Back at it

Is that really water in the bottle?

A-Rod is back, everyone

Article: Brady Lang – Sports Writer

[dropcaps round=”no”]W[/dropcaps]ell, the player we all love to hate is back in the news again.

New York Yankees infamous third baseman, Alex Rodriguez, called out the Commissioner of the Major League of Baseball, Bud Selig, last week saying multiple things about not only himself, but also how Selig hates the New York Yankees.

“I know [Selig doesn’t] like New York, but you gotta come face me,” said Rodriguez, in an interview with Mike Francesa. “And [Selig] doesn’t have the courage to come and tell me this is why I’m gonna destroy your career?”

Rodriguez continued to comment on how Selig was just trying to wreck his own reputation just for something to “put on his mantle” when he retires after 2014.

The thing is, Rodriguez really shouldn’t be complaining. He could have been suspended earlier on this season, yet he appealed the decision by the Selig administration and was able to play the end of the season with the Yankees.

Rodriguez started out with the Seattle Mariners in 1994 and continued on to the Texas Rangers in 2001. Rodriguez signed – at the time – the most lucrative contract in MLB history, which was a ten-year deal worth $252 million dollars.

Rodriguez continued to play up to 2004 with the Rangers until he was traded to the New York Yankees for second baseman Alfonso Soriano – who was traded back to the Yankees earlier this season – and a player to be named later, who ended up being Joaquin Arias.

Rodriguez’s problems began when he – allegedly – used Performance Enhancing Drugs that were sold to him by a Florida doctor, Anthony Bosch.

The thing with Rodriguez is he had the talent and ability to become one of the best players in the MLB history, yet his demeanour made him one of the most hated players, instead.

Lately, Rodriguez has had a lot of problems with his consistency throughout the time when his PED allegations were at the forefront.

I had a coach who once said that Rodriguez would become the all-time Homerun King, but after the struggles he’s been through in the past, I honestly cannot see that. Rodriguez has now played 19 seasons in the MLB, tallying up 654 homeruns and setting the record for youngest ever to hit 500 homeruns.

In my opinion, Rodriguez needs to lock down and accept the alleged 100-game suspension that he was offered. A 211-game suspension, which he was first given, would have been, at the time, something that he should have taken as well.

Rodriguez’s reputation is being tarnished by himself, not by Bud Selig, like he was originally accusing. He is digging himself a hole that he will be unable to dig himself out of. Instead of being one of the top players in MLB history, A-Rod has become somewhat of a joke in the Majors.

Rodriguez’s problems will just be getting worse as the season continues if he appeals the suspension. He needs to realize that his reputation will be tarnished if he continues on the same route that he is currently on.

Rodriguez just needs to realize that he has pushed his boundaries by calling out a person of Selig’s power and he needs to figure out what’s next in his career.

[button style=”e.g. solid, border” size=”e.g. small, medium, big” link=”http://www.commons.wikimedia.org” target=”new window”]Image: Martyna Borkowski[/button]