Whoa, what's this? A member of the mainstream media defending Alex Rodriguez?

In his column this morning, Joel Sherman surprisingly sides with those of us who know better and acknowledges that A-Rod shouldn't be blamed if the Yankees falter in the postseason again:

"And I am here to say it is about time that we all stop using A-Rod as a convenient scapegoat should things go wrong for the Yankees in October. Let us assume that the highest-paid player in the history of baseball continues to gag in this Division Series. That still leaves the Yankees the highest-paid catcher, first baseman, shortstop, starting pitcher and closer in history to do something about it.

The $200 million-plus Yankees sold us hard this year that they were a tight-knit team from the bonding pool tournament in spring training to the champagne bath of late September. So -- if necessary -- it is time for this team to carry Rodriguez through a round of the playoffs."

I couldn't agree more. As much as I'd love for A-Rod to have a huge postseason to finally shut everyone up, if he does struggle, the Yankees have enough weapons that what A-Rod does or doesn't do shouldn't be thrust under the microscope.

But rather than given any further ink to the idea that A-Rod can't deliver in the postseason, let's put it to bed now. As RAB noted, it's not like Alex has never hit in the playoffs. Granted, his last three postseason series have been disappointing, but I see no reason to think that A-Rod won't come up big starting tomorrow night.