They say it is courteous to give your employer two weeks notice before you leave a job. Alex Rodriguez is giving the Yankees two years.
Rodriguez says he will play a maximum of two more years of professional baseball before stepping away into retirement, according to a report from ESPN’s Andrew Marchand Wednesday afternoon. A-Rod, who has two seasons remaining on his contract with the Yankees, will not pursue another playing opportunity after the 2017 season.
The news of Rodriguez retiring is clearly nothing to be surprised about. By the end of his contract, Rodriguez will be 42 years old and his batting average has dipped each of the past two seasons. Retirement was inevitable for Rodriguez; it was just a matter of whether or not he would finish out his contract (or maybe even sign somewhere else for one final season). And why wouldn’t Rodriguez want to finish out that contract before calling it a career? The Yankees will pay Rodriguez $21 million in 2016 and another $21 million in 2017. Not that money is a problem for Rodriguez given his total earnings during his professional career (and the news he is now dating someone wealthier than he is)
Rodriguez has a self-absorbed personality that rubs some people the wrong way, so announcing his impending retirement two years in advance certainly causes some eyes to roll.
Only Alex Rodriguez would give everyone not one, but TWO years notice on his retirement.
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) March 23, 2016
Rodriguez first broke into the big leagues back in 1994 when he appeared in 17 games for the Seattle Mariners. He became the rising face of the franchise as Ken Griffey Jr. was about to go past his prime and before Ichiro Suzuki took the Mariners by storm. In 2001, he joined the Texas Rangers when he cashed in on a mega-contract worth $22 million per season from 2001 through 2003. From there he was off to the Yankees, where he continued to roll in the money and ultimately be a part of a World Series champion, when he and the Yankees topped the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 World Series.
Entering the 2016 season, Rodriguez has 687 career home runs, which means he will in all likelihood join the 700-home run club at some point this season. With over 2,000 RBIs and over 3,000 career hits, there is almost nothing left to accomplish for the veteran.
[ESPN.com]
