Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Can’t you picture those pinstriped profiteers, more commonly referred to as the New York Yankees, hiking the price of Alex Rodriguezmerchandise this week? They do, after all, have to make up for lost revenue from all those empty seats.

Get it while it’s hot! While he’s hot is more like it.

“Without Alex, we are probably still playing this series,” manager Joe Girardi said after his Yankees were no longer playing the American League Division Series against the plucky Minnesota Twins.

Three games. Three wins. Thanks to A-Rod, who is showing the kind of postseason production, power and prowess that might even get fans thinking he’s worth every penny of that $33 million paycheck. How often does a sports writer get to pen those words?

This is why the Yankees opened the coffers for A-Rod. And, more recently, why they paid handsome wages for C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira, whose presence in the batting order, right before A-Rod, has given the Yankees their best one- two pop since the M&M boys.

The spending spree was calculated to coincide with the opening of the latest incarnation of Yankee Stadium, which cost $1.5 billion.

Baseball is about bats and balls, yes. Never dismiss the business, though.

A-Rod’s Business

A-Rod used to think of himself as a business, too. He, like the Yankees, is a marquee brand. Let’s not forget that A-Rod and his agent, Scott Boras, once demanded an A-Rod-only marketing tent during free-agent negotiations. Bigger than the team was the message. As if A-Rod’s paycheck, the fattest in all of team sports, isn’t enough of a representation of his stature in the game.

A-Rod was always about separation, not assimilation. With him around it wasn’t a 25-man roster. It was always 24, plus one.

A-Rod, who paid lip service to the notion of sum-greater- than-parts, never considered himself one of the guys. He was THE guy, the main attraction.

The Details Magazine photo spread of A-Rod kissing A-Rod in the mirror said it all.

A-Rod spent his Yankee tenure as the anti-Derek Jeter, whose four championship rings left him with a number of nicknames, including Captain Clutch. A-Rod, meantime, was tagged A-Fraud, which wasn’t some New York Post headline writer’s creation. No. That particular dig came from inside the clubhouse, former Yankees manager Joe Torre told us in his book.

Past Beginnings

A-Rod has had stellar postseason beginnings before.

Think back to 2004, the last time the Yankees won a playoff series. A-Rod starred in the ALDS against the Twins. Then New York went up 3-0 against Boston. You know how that ended.

A-Rod has always worried so much about being adored, about being embraced, about being, well, more like Jeter, that he lost sight of the simplest truth in sports. No matter what happens off the field, whether steroids, diva dalliances or divorce, fans love a winner.

The best indication that something is different this time around, besides his bat, of course, was the post-series celebration. There was A-Rod, drenched in celebratory Champagne. Giving. And taking. One of the guys. He was happy to be there. And his teammates were happy to have him.

A-Rod hugged Jeter. He embraced Teixeira. Handshakes and hugs.

Like Jeter

Speaking of emotional displays, did you catch A-Rod’s reaction to his ninth-inning, game-tying home run in Game 2? His first pump was reminiscent of Jeter, whose good vibrations have always had a communal feel.

A-Rod admits to a good amount of soul-searching while rehabilitating his surgically repaired hip earlier in the season. The team was playing without him. Maybe time away was the best thing. Maybe A-Rod realized just how much he missed being a part of something bigger than himself.

Or maybe his transformation has been sparked by girlfriendKate Hudson. Whatever the reason, the Yankees hope it lasts a little longer. Eight more wins to be precise.

Next up for New York is the Los Angeles Angels, who open the American League Championship Series on Friday night at Yankee Stadium.

As George Steinbrenner reminded everyone in one of his missives the other day, beating the Twins, while gratifying, means nothing. Jeter is beloved because he won it all. Again and again and again and again.

A-Rod hit a home run on the first pitch he saw this season. Great start. He was integral in beating the Twins. Great start.

Now let’s see if he, and the Yankees, can finish. Lest all that No. 13 merchandise wind up in the discount bin.

(Scott Soshnick is a Bloomberg News columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)

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To contact the writer of this column: Scott Soshnick in New York at ssoshnick@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 13, 2009 21:00 EDT