Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter were once friends and were once teammates, but they’ve always been rivals.
They were rivals for the title of best young shortstop in baseball. They were rivals in barstool debates about who you’d rather have on your team, when A-Rod had better numbers but Jeter had more rings. They were rivals for the affection of Yankee fans. Last week they were even rivals in who could look most uncomfortable in a cringe-worthy interview on CNBC.
But they won’t be rivals in the bidding war over the Miami Marlins.
According to Fox Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, A-Rod was offered a chance to join the Tagg Romney-led group bidding for the team against the group led by Jeter and Jeb Bush. After meeting with Romney and others, he turned them down. Hall of Famer Tom Glavine and former All-Star Dave Stewart already aboard Romney’s effort.
If A-Rod is looking to own part of a baseball team, the Marlins would seem to be a good fit, given that he is from Miami, lives there and has donated money to causes in the area. But he has other things on his plate, including A-Rod Corp. (whatever that is), a full-time gig as a Fox studio analyst and a position as special adviser to Yankees ownership.
Despite reports last week that Jeter, Bush and company were set to buy the Marlins, the Romney group is reportedly still in the running. If Tagg wants to beat out Jeter, a consummate winner and all, for the team maybe he’s better off without A-Rod. I hear that guy is bad in the clutch.
