When the New York Yankees made the decision to keep Alex Rodriguez as a member of the team heading into the 2015 season, as well as the foreseeable future, they knew everything he did to himself, as well the organization. They also knew that with Rodriguez they have a player who comes with a ton of baggage and an enormous amount of media attention; so why are they adding fuel to the fire?

It’s already a very uncomfortable situation for the team; it’s also a very uncomfortable situation for the players on the team, so why make it worse?

The Yankees are gearing up to head into the 2015 season without a true leader, they are heading into the 2015 season with more questions than answers and they are heading into the 2015 season with a team that will be hard pressed to make the playoffs, so getting into another media war with A-Rod makes absolutely no sense.

Rodriguez has already met with new MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, trying to save face with the league, and it’s not like anyone really buys into this new humble A-Rod, but Yankees brass should have at least taken a few minutes to hear what he had to say. By declining Rodriguez’s request, the Yankees organization is helping stroke a fire they can’t put out.

In addition to turning down Rodriguez’s request for a face-to-face, the team has also been trying to find loop holes to get out of the home run bonuses in his contract.

Obviously, when the contract was put together the Yankees were thinking Rodriguez’s run for the home run record would attract a lot of positive media attention, which would also attract positive media attention to the team. Now, with everything that Rodriguez has done, no one really takes any of his stats seriously, so the only attention Rodriguez will get as he runs up the home run ladder will be negative.

It is understandable the Yankees organization doesn’t want to pay Rodriguez for something that no longer will benefit them, and it would seem if they could find a way they would not pay him anything. Unfortunately they have to pay him. The Yankees agreed to this ridiculous contract and now the teams’ on going quest to find any and all outs to not pay him is hurting more than getting the money back could help.

The Yankees and Rodriguez are stuck in a marriage that neither really wants, but both have to find a way to coexist because there is no other team that wants Rodriguez and the $61 million he is owed over the next three seasons. (The $61 million doesn’t include the $6 million Rodriguez gets when he moves up the all-time home run leader board.)

There are some who think the Yankees are doing everything in their power to make life with the team as uncomfortable for Rodriguez as possible; what do the Yankees gain for this childish tactic?

Rodriguez may be a fool, but he is not foolish enough to walk away from all the guaranteed money the Yankees owe him.

It is known and very obvious that Rodriguez, even though he acts like he a confident man, has a very low self-esteem, and the Yankees’ plan seems to be to attack that low self-esteem in some attempt to get him to snap or make a mistake they can use to legally rid themselves of Rodriguez for good. The big problem with this approach, well one of the many big problems with this approach, is how does this benefit the 2015 Yankees?

The Yankees need all hands on deck this season and they need every player to pitch in to even have a chance at making a run at the postseason. Even if Rodriguez isn’t the man, or even a quarter of the man he once was, any Rodriguez is better than no Rodriguez.

It seems hard for the Yankees to look past all the embarrassment he has caused the organization, and that’s totally understandable, but Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner need to find a way to coexist with this man for the next three seasons because he isn’t going anywhere. Making him feel uncomfortable and hated only makes this uncomfortable situation worse.

No one is saying they need to hug it out, or be buddies, but the recent mental game the team has been playing with Rodriguez hurts the Yankees.

The Yankees have been preaching team. The GM and owner have said they are doing all they can to get the team back to the postseason. It is counterproductive to humiliate any player on the roster, regardless of what he did. If he is on the opening day roster, which Rodriguez will be, the team needs to find a middle ground.

Rather than humiliating Rodriguez, and giving him every reason to quit on the team, the Yankees need to put more time into figuring out a way to milk the last drop of production left in Rodriguez’s tank.

Follow Nik Swartz on Twitter @Sweetnesz13