If there is one team in the Senior Circuit that would actually make decent sense for Rodriguez to sign with for either 2017 or 2018, it would have to be the Miami Marlins. Rodriguez is a Miami native and the Marlins organization tends to get in their own way more often than not.
Miami has been willing to look past players’ less-than-desirable acts in the past to try to win on the diamond. Dee Gordon has served an 80-game PED suspension. Their first-year hitting coach is arguably more reviled than Rodriguez in baseball: former Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants superstar slugger Barry Bonds.
Rodriguez likely wouldn’t have a place on manager Don Mattingly’s staff due to Bonds being the team’s hitting coach. That being said, Mattingly and Rodriguez have that Yankees connection that is undeniable. Mattingly was former Yankees skipper Joe Torre’s top assistant before becoming a manager in his own right with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Given that Miami has been more than welcome to let an all-timer like Ichiro Suzuki chase milestones in South Florida, it is certainly in the realm of possibility that Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria would bring Rodriguez into the fold for Miami for at least part of one season to see if he can’t get to 700.
Next: 1. Seattle Mariners.