[LandonM]

There is indeed a chance that villain is on the steal in this situation. Whether it's a "good chance" or not has a lot more to do with very specific game-play indices that Andy hasn't elaborated upon, so it isn't a presumption any of us can make (as you just did). No matter, the steal is an undeniable consideration of this particular situation where villain had a strong up and only has to overcome one other up-low and the bring.

The fact that he is walking off a cliff into A/2/3 is just gravy.

In the event villain is trying to steal by raising Andys up-ace, the RR might accomplish nothing more than a fold, leaving you with a hand full of wasted potential. A/2/3 is a hand I would MUCH rather play through than accept the consolation prize of a couple bets by catching an opponent in a bluff and taking it down on 3rd.

"Defending against the steal" is probably the very worst possible reason to raise A/2/3 in this situation, seeing as you are far, far from being in a "defensive" position with A/2/3. All it does is serve to end the action early in the event you're right.

When facing a steal (or what I believe to be a steal), I would usually raise with a decent low or even a half-assed low with a strong low upcard if the opponent is known to be capable of folding his bluffs. Monstrous lows, I call. Every time, 100% of the time, if there is even the slightest chance I can elicit another customer into the pot.