Alex Rodriguez‘s tenure as the New York Yankees third baseman will officially be over August 12. He will be unconditionally released from his player contract after Friday’s game against the Rays and will resign a deal to serve as a special advisor and instructor for the Yankees through December 31, 2017.
Rodriguez’s release did not come as a surprise as several sources confirmed that his release would be a matter of when, not if. Rodriguez has only had one start and seven at bats since July 22nd, not due to injury but due to lack of production. 2016 has been rough for A-Rod, only batting .204 with a mere 9 HRs. But retiring to become a special advisor does come as a shock. It’s been widely known that Alex’s dream as a kid was to become the all-time home run king. He currently sits at 696, just four shy of the historic 700 HR milestone.
His career will go down as one of the most iconic, but controversial of all-time. Whether it be the pop culture Madonna relationship or the Biogenesis scandal that tainted his career, A-Rod found a way to make the headlines.
Love him or hate him, Alex Rodriguez loves the game of baseball more than most players ever will. After coming back from almost 2 years out of baseball, he had an incredible season in 2015. His contributions to the 2009 World Series season is something Yankees fans will remember forever. He will now be an asset to the Yankees’ farm system as an advisor to the cream of the crop shortstop talent.
Just a week remains of A-Rod’s playing days, so for all good things related to baseball we hope to see him belt 4 HRs before Friday. Best of wishes for Alex and his future endeavors as an instructor.
Featured Photo: Charles Cherney -AP Photo
