the entire 2014 season, which might signal the end of A-Rod’s career.
Related: Alex Rodriguez Suspended From MLB, But He Still Isn’t Going Away
He doesn’t want that to happen, of course. He has repeated said that he will fight the process to the end. The Yankees might not feel that way, however, as an A-Rod suspension would only help them.
Lets face it, this year isn’t the Yankees’ year, and they’re most likely not going to the playoffs, or deep into it even if they happen to make it. The Yankees would save a lot of money if Rodriguez gets suspended, and can use the money to pursue a guy they’ve been looking at for a while now, San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley.
According to Yankees manager Joe Giradi, A-Rod is “penciled” into the lineup tonight against the Chicago White Sox, it would be a safe bet to say that he will be booed by both White Sox fans and Yankee fans.
Lets focus on baseball now, shall we? The Yankees currently stand 4.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the Wild Card race, which they can easily come back from. As for the White Sox, they are 21 games behind, which they can not easily come back from.
It is a good opportunity for the Yankees to gain some ground as the Indians will be facing the first-place Detroit Tigers, meanwhile they will be playing the last-place White Sox.
New York pitcher Phil Hughes got rocked by the Padres yesterday, which led to a loss. In 2.2 innings pitched, Hughes gave up five earned runs on six hits. Andy Pettitte hopes to pitch better than that, as he will pitch tonight against Jose Quintana. This year hasn’t been a good one for Pettitte as he has a 7-8 record with a 4.28 ERA, and he will look to improve on that in tonight’s game.
The biggest question going into the game will be if A-Rod will actually play, I say he does, and it will be one of his last games in pinstripes, if not the last. He won’t be a factor in the final outcome, as he will go 0-for-4.
Pettitte’s pitching performance will carry the Bronx Bombers to a win in possibly A-Rod’s last game with the Yankees, if he does in fact actually play.
You can follow Reece Helms on Twitter at: @Reece_Helms
