The New York Yankees retained third baseman Chase Headley with a four-year, $52 million contract this offseason. Headley filled in for Alex Rodriguez, who was serving a year-long suspension, and did well enough for the Yankees to bring him back to be their everyday third baseman.
That leaves Rodriguez serving as a DH and backup corner infielder, but a source familiar with his thinking tells Steven Marcus of New York Newsday that A-Rod believes he will beat out Headley for the starting job this spring:
“Alex’s mind is that job’s not Headley’s, it’s Alex’s to lose,” the source said. “That’s what he thinks. Alex is going into training camp thinking that he is the starting third baseman, that if there’s a competition, Headley’s got to win it from him. It doesn’t matter about the money, what they signed Headley for. This guy [Rodriguez] can play.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman was told about Rodriguez’s mindset and said “we signed our third baseman,” showing the team is fully committed to Headley.
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