It's Open Season on Alex Rodriguez On the tombstone of his Yankees career, Alex Rodriguez may one day be remembered in his own words from a moment of unvarnished introspection during an interview session before the 2008 All-Star Game at the old Yankee Stadium. "It's always been something with me," he said. He soon added, "I've learned to put whatever issues on the front page in a small box over here." And, yes, for a time that carried him through an exhilarating 2009 postseason that promised to be personal vindication and career validation, Rodriguez largely stanched the flow of "something." He negotiated a truce with those typically inclined to believe the worst about a man who was strangely capable of simultaneous preening and hiding; a player blessed with the richest of salaries, yet haunted by skeletons and syringes. But now the box is one of glass, and the Yankees have locked Rodriguez inside it with all of his issues, incipient and erstwhile. Once vilified for bulking up, he has become, in a figurative sense, the incredible shrinking slugger, to the point where the growing belief is that he might soon disappear from New York, against all economic odds. The Yankees" season remained alive after Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Tigers was postponed Wednesday night because of rain. One of their famous alumni coined a rather memorable phrase about it not being over till it's over, but it was difficult not to begin looking ahead to 2013 in the wake of a 3-0 series deficit. And the question of what to do with Rodriguez suddenly loomed larger than all others - including the recovery from a broken ankle of the captain, Derek Jeter. What do you say about a man who, in the span of a few unsightly days, has been pinch-hit for and benched on multiple occasions, essentially stripped of his professional dignity one step before the World Series? Remember the recent time of batting order innocence, when the budding controversy was whether Rodriguez should be dropped from the third position? On Wednesday evening, General Manager Brian Cashman volunteered that Rodriguez had become a $30-million-a-year platoon player for the remainder of the season, however many hours or days that would entail. As with his manager, Joe Girardi, the discussion of the riddle nicknamed A-Rod was conducted in earnest but businesslike tones, Cashman citing a season's worth of statistics - chiefly Rodriguez's subpar numbers versus right-handed pitchers that plummeted in the playoffs. Were they mad at him for the recent New York Post report that had Rodriguez turning the dugout into a dating service after being pinch-hit for in Game 1 on Saturday night, perhaps compensating for the on-field emasculation by puffing up his manhood? "Purely baseball related," said Cashman, who has had his own indiscreet fling with the gossip columns. This is all about winning, regardless of the report that is out there that is a non-baseball-related story. Because it has become open season on Rodriguez at the putative end of the 2012 season, any newsbreak has become possible - and immediately deemed plausible. Cashman stamped on a so-called story that a trade was percolating with the Marlins - though his denial said there were "no discussions whatsoever with the Florida Marlins." Note to hopeful conspiracy theorists: technically speaking, they're the Miami Marlins. Girardi added: "It's not that I want to sit Alex Rodriguez." But he did just that Tuesday night against Justin Verlander even when the numbers - Rodriguez had homered twice off Verlander this season - suggested that he deserved to play. For his part, Rodriguez stepped out of the dugout for batting practice with the reserves to admit his unhappiness. "Obviously, I come to the ballpark feeling I can help the team win, and when you see your name is not in the lineup, obviously it's disappointing," he said. You've got to just sit to be a cheerleader. He insisted that he still had rah-rah feelings for the Yankees, saying, "I love this organization." But are those feelings real? If so, can they possibly be mutual? Cashman admitted that the decision to bench Rodriguez was "discussed organizationally," though he said Girardi had the final call. Clearly no one was going out of his way to cushion the blow for Rodriguez, who wound up asking a reporter late Wednesday afternoon for information on the lineup against the Tigers" scheduled starter, Max Scherzer. Over all, there has been little overt sympathy expressed by the Yankees for their troubled third baseman, their expensive albatross, which is really the root of the underlying tension. They apparently blame Rodriguez for the 10-year contract that will ultimately cost at least $275 million - unless Miami or some other team can be talked into picking up a small percentage in a trade and the Yankees not only swallow the rest, but have it count against their payroll for revenue-sharing purposes. But if Rodriguez is not one to easily feel sorry for, whatever in-house resentment there is for him and his contract is misplaced and grossly unfair. He didn't force the Yankees to re-sign him. Rodriguez, in fact, provided them an airtight excuse to sever all ties when he opted out of his original deal during the 2007 World Series. Be it Hank Steinbrenner acting alone or with encouragement from brother Hal and others, a disastrous decision was made because they believed Rodriguez - then considered to be the likely future and clean home run champion - was a potential cash cow. They even had the audacity to officially announce the deal on the day George Mitchell released the contents of his long investigation into baseball's steroids culture - the sort of cheesy, transparent call for attention that Rodriguez had long been known for. All things considered, the events leading to where they are now might convince a few folks to think the inscription on that A-Rod Yankees tombstone should actually read: They deserved each other.