Former MLB star Alex Rodriguez abruptly retired from baseball as a New York Yankee last August, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have the option to play this year. However, he told ESPN that there is a “zero” percent chance that he will make a comeback, and he will instead do work on television, even though he had a “few offers.”
“I thought about it for a minute,” Rodriguez said. “I flew the whole family home after that Friday night. I thought about it a little bit that weekend. I was fortunate to have a few offers. I called them back and said, ‘No thank you.'”
Sitting out is still going to treat Rodriguez pretty well. He won’t be playing, but his contract dictates that he will make $21 million from the Yankees this season. He will also be on TV in some capacity this year, according to ESPN.
Rodriguez said next month when he returns, he will be doing some work for John Filippelli, who is the president of programming for the Yankees’ network, YES. A YES spokesman, Eric Handler, confirmed the two sides are in talks about a role for A-Rod. A-Rod has worked on Fox’s playoff coverage and is beginning a reality TV show in which he will counsel struggling athletes with their finances for CNBC.
Rodriguez was the star of Fox’s playoff coverage last year. He said that was not ready to fully commit to television at the time, but he was smart (perhaps smarter than anyone at Fox had bargained for) and composed in his studio role, and he had a lot of fun with studio colleague Pete Rose.
Here’s hoping we see a lot more of A-Rod on TV this year, because at this point in his life, he’s better at that than he is at baseball.
[ESPN]
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About Kevin Trahan
Kevin mostly covers college football and college basketball, with an emphasis on NCAA issues and other legal issues in sports. He is also an incoming law student. He's written for SB Nation, USA Today, VICE Sports, The Guardian and The Wall Street Journal, among others. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.