Seeing a problem in ‘solution’

Now as much of the traditional October calendar as Columbus Day, Alex Rodriguez’s latest playoff flop has brought about an unlikely union of New York Yankees and Angels fans, two groups that are asking themselves today, “Do we really want this guy?”

In three seasons with the Yankees, Rodriguez has done more for the Angels’ postseason aspirations than those of the Yankees. In 2005, Rodriguez had two hits in 15 at-bats during the American League Division Series, greatly assisting the Angels to victory in five games.

Add in the fade-out he had against Boston in the 2004 AL Championship Series and his one-for-14 showing last week against the Detroit Tigers, and Rodriguez is batting .096 (five for 52) in his last 12 postseason games (nine of them defeats) without a run batted in. Saturday, in his final game of 2006, he hit eighth in the batting order.

Is this the kind of player the Angels really want to spend $108 million on throughout the remaining four years of his contract?

At least the Angels ought to have him scouted by now. Rodriguez sent the Angels his own scouting report in 2005, assessing his first-round playoff performance in this way: “I played like a dog.”

Between then and now, Rodriguez led AL third basemen with 24 errors during the 2006 regular season and was included in Sports Illustrated’s recent all-time all-star baseball team, thus becoming the first player to suffer the SI all-time all-star baseball team jinx.

“I think I’m part of the solution here,” A-Rod told the New York Daily News, suggesting he either senses the Angels now are rightfully iffy on the idea or that the solution involved finding the Yankees a new manager.

Here comes the dirt

Timing is everything, especially in New York, especially on a Sunday when George Steinbrenner picks up the local tabloids and saw these double-cover displays:

* In the Daily News, one cover shows Mets Manager Willie Randolph spraying champagne beneath a one-word headline, “IN.” On the other cover is a photo of Yankees Manager Joe Torre under the headline “OUT.”

* In the Post, one cover shows the Mets in mid-locker-room celebration, along with the headline “How Sweep It Is.” The other cover shows a disconsolate Torre leaning against the dugout rail, accompanied by the headline “Disgrace” -- the word beginning with the Old English “D” that the Tigers wear on their caps.

These cover layouts did not bode well for Torre, who, according to a Daily News report, will soon be succeeded by Lou Piniella.

Nor did another report in the Daily News, which had Mets third-base coach Manny Acta leading players Jose Reyes, Duaner Sanchez, Endy Chavez and Guillermo Mota in a chorus of “Meet the Mets” before adding, “Party in Queens, entierro in the Bronx.” Entierro is the Spanish word for burial.

Trivia time

When was the last time the Mets were still playing baseball after the Yankees had been eliminated?

Two good questions

Martyball was batted around the Fox “NFL Sunday” set awhile as Terry Bradshaw and Jimmy Johnson bantered about infamous NFL conservative Marty Schottenheimer.

“Marty Schottenheimer has proven time and time again that you can give him a great football team and he will do everything he can to coach them to mediocrity,” Bradshaw said. “You’ve got to turn them loose, let them play and they’ll win football games. He can’t pull the reins in.”

Johnson: “He’s a conservative coach. He plays percentage football and wins the games he’s supposed to win.”

Bradshaw: “What about playoff games? What about getting to a Super Bowl?”

Trivia answer

The last time the Mets had the postseason baseball stage alone in New York was 1988. That year, the Dodgers defeated the Mets in the National League Championship Series. The Yankees did not qualify for the playoffs that season.

And finally

New York Rangers left wing Brendan Shanahan on the state of the NHL, to the Westchester Journal News: “It’s like we’ve repaired the house, and now we just need to invite more people over.”

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mike.penner@latimes.com