About the only place Rodriguez is disliked more than Boston is in the Bronx when the New York Yankees third baseman is hurt or not playing well. Right now, he's both. Mired in a month-long homerless drought, Rodriguez and the Yankees announced Saturday that he would need surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee and could miss a month of action.
Rodriguez could opt not to have surgery, and more than a few fans are probably urging him to "tough it out." Then when he exacerbates the injury in a week or so, those same fans will criticize him for not going the safe route when he had the chance.
Yankees fans might roll their eyes at their favorite whipping boy on the hometown team, but Rodriguez's absence is a much bigger problem for the Bombers than the current ineffectiveness of another star player.
When a team has World Series aspirations — as the Yankees always do — it's generally not good if one of its best players is batting .257 and has 15 extra-base hits in 312 at-bats. That's a given.
When that team is the Yankees and that player is Derek Jeter, the attention give by media and fans is understandable. Some are questioning whether age is catching up to the 37-year-old shortstop.
Jeter's struggles are survivable, though. The Yankees maintained their grip on the second-best record in baseball during Jeter's absence by sliding Brett Gardner or Nick Swisher into the leadoff spot. Eduardo Nunez handled himself well in Jeter's place, too; if anything, Nunez was a slight upgrade over what Jeter has provided in 2011.
But Rodriguez, even compromised, is still an invaluable addition to the lineup. He may be reduced to a glorified singles hitter working on a career-low .485 slugging percentage, but he remains the cleanup hitter in a lineup in which there is often a runner on second base who only needs a solid single to scamper home.
Since Jeter returned and Rodriguez's power slump became a real problem, the Yankees are 1-3. The Red Sox now hold a one-game advantage over the Yankees in the AL East.
For the time being, few will notice Rodriguez's absence of even whether the Yankees win or lose; admit it, you didn't even realize the Yankees were working on a 1-3 week until it was just mentioned, did you? Until Jeter reaches the milestone, all attention deservedly will be paid to Jeter's chase for his 3,000th hit.
Once that hoopla abates, where will the Yankees stand? Much has been made in Boston over the Red Sox' injuries, but they were able to reel off four straight wins despite Josh Beckett and Jon Lester leaving early in two of those games. The Yankees will have to similarly do the unexpected if their star misses significant time.
The star in question is Rodriguez, not Jeter. Yes, Yankees fans, Rodriguez is more important to your team right now than the captain, like it or not.
