Mark Teixeira is out for a long time, maybe for the season. That puts Greg Bird at first base against righthanders. But what about against lefties?
Joe Girardi thinks Alex Rodriguez could be the answer. His response yesterday when asked about A-Rod playing first base:
“I think you have to really talk about it now. Because I think our hope was that, when we left on that road trip [last week], you would have Tex back by the time we got home [Friday], or even on the road trip. But now, I think you have to think about it because you’re going to see left-handers. There’s left-handers in our division. There’s a lot of division opponents in the last 32 games or whatever we have left. I think you have to start debating the idea.”
Yankees GM Brian Cashman was asked about that too:
“I don’t think he can play first base,” Cashman countered. On Monday, Cashman said that shifting Chase Headley from third base across the diamond was more likely.
A-Rod has played one game at first this year. Yesterday he took some grounders there. Here’s how it went:
Tiebreaker goes to Cashman, methinks.
UPDATE: A picture’s worth a thousand words, I guess. Girardi has seen the light:
Girardi had wanted to use A-Rod at 1B today but conceded, “I just don’t think Alex is ready to do it.”
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) September 2, 2015
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Girardi backed off today on A-Rod to 1B. Downgraded him to “emergency” use only. More in line with Cashman’s stance of past 2 days. #yankees
— David Lennon (@DPLennon) September 2, 2015