Mostly known as A-Rod, Alex Rodriguez spent his career with the Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, and New York Yankees. The shortstop and third baseman spent 22 years in the Majors and 12 were with the Bronx Bombers. The Florida native is mainly known for his slugging at the plate but also a bit of flash at the hot corner. From third base to shortstop and designated hitter, Rodriguez was always rotating positions. It is extremely controversial whether A-Rod will appear in the Hall of Fame. Are his stats worthy enough, or will the steroids hold him back?
Make sure to check out all of our other Hall of Fame Cases.
Career Summary
Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez was taken first overall in the 1993 MLB Draft by the Seattle Mariners. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Mariners and was excellent. Although, in his first two seasons, he only played a combined 65 games. A-Rod’s third season in 1996 was when he started to dominate. He batted a whopping .358 with 36 home runs and 123 RBI. He made his first All-Star appearance and landed second in the AL MVP race to Juan Gonzalez. The next four years with Seattle were similar to the others as he received several Silver Slugger Awards. After the 2000 MLB Season, Rodriguez hit free agency.
A New Chapter
The Texas Rangers grabbed Rodriguez for a whopping 10-year 252 million-dollar deal. Weirdly enough, the slugger only spent three years with the Rangers despite the massive contract. In Texas, A-Rod played his best yet. He led the league in several categories and received AL MVP in his last season with the Rangers. The youngster was then sent away by the Rangers to the Yankees. In that deal, Texas sent A-Rod and cash in exchange for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias. A-Rod went straight to work after being traded. He was dominant for six years with the Yankees, helping them win the World Series title in 2009. The last six seasons of his career weren’t spectacular but definitely were respectable. He landed two All-Star appearances along with some MVP votes in 2010.
The Scandal
Rodriguez was suspended for the 2014 season due to the use of steroids. Rodriguez admitted to using PEDs in his time with the Rangers in the early 2000s. To quote A-Rod in an interview with ESPN’s Peter Gammons “When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day. Back then it was a different culture, it was very loose, I was young, I was stupid, I was naive. I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time. I did take a banned substance and for that, I’m very sorry and deeply regretful”.
Pros
A-Rod’s stats and performance play a big role in his chances to make the Hall of Fame. Rodriguez dominated for several years and has similar stats compared to the current Hall of Famers. A perfect comparison is Chipper Jones. Jones and Rodriguez both played third base and had monster power.
Rodriguez: WAR 117.5 AB 10566 H 3115 HR 696 BA .295 R 2021 RBI 2086 SB 329 OBP .380 SLG .550 OPS .930 OPS+ 140
Jones: WAR 85.3 AB 8984 H 2726 HR 468 BA .303 R 1619 RBI 1623 SB 150 OBP .401 SLG .529 OPS .930 OPS+141
Although A-Rod played three more seasons, the stats are pretty similar and compared to Jones, Rodriguez should definitely be in the Hall. On another note, Rodriguez is a three-time MVP along with 14 All-Star appearances.
Cons
Sadly, the use of steroids plays a big factor in Rodriguez’s chances for the Hall of Fame. Taking steroids is no joke; especially in baseball where tons of players compete to play at their best. Sammy Sosa and Manny Ramirez are both having trouble finding their way into the hallowed grounds after using steroids. Meaning that while A-Rod had a terrific career, what he did to enhance himself can affect his entire outlook for the Hall of Fame.
Verdict
After going through the pros and cons, it seems that A-Rod’s stats are enough to pull him into the Hall of Fame. While many might disagree, three seasons of using steroids don’t cancel out Rodriguez’s accomplishments throughout his career. Steroids are extremely serious but aren’t enough to prevent a player from Cooperstown. Nevertheless, it will be a bumpy road until we find out whether A-Rod is a Hall of Famer.
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