Yankeetorial: It's time to contemplate life without A-rod

Sadly, it's nothing new. We've already gone without a Gold Glove 3B who slugs 40 HR and bats .320. That ship sailed three years ago. What remained was a fading memory, a Melvin Mora-like bat and the tabloid reputation somewhere between Tiger Woods and Charlie Sheen. It's been a long time since anyone thought of Alex Rodriguez as a happily married family man and the best player in baseball.

Now, MLB is investigating Number 13 -- does he believe in luck, after all? -- for holding "illegal" poker games with such Hollywood icons as Tobey "Spiderman" Maguire. (How could Tobey do this? He's frickin Spiderman! What if Aunt May were to hear about this? She could have a heart attack!)

And let's remember the rules: In American sports, a Yankee is guilty until proven innocent.

Every Yankee-hating fan and sportswriter right now is wracking his brain, trying to think of something hurtful to say about Arod. It's one more load for our collective soul to haul, one more argument to fend off - for 20 HRs and .270 - a 3B who is heading into DH land, maybe even Posada Land.

We have no superstud 3B in the minors. Catchers, we got five. Thirdbasemen, nope. Brandon Laird looks MLB ready, but he's not the guy who bats fourth. For 10 years, we've viewed that position as no-man's land in the minors. Dante Bichette's kid is five years away. That's a lifetime. We don't have five years.

We're reaching the point where the occasional drips increase into a stream, heading toward a torrent -- when DL stints turn into lost seasons. Some might argue this latest news is good: If Arod broke MLB's rules, the Yankees might see it as a way to escape his future contract from Hell. I worry about that. It sounds fishy. It sound familiar. I remember Steinbrenner in the 1980s hiring a guy to trail Dave Winfield, looking to void his contract.

These kinds of matters can consume an entire organization. The Yankees went 13 years without a post-season appearance in the 1980s and early 1990s. It can happen again. Don't think otherwise.

Because  the Yankees and Arod are linked in more ways than we can imagine.

If it's true that Arod was running poker games policed by thugs, he's going bye-bye. It's only a matter of time. And it wasn't a radioactive spider that bit Tobey Maguire. It was hubris, and it bites a lot of superstars. Let's hope it doesn't bite our team.

Dante Bichette? Take extra grounders today.