The way Alex Rodriguez sees it, you can’t have your cake and eat it too when it comes to pitchers having their heads on straight.

Rodriguez didn’t actually eat the cake he got for his birthday on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball,” but he did chime in on Trevor Bauer’s latest meltdown and why it shouldn’t scare away the Yankees. The best pitchers aren’t always the most well-liked guys, he said.

“Here’s the bottom line,” Rodriguez said. “Curt Schilling was one of the best pitchers I’ve ever faced and [he] won multiple championships. Whether you like Curt Schilling or not, he was a tremendous big-game pitcher. So was David Wells. So was [Orlando] ‘El Duque’ Hernandez. Do you want Barry Bonds in your lineup? I like him. Other teams don’t like him. Do you like him?

“At 7:05, when that game starts, you win with great players. You want nice people? Go pick your friends off the field.”

Bauer, who could be the top pitcher available before Wednesday’s 4 p.m. trade deadline, made interested teams think twice about acquiring him on Sunday. After giving up eight runs (seven earned) against the Royals, Bauer was about to be taken out of the game by manager Terry Francona when he turned and fired the baseball over the center field wall.

The episode, which did not appear to sit well with Francona, did not bother Rodriguez, who just happens to be a special adviser for Brian Cashman and the pitching-needy Yankees.

“If he was on my radar before he chucked the ball over the center field wall, he’s going to continue to be,” said Rodriguez, who noted it was a “heck of a throw.”

“You need to be a little bit haywire up there to go out and pitch well in the Bronx. Maybe that stock has gone down a little bit. Hey, buy low, sell high, right?”

The price for Bauer, who is under club control through 2020, still figures to be hefty, especially with the Indians just two games back of the Twins for first place in the AL Central and ahead in the wild-card race. In a pitching market that is not overflowing with high-end talent, Rodriguez also mentioned Madison Bumgarner, who may not be available. Bauer sounded like A-Rod’s choice.

“Is it a risk worth taking?” Rodriguez asked. “For me, it is, because you can control him this year and next year, and the Yankees do not have a starter that’s better than him right now.”