Why Alex Rodriguez Is Underappreciated

If you have friends who are Yankees fans, you've probably been hearing about how bad Alex Rodriguez is ever since he struck out to end the Yankees season.  You will hear that he is "unclutch" or "not a true Yankee", or "overpaid."  

Fans tend to overreact after losses, but in the case of A-Rod these criticisms also come from the media.  Two of these criticisms are completely unfair and the third is fair, but almost irrelevant.

So on a night when most Yankee fans are gunning for A-Rod, I'm going to defend him and tell you why he's underrated.

The most common criticism of Alex Rodriguez is that he comes up small in the clutch.  His critics point to his poor stats in playoff series that the Yankees lose or to his poor stats with runners in scoring position and two outs. 

Two things that are left unsaid in these arguments is just how small the sample sizes are for such stats.  While A-Rod has been in New York he has played only 54 playoff games.  That is exactly one third of one regular league season.  

If anyone judged a player's value on a third of a season they'd be rightfully told that it's still early, but somehow it's okay to judge A-Rod based on the same number of postseason games.  The sample size for his numbers this season with RISP and two outs is 36 at bats, which is so ludicrously small it isn't worth considering.

But if you want some idea of what kind of postseason player A-Rod is you can look at his career numbers: .282 BA .389 OBP .895 OPS.  Those are perfectly fine postseason numbers and when you throw in the fact that he was easily the biggest reason the Yankees won the World Series in 2009 then the "unclutch" argument loses much of its lustre.

The second argument that is commonly made by A-Rod haters is that he "isn't a true Yankee."  I think this means that he doesn't have the moral character or professional image that people associate with the Yankees.  

I'll admit that A-Rod isn't the greatest guy in the world.  He cheated on his wife, has a gambling problem and is a little bit of a prima donna, but this behavior is hardly un-Yankee like.  

Mickey Mantle was a hopeless alcoholic, Babe Ruth stayed with his wife, but made her raise a child he fathered with another woman and Joe D demanded to be the highest paid player in baseball, despite still being under contract.  

Yankee fans often take a holier than thou attitude towards current players, while ignoring the obvious faults in the legends that helped win the 27 championships we hold so dear.  

And if A-Rod isn't a "true Yankee" because he doesn't hit well in the post-season, then that means Dimaggio isn't a "true Yankee" either because his postseason stats across the board are worse than A-Rod's.

The last argument I will address is the argument that A-Rod is overpaid. It is entirely true that A-Rod is overpaid.  He isn't the best player in the league anymore and even if he was his production does not merit the massive salary he earns, but that isn't the point.  

The point is why does it matter what A-Rod gets paid?  I don't pay his salary and neither does anyone who hates him for his money.  Baseball isn't governed by a salary cap so he doesn't prevent the Yankees from getting other good players.  Why should we judge a man for taking money that his employer offers him?

I'm not saying that Alex Rodriguez doesn't deserve some blame for the Yankees loss to the Tigers, but the blame he receives after playoff losses is always disproportionate to his actual level of play.