Spokesman says Alex Rodriguez won’t play in 2016

Rumors had pointed to Alex Rodriguez playing for another team this season, but his spokesman has closed the door on that.

As Alex Rodriguez’s days with the New York Yankees wound down, retirement seemed unlikely as he sits with 696 career home runs. The Miami Marlins moved to the top of the list of teams A-Rod could land with for the remainder of 2016, including a report from ESPN’s Jim Bowden that it would happen, but that idea has now been squashed.

Rodriguez’s spokesman, Ron Berkowitz, released a short statement Monday afternoon.

"“I want to put all this talk to rest about Alex playing for any team this season. It’s not happening,” Berkowitz said. “Like he said Friday night, he is happy, he is going to take some time to relax and hang with his family and friends.”"

Shortly after that statement came out, Jon Morosi of Fox Sports has further reported the Marlins did not formally reach out to Rodriguez.

The greater takeaway from Berkowitz’s statement is no specifics regarding 2017. There’s no way Rodriguez, with his inflated ego, wants to retire four home runs short of 700 for his career. Whatever performance-enhancing drug asterisk can be put alongside his numbers, only three other men in major league history have hit 700 home runs and you can bet Rodriguez wants to be the fourth.

The Marlins will always make little on-field sense as a landing spot for Rodriguez, due purely to being in the National League. An American League team makes more sense, and the Florida-located Tampa Bay Rays stand out based on that criteria.

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Don’t expect a formal retirement announcement from Rodriguez before next spring. There’s a small chance he works for the Yankees next year, as the highest-paid consultant in the history of consultants. But, as long as there’s at least one team with interest, we all know Rodriguez would rather play next season, get to 700 home runs and retire on his own terms.