Instead, he is gracefully retiring from baseball. He was one of three players with 600 home runs, 300 stolen bases, and 2000 runs scored.
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“This is a tough day”, said the 41-year-old”.
Ending weeks of speculation over what will become his end game in New York, Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees announced at a press conference Sunday morning that the slugger will play his final Major League Baseball game Friday and will be released from his current contract in order to serve as a special advisor to the Yankees through December 2017.
“The last four weeks have not been any fun”.
“I do want to be remembered as someone who is madly in love with the game of baseball”, he said.
A-Rod’s final game will be against Tampa Bay. The Yankees intend to release A-Rod after the game Friday leading to his immediate retirement announcement followed by accepting a job in the Yankees office thru 2017.
When asked if he felt he could still play, Rodriguez said, “You always think you have one more hit in you … but I’m at peace with the organization’s decision”.
The first overall selection in the 1993 Major League Baseball draft by the Seattle Mariners, A-Rod debuted on July 8th, 1994 at the age of 18.
It comes as Rodriguez struggles this season as the Bombers’ Designated Hitter. He was named to his first all-star team, and finished second in the AL MVP voting, only behind Juan Gonzalez.
Rodriguez’s numbers took a slight dip in 1997, but remained spectacular.
A-Rod came back in force a year ago, batting.250 with 33 home runs and 86 RBIs.
Rodriguez has 696 home runs and trails only Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714) on the all-time list. Rodriguez is due $21 million in 2017 as he still has one year on the 10-year, $275 million contract he signed after the 2007 season. It was by far the richest deal in baseball.
Rodriguez will still be on the field for the Yankees, just in a different way. And during the month of July he hit just.135 (5 of 37).
This season, however, has been nothing short of a disappoint. He hit a league-high 57 homers and 142 RBIs, also winning his first career Gold Glove. Rodriguez’s clutch hitting, including a.378 batting average, six home runs and 18 runs batted in, was key in capturing the Commissioners Trophy.
Rodriguez’s new role will be to mentor and teach those younger players. Many things were different in NY, most notably moving to third base, as shortstop was held by Derek Jeter. He will be assisting the next generation of Yankees as the changing of the guard continues in the Yankee organization.
– Manager Joe Girardi will discuss with A-Rod the possibility of playing some in Boston, where the Yankees begin a three-game series on Tuesday.
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Alex Rodriguez after the Yankees won the World Series in 2009. A January 2013 report in the Miami New Times strongly linked Rodriguez to the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic, whose records seemed to indicate Rodriguez used PEDs in multiple seasons following his 2009 mea culpa.
