Alex Rodriguez Offers Umpire Praise in LA

In an era of umpire scrutiny, Alex Rodriguez sounded off when asked about robot umpires during Friday's Yankees-Dodgers game. A-Rod appeared alongside Michael Kay for New York's television broadcast and analyzed Ron Kulpa's strike three call to Los Angeles batter Jedd Gyorko, surmising that catcher Gary Sanchez may have blocked out the umpire on a pitch that looked to be off the inner edge of home plate.

But it didn't end there, as Kay pressed on with a very simple question: "Robot Ump—yay or nea?", prompting Rodriguez to share his thoughts on the modern state of officiating in baseball. | Video as follows:

Alternate Link: Alex Rodriguez praises human umps and bristles at the idea of robots (YES/CCS)

Transcript, Alex Rodriguez on the robo-ump concept: "No, no no. First of all, umpires are such a big part of our game. They're one of the most underrated, under-appreciated people in our game. I think they should be paid better, and we only talk about umpires when they...mess up. But when they make a great call, we don't say, 'hey, great job, blue' or 'great job, umpire.' They're a big part of the game and especially the bigger the games when you have great umpires like Gerry Davis and so many over the years, they're able to control the game, the emotion of the game."