Advertisement

Klapisch: A-Rod still drawing a crowd

 
Alex Rodriguez, now a special adviser for the New York Yankees, talks with Lee Mazzilli, another adviser for the team during spring training this season, in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 21, 2017. Rodriguez said that after his release from the Yankees he had several offers -- he declined to identify teams -- to continue playing, but he is content to do broadcast work, parent his two daughters and serve as an advisor to the Yankees. (Zack Wittman/The New York Times) XNYT153
Alex Rodriguez, now a special adviser for the New York Yankees, talks with Lee Mazzilli, another adviser for the team during spring training this season, in Tampa, Fla., Feb. 21, 2017. Rodriguez said that after his release from the Yankees he had several offers -- he declined to identify teams -- to continue playing, but he is content to do broadcast work, parent his two daughters and serve as an advisor to the Yankees. (Zack Wittman/The New York Times) XNYT153
Published Feb. 22, 2017

TAMPA — You kept waiting for Alex Rodriguez to grab a Louisville Slugger, amble over to the batter's box and see what he had left. You couldn't have blamed him — just one last, lingering itch waiting to be scratched. Only four home runs short of 700, would it have been wrong for A-Rod to test the reflexes against those 65-mph batting-practice fastballs?

He shook his head — no chance. A-Rod was indeed in a Yankees uniform on Tuesday but it looked a little frumpy, like it would on any 40-something who now communes with his couch. Rodriguez is a guest-instructor and even though it's unclear what he'll actually do to earn the Steinbrenner's money, this much is certain: that career home total isn't moving. The needle will be forever stuck at 696.

"I emptied the tank last year," Rodriguez told reporters. This is no small admission from a man whose career who fueled by ego — and, yes, PEDs. But Rodriguez gives off a different vibe in 2017. Along with his bat speed, the arrogance of the past is mostly gone. Rodriguez, a lifelong attention-junkie, now seems content deferring to Gary Sanchez and Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres.

So why is A-Rod still the most compelling figure in Yankees' camp? It's either a reflection of the roster, devoid of big-name stars, or Rodriguez' enduring legacy. You choose, but the net effect is the same. On an afternoon when the Yankees' full squad was on display at Steinbrenner Field, no one generated more attention from the fans.

Crazy, isn't it? Or maybe not. Rodriguez is more relevant than fellow guest instructors Goose Gossage and Ron Guidry. More interesting than Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia. Loaded up with a richer history than Torres and Sanchez.

A hater's reflex says A-Rod's back-story is laced with lies, those 696 home runs tainted by chemicals. You can ask why the Yankees even bothered to bring him to camp with a legacy so stained. These are not unreasonable counterpoints.

The answer, however, is that Rodriguez has been forgiven by ownership. Maybe not by everyone — Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi have no particular love for the slugger — but Hal Steinbrenner no longer holds it against A-Rod for wars he waged in 2014. It feels like another lifetime since Rodriguez sued Major League Baseball, then-commissioner Bud Selig, Yankees' doctor Chris Ahmad, even his own union.

That is not the same player who sat a podium on Tuesday and repeatedly said he was "grateful" to Steinbrenner for welcoming him back to the Yankees' family. You don't believe Alex? Ask yourself why A-Rod is in camp and Derek Jeter, who lives nearby, has yet to drop by in the two years since he retired.

It's not vanity that compels Rodriguez to put on a uniform. To the contrary, every rocket off Frazier's bat reminds A-Rod of the skills he's lost. It's not about the money, either. Rodriguez will still receive $21 million in the final year of a 10-year contract. There has to be some other reason why he'd allow himself to feel like the oldest and creakiest person in camp.

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Stay updated on Tampa Bay’s sports scene

Subscribe to our free Sports Today newsletter

We’ll send you news and analysis on the Bucs, Lightning, Rays and Florida’s college football teams every day.

You’re all signed up!

Want more of our free, weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let’s get started.

Explore all your options

Here's one theory: it's because Rodriguez' affection for the Bombers is genuine. He could've signed with another team over the winter — he said "a few clubs" called and offered him a chance to come to spring training. Rodriguez could've gone back to the gym, crushed his body into shape for one last good month in the batter's box, just enough to hit four more runs.

It wouldn't have been impossible. In fact, with the right combination of rest and match-ups against weaker left-hander pitchers, Rodriguez would've reached his 700th HR and then some. He might've even taken a run at Babe Ruth's 714 while he was at it.

But the chase would've come at the expense of Rodriguez's career with the Yankees. He owed Steinbrenner for allowing him to return in 2015, owed him for the ceremony at the Stadium that honored his 3,000th hit. Rodriguez didn't want to cash out his ties to the Bombers just for four more HRs in a different uniform.

So he'll talk to Sanchez and Torrez and Frazier, not so much about batting stances, hand-position and weight-shift. That's a job for the experts. But A-Rod has a resource that others on Girardi's staff don't — first-hand knowledge of the cost of fame.

"I've made mistakes, so many big mistakes," Rodriguez said. "My value to the team is to take the kids out to dinner, a three-hour dinner. It can be so difficult in New York. The best thing I can do as a coach or as a mentor is to get them ready."

It's still unclear how long A-Rod will spend in camp — it certainly won't be from here to opening day. But the door is open to a longer relationship beyond 2017. The marriage between Rodriguez and the Yankees officially ends in October, but here's one more hunch: we'll be seeing a lot more of the man for years to come.