Why Alex Rodriguez is one of MLB's all-time greats, despite all the controversy
The numbers on the diamond are staggering, even if they won't be the first thing we think of when we think of Alex Rodriguez.
It'll take years -- maybe decades -- to understand Rodriguez's role in the story of baseball, because of the unavoidable fact that he admitted to using steroids from 2001 to 2003 and missed all of the 2014 season due to a suspension stemming from the Biogenesis PED scandal, but ultimately he'll be viewed as one of the greatest players who ever lived. As context fades, politics dissipate and only the numbers remain, and we'll have no choice but to admit that is the case.
Rodriguez's time with the Yankees is officially over, as he is being released after playing one final game with the team. His legacy is complicated, no doubt, but his revolutionary talent remains unimpeachable to this day. It's easy to forget over the course of a 22-year career just how exceptional he was between the lines.
Before players like Bryce Harper were referred to as the "LeBron James of baseball," James was the Alex Rodriguez of basketball. The no-brainer first overall pick out of Miami's Westminster High in 1993, Rodriguez debuted as the shortstop for the Mariners at the age of 18. There was no need for a learning curve -- he immediately made grown men look like they were playing an antiquated game. He finished second in AL MVP voting as a 20-year-old and set an early pace that no one -- including Rodriguez himself -- could match.
Rodriguez spent two decades chasing the expectations he set in those early years in Seattle, and for a while, he looked capable of achieving even the loftiest of goals. One thousand homers? Such an outlandish number should be considered comical, but for a stretch, it was discussed seriously when Rodriguez's name was brought up in conversation.
Those expectations -- and the belief that no bar was too high for the young prodigy -- brought about one of baseball's true turning points: Rodriguez's 10-year, $252 million deal with the Texas Rangers. It was the largest contract ever signed in professional sports, doubling the previous high water mark -- Kevin Garnett's six-year, $126 million deal.
The quarter-billion dollar deal was worth more than the team he played for and the stadium he played his home games in -- combined. That's literal -- Tom Hicks bought the Rangers and the Ballpark in Arlington for $250 million less than three years before Rodriguez signed.
Rodriguez was the franchise.
At age 24, he was the most scrutinized athlete in the world. Every game was a referendum of that contract, which was a harbinger for the era of big spending in sports we currently inhabit. He showed that he was worth the hype in his first six years in the game, so the heat was turned up. The contract created a Sisyphean existence that Rodriguez could never escape, no matter how many homers he hit for poor teams.
The Rangers themselves crumbled under the pressure of the contract before Rodriguez did. They freed themselves of the burden by trading him to the Yankees after the 2003 season. The Yankees wanted to use their financial clout to re-create the 1927 Yankees, and Rodriguez was the Babe Ruth -- no pressure.
Rodriguez's poor teams in Texas, combined with the scrutiny of his contract, stigmatized the now-third baseman. A-Rod wasn't a "winner" -- something you'd never hear anyone say about Mike Trout today.
It's easy to be the sport's villain when you're on the Yankees, but his dominant performances upon arriving in New York couldn't even buy him goodwill with the home fans. He "choked" in the playoffs, earning him the nickname "A-Fraud" from fans and even teammates. And until he won a World Series, he wasn't a "true Yankee." Even when Rodriguez finally won a title in 2009, hitting .378 throughout the postseason, there was no mea culpa to be found from any of the critics -- Rodriguez merely did what he was paid to do.
The tail end of Rodriguez's career was no less tumultuous. His stellar return season after his year-long steroid suspension in 2014 won some admiration from the New York fans, but it was only when expectations were low that credit was given.
This isn't to feel sorry for Rodriguez -- he's made almost half-a-billion dollars playing baseball and by all accounts has found peace in his life off the field in recent years -- but it is a cautionary tale for those prodigies that follow Rodriguez's time in the game.
Expectations will always exceed reality, even when the reality was difficult to fathom. Rodriguez spent two decades chasing the pace he set for himself as an 18-year-old kid as far away from home as he could possibly be. Ridiculous extrapolations and what ifs and righteous indignation covered up the shine of one of the best players in baseball history -- for better or worse.
But as with all things, the context will fade with time. People will forget why we were so angry and incredulous about Rodriguez, and all that will be left are the staggering numbers.
