Alex Rodriguez is taking a little Florida vacation. And the folks in Florida are not happy about it. I mean, really not happy about it.
Check out Friday's column by Linda Robertson of the Miami Herald.
Tired? For this series? Rodriguez is making $33 million this season -- the same amount as the entire Marlins' payroll. Couldn't he have waited until Monday, when the Yankees are off, or paired Monday and Tuesday, when the Yankees play in Atlanta? Strange. But, then again, this is a guy who ruined his image by using steroids, escorting strippers, denigrating Derek Jeter, befriending Madonna, joining the Kaballah movement and consulting his ''life coach'' guru before each game. Another day in the life of A-Odd.
The whole thing smelled fishy, the same way it smelled when Girardi was fired by Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria in 2006, shortly before he was named Manager of the Year.
Which brings us back to another theory regarding the benching of Rodriguez. Was Girardi sticking it to Loria, getting some revenge by hurting Marlins ticket sales? Girardi tried to squelch the idea by saying he and Loria spoke amiably for 20 minutes Friday afternoon and have ``a good relationship.''
''I think it's because Girardi is still mad at the Marlins,'' said Larry Glass of Boca Raton, one of many disappointed fans. ``A-Rod is too tired to play against the Marlins but not too tired to play against the Nationals? Maybe he needs some extra time in Miami to visit his cousin, who is also his pharmaceutical rep.''
Because he is A-Roid, there was talk of some sort of drug issue. Because he is Stray-Rod, there was talk of breaking curfew on South Beach.
Did Rodriguez stay in the dugout because he feared getting booed here?
Wow! For no reason at all, other than disappointment over not seeing him play, I think Robertson did a slam job on A-Rod that covered pretty much every possible angle you can use to denigrate Rodriguez. Maybe it's because I'm from New York state and not Florida, but I find the whole thing petty.
By the way, I'm with all of you who wonder why A-Rod had to go begging for time off. It's obvious he isn't 100 percent physically and he should be getting a complete day off -- or at least DH'ing -- probably once a week.
Manager Joe Girardi has pushed him way too hard, and his .212 batting average and poor mobility around third base reflect that.