Yankees move on from Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez gets roll call in last Yankees game

NEW YORK Obviously there"s more to it, but in a way, maybe there isn"t. On Saturday morning Alex Rodriguez was cut by the Yankees, reduced to one sentence in an PR email along with a few othertransactions.

It read as such:

• Unconditionally released DH Alex Rodriguez.
• Signed to Major League contracts and selected INF/OF Tyler Austin (#26) and OF Aaron Judge (#99) to the 25-man roster from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
• Optioned RHP Ben Heller to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
• Transferred RHP Conor Mullee to the 60-day disabled list.

Harsh, perhaps, but reality. A new era is here for the Yankees if evidenced by nothing else than two two big moves you can see there: Judgeand Austin(and rookie Gary Sanchez two weeks ago).

"It"s strange," manager Joe Girardi said of theA-Rod-less day. "I have a lineup card, and his name"s not on there. And there"s not another Rodriguez in our organization who"s up in the big leagues who makes me think he"s on there ... I think about all the great players that have walked, not just through these doors but the doors that were across the street, that eventually retired.

"It"s difficult. But you know that the game goes on and you move on and there"s a new set of faces and there will be new stars here. And you get excited about that."

Rodriguez finished his career with the Yankees after an emotional Friday nightin the Bronx as New York beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-3. He went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI that he collected in the first inning.

"I"ve got to tell you, it"s going to be tough to top that," he said afterward. "That"s a memory that I will own forever."

A-Rod remembers everything

General manager Brian Cashmansaid he got the chance to talk with A-Rod, who he"s had battles with over the years, before and after Friday"s game.

"Last night was a special night," Cashman said. "Had a chance to talk to him before the game, had a chance to talk after the game. I think it was great for Alex, great for our fans. Great for our win column. Also nice that he helped impact us as well. The roster has been changing a lot so today is a new day. It"s been a new day quite often lately, to be honest. We"ve had a lot of changes, some quality people we"ve said goodbye to and a lot of quality people we"ve been saying hello to. It"s the nature of the beast."

Forthe first time since 2003 the Yankees will play a baseball game without Alex Rodriguez on the roster in some capacity.

Ryan Hatch may be reached at rhatch@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ryanhatch. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

Source: http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2016/08/yankees_move_on_from_alex_rodriguez.html