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Following Apology, Time for Alex Rodriguez to Focus on Baseball

By Lou Musto |

In one last effort to make his regrets known, Alex Rodriguez issued a written apology letter on Tuesday to the Yankees, Major League Baseball, the Steinbrenner family, the Players’ Association, and most importantly, the fans, expressing remorse for his use of performance-enhancing drugs and subsequent suspension last year.

With Spring Training on the horizon, Rodriguez made it clear he is sorry for some of the foolish decisions he has made up to this point, but that baseball was to be his top priority from here on out. As it should be.

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The 39-year-old has hardly played over the last few years, missing large chunks of time due to injury throughout 2011, 2012 and 2013, and then all of the 2014 season due to his suspension. A renown power hitter, he last eclipsed 20 home runs in 2010.

Understandably, there are not high expectations for Rodriguez’s capabilities at this stage in his career. With the PED drama sure to follow him everywhere he goes, this season should be extremely challenging for the Yankee star.

However, as Call to the Pen’s own Robbie Knopf pointed out earlier this month, A-Rod might still be fully capable of being a positively productive player. Even with time off, Rodriguez was still a valuable player when he returned during the final two months of 2013. He produced a .244/348/.423 line, good enough for a 113 OPS+, which made him 13 percent better than average Major League hitters. For a player out of the game as long as he’s been at his age, the Yankees could not possibly complain about that kind of production should he be able to contribute in a similar fashion.

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Rodriguez is a career .299 hitter, six home runs away from Willie Mays’ 660. He is a three-time AL MVP winner and 14-time All Star. Likely to see the majority of his playing time as a designated hitter, Rodriguez could benefit from added rest that will allow him to stay fresh and focus solely on doing what he has always done best—hitting.

Obviously, his presence could become a distraction for the Yankees early on. It’s going to be impossible for him to remain invisible from the media. But if he is contributing when he’s in the lineup and doing all he can to quiet the hysteria surrounding him while allowing the team to concentrate on playing quality baseball, things should be just fine in the Bronx.

In all likelihood, the Yankees would prefer to not even have Rodriguez on the roster. He’s ready to play though, and if he can help the team be more successful, it would be in the best interests of both parties to set their differences aside—as both have claimed to have done—and just play baseball.

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