When Alex Rodriguez first went down in Spring training the New York City Radio Shows were littered with many moronic callers saying that this was a good. That the Yankees would be better without Rodriguez. That the chemistry would be better and they would play better as a team. That the Yankee dynasties of the past had Scott Brosius at third base and Cody Ransom would do a good job playing that part. The season is just 9 games in and the Yankees fought to a 5-4 record over the road trip, which isn't a bad result, but it's obvious that Alex's replacements are flat out awful at the plate. Cody Ransom has seen action in 8 games and has hit a robust .120 in 25 plate appearances. To his credit he did come up with a huge double in the ninth inning of yesterday's game, but that's only his third hit of the season. He's showing why he's 33 year old who only had 183 total at bats coming into this season.
In the two games Ransom has not started, youngster Ramiro Pena has. And well he has no stick either. He has 1 single in six at bats this season, which is a tiny sample size, but he's a career .256 hitter in the minors with only 3 home runs in four seasons. He's basically a National League pitcher equivalent.
You can only hide automatic outs in a lineup for so long. The Yankees absolutely need A-Rod back if they want to make a continued run at a return to the postseason.
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