MLB Rumors: 5 teams Alex Rodriguez could come out of retirement for
By John Buhler
Alex Rodriguez will hang up the spikes, calling it a career on Friday, August 12th. Here are five teams he could come out of retirement for in 2017 or 2018.
On Friday, August 12th, controversial MLB superstar Alex Rodriguez will play his final game before retiring mid-season with the 2016 New York Yankees. Rodriguez definitely has Hall of Fame numbers with 696 home runs, 3,114 hits, and 2,084 runs batted in, but his legacy as an all-timer is tarnished from two PED incidents, one after the fact with the Rangers and one in 2014 with the Yankees that caused him to miss the entire campaign.
Rodriguez had the chance to be the greatest baseball player all-time, but PEDs and an inability to rise to the occasion in the American League Postseason will ultimately keep him out of Cooperstown indefinitely. The Yankees have grown increasingly frustrated with Rodriguez’s incentive laden contract and would have cut hit before reaching the 700 home run plateau anyway.
In short, Rodriguez has decided to call it a career by retiring on the 12th. He’s had 22 years of MLB service on three different clubs: Seattle Mariners (1994-2000), Rangers (2001-03), and Yankees (2004-16). The three-time American League MVP has been one of the most interesting players in baseball for well over two decades. It will be weird to not see him at the hot corner or designated hitting for the Yankees in the next year.
Though Rodriguez just turned 41 on July 27th, one could argue that he might un-retire either next season or in 2018 to give it one last shot to get above 700 career home runs. He’d be the fourth player in Major League history to achieve that milestone joining Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds. Here are five teams that Rodriguez could join at some point in the next two years to extend his MLB career into his early 40s if he feels so inclined.
Next: 5. New York Mets.