How's Alex Rodriguez handling his All-Star Game snub?



Quite well, apparently.

The Yankees' slugger sounded upbeat about getting left off the American League roster and Final Vote, though he was a more-than deserving candidate as one of the game's top designated hitters.

"As I've said all season, my number one goal is helping the Yankees win a championship," Rodriguez said in a statement. "I'm excited that we're in a good position to get there. Of course it would have been an honor to represent the American League next week, but I'll have fun cheering on the guys who were put on the team and watching them protect home field."

Rodriguez, 39, is having a great, if improbable, season.

He's hitting .284 with 16 home runs and 47 RBI. He's also got a .390 on-base percentage and he's scored 45 runs.

PLUS: MLB All-Star Game 2015: American League roster

It comes after his full-season suspension for using performance-enhancing drugs.

American League manager Ned Yost explained why A-Rod wasn't granted his 15th Midsummer Classic appearance.

"We talked about A-Rod a lot," Yost said. "You look back at this five-man vote and we have three infielders, two outfielders, and we felt that it was important that we don't -- we have Brock Holt that can play anywhere in the infield, but any other position we have a starter and a backup. In the outfield we have three starters and three backups. So I just felt very strongly that if we could get another infielder or another outfielder out of that five-man vote it would help us. That's what went in that decision."

Nelson Cruz, of the Mariners, was voted by the fans as the AL DH. Three other known PED users -- Dodgers catcher Yasmani Grandal, Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta and Cruz -- were granted spots on the team.

The Yankees landed reliever Dellin Betances and first baseman Mark Teixeira on the team. Fan can vote online for outfielder Brett Gardner against four other players in the Final Vote.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at bkuty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.