Who has worse judgment -- Alex Rodriguez or Brian Cashman?

Geez, I didn't even get to write about all the ways Alex Rodriguez could get into trouble with his brand-new Twitter account, before he got into trouble with his brand-new Twitter account. But as social media goes, A-Rod's tweet was not really all that controversial -- until Brian Cashman made it so, that is.

A-Rod wrote this today on Twitter:

Visit from Dr. Kelly over the weekend, who gave me the best news - the green light to play games again! http://t.co/RuzfXOJjHI

— Alex Rodriguez (@AROD) June 25, 2013

To which Brian Cashman angrily responded:

"You know what, when the Yankees want to announce something, [we will]," Cashman told ESPN New York. "Alex should just shut the f--- up. That's it. I'm going to call Alex now."

Get your popcorn ready! It's always fun to hear a guy who jumped out of an airplane and broke his leg, who broke up his marriage, and who gave Kevin Youkilis $12 million this year, criticize somebody for bad judgment and tell him to shut the bleep up. It would kind of be like Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, parents of baby daughter North West, getting in Gwyneth Paltrow's face about naming her child Apple.

Or maybe it was that Cashman is still shocked, shocked that somebody who wears pinstripes has been linked to steroids in the Biogenesis scandal. (Cough, Bartolo Colon, cough Francisco Cervelli, etc. etc.)

By the way, why hasn't anybody in the New York sports media (other than Squawker Jon, that is) -- noticed that Cash recently signed former Met Fernando Martinez, who has been named in the Biogenesis scandal? Don't you think it would be kind of difficult for the Yanks to try to void A-Rod's contract after doing so?

Again, on the A-Rod scale of all the dopey things he has said, tweeting that one of his doctors had cleared him to play is hardly that big a deal. Until Cashman made it that way, of course. He could have made his point -- that the Yanks had not officially cleared A-Rod for play yet -- in a professional way, one that didn't unleash the F-bomb. Instead, Cash showed his usual poor judgment here. (Not that the media will ever call him on it, though!) 

My initial reaction upon hearing this STORY was that Cash is probably going to do the reverse of rushing back Mark Teixeira and Kevin Youkilis after the Mets swept the Yankees -- something that put them both back on the DL -- and try to stall when Alex would be back for as long as possible. "Sorry, folks, the docs say A-Rod won't be ready until 2018," I can imagine Cashman saying. (An aside -- give me a player who is ready and eager to come back any day over the Carl Pavanos of the world. Of course, Cash loved Pavano, and even tried to re-sign him! Again with that lousy judgment thing of Cash's.)

My favorite part of this story, aside from the sheer hypocrisy of Cashman, the guy who publicly criticized his own team's ownership for signing Rafael Soriano, criticizing A-Rod for speaking out of turn, is this rather meek response after Cash got all George Costanza in a snit fit, bellowing "That's it. I'm going to call Alex now." 

According to ESPN New York, "Cashman ended up emailing Rodriguez and did not get an immediate response." That's it? He sent an email? What, did A-Rod see Cash's number show up on his caller ID and let it go to voice mail or something? Ha!

You know, I have been saying this last October than A-Rod ought to let loose and say what he really thinks about Cashman, Joe Girardi, etc. Wouldn't it be great if he actually did, without the filter of the New York sports media to censor his words? Dare to dream!

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For information on where to buy New York Yankees tickets, click that link.

Yankees acquire former Met phenom Fernando Martinez

Tuesday was a great day for top Met prospects, but as Met fans know all too well, the results haven't always been quite so spectacular. Fernando Martinez, the great hope just a few years ago, was finally waived by the Mets last year. This year, he was DFA'd by the Astros on the same day they DFA'd Rick Ankiel.

Just as the Mets learned with Ankiel that when you're not good enough for the Astros' outfield, you're probably not that good, the Yankees now have a chance to learn that with Martinez after trading a rookie-ball pitcher for him.

Martinez does have one characteristic that could help him fit in with the Yankees - he's been linked to the Biogenesis scandal. 

Mets outfield: Generations

The average age of last night's starting corner outfielders was 30. That seems about right for a contending team trying to win now - two players still in or near the prime of their careers.

Oh, wait - actually it was a 40-year-old near the end of his career and a 20-year-old at the start of his.

But while the Mets lack the type of corner outfielder that becomes a lineup fixture, they should think twice before making a panic trade for another aging, overpriced player.

As someone who opposed the Sheffield signing, I have to concede that the Mets would have been in a lot of trouble without him over the last two weeks. Sheffield might be the Mets' second-most valuable player behind Johan Santana during that time (or third-most valuable if instant replay is eligible).

But in the long run, all I will concede on Sheffield is that he is near the end of his career rather than at the end. Even if Sheffield continues to be productive, what are the odds of him remaining healthy while asked to play the outfield fulltime for the first time since 2005?

Especially since the Mets' history with injuries seems to be to play players until they get hurt, then keep trying to play them.

As for Fernando Martinez, the track record on very young phenoms is not good. Martinez might be a star one day, but right away at age 20?

But the Mets have enough corner outfielders now that they might be able to get away with playing the hot hand. Daniel Murphy, Ryan Church and Fernando Tatis all had hot streaks before cooling off. All three, along with Angel Pagan, have track records of success from last year. Pagan was the starting left fielder in April 2008. Church was one of the Mets' best players in May 2008 before he got hurt. Tatis was the comeback player of the year. Murphy was the promising rookie who earned a fulltime job this spring.

Maybe none of these players should be playing fulltime, but that does not mean that they are worthless. Jerry Manuel sometimes seems to devalue his players - jerking them in and out of the lineup, benching or pinch-hitting for them for little reason.

Ryan Church and Daniel Murphy began the year in the starting lineup. Now Church is in the doghouse and Murphy could be headed back to the minors.

If these players ultimately do not figure in the Mets' longterm plans, the team should be trying to build up their value. Trading one of them now will get a lot less in return than it would have a few weeks ago.

Granted, it's a lot harder trying to find the hot hand at three slots, including first base, than two.

And with Jose Reyes on the shelf and Carlos Beltran out for a few days, the lineup is truly full of holes.

But Beltran will be back soon and Reyes presumably will be back at full strength within a week or two.

In the meantime, the Mets should keep doing what they finally started to do yesterday - DL the injured players so they can play with a full roster, add help on defense by picking up Wilson Valdez and give their top prospect a shot.

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Squawker Lisa, here's a quickie quiz for you. Who is the only major-league pitcher with five wins in the month of May? Hint: He now has as many wins this month as he did in the last three years of his Yankee contract.

That's right - it's Carl Pavano!

Do the Mets need to make a big move for a corner outfielder or first baseman? Tell us what you think.