Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed “A-Rod,” is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners (1994–2000), Texas Rangers (2001–2003), and New York Yankees (2004–2016). Rodriguez is the chairman and CEO of A-Rod Corp as well as the chairman of Presidente beer. He is an owner of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Minnesota Timberwolves.
Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed “A-Rod,” is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners (1994–2000), Texas Rangers (2001–2003), and New York Yankees (2004–2016). Rodriguez is the chairman and CEO of A-Rod Corp as competently as the chairman of Presidente beer. He is an owner of the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rodriguez began his professional baseball career as one of the sport’s most deeply touted prospects, and is considered to be one of the greatest baseball players of whatever time. Rodriguez amassed a .295 batting average, over 600 house runs (696), over 2,000 runs batted in (RBI), over 2,000 runs scored, over 3,000 hits, and greater than 300 stolen bases, the only player in MLB records to attain all of those feats. He was furthermore a 14-time All-Star, winning three American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, 10 Silver Slugger Awards, and two Gold Glove Awards. Rodríguez is next the career compilation holder for grand slams once 25. He signed two of the most lucrative sports contracts in baseball. In complement to his accomplishments, he moreover led a controversial career due to some of his behaviors, including the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
The Mariners prearranged Rodriguez first overall in the 1993 MLB draft, and he debuted in the major leagues the taking into account year at the age of 18. In 1996, he became the Mariners’ starting shortstop, won the major league batting title, and curtains second in voting for the AL MVP Award. His interest of power, speed, and defense made him a cornerstone of the franchise, but he left the team via free agency after the 2000 season to belong to the Rangers. The 10-year, $252 million contract he signed was the richest in baseball records at the time. He played at a high level in his three years similar to Texas, highlighted by his first AL MVP Award win in 2003, but the team fruitless to make the playoffs during his tenure. Prior to the 2004 season, Rodriguez was traded to the Yankees, for whom he converted to a third baseman to accommodate their shortstop Derek Jeter. During Rodriguez’s career next the Yankees, he was named AL MVP in 2005 and 2007. After opting out of his contract following the 2007 season, Rodriguez signed a supplementary 10-year, $275 million harmony with the Yankees, extending his scrap book for the sport’s most lucrative contract. He became the youngest artiste ever to hit 500 home runs, reaching the milestone in 2007. He was ration of the Yankees’ victory in the 2009 World Series beyond the Philadelphia Phillies, which was Rodriguez’s isolated championship title. Toward the end of his career, he was hampered by hip and knee injuries, which caused him to become exclusively a designated hitter. He played his solution game in professional baseball on August 12, 2016.
Despite denying in a 2007 interview that he had ever used performance-enhancing drugs, Rodriguez admitted in 2009 to having used steroids, saying he used them from 2001 to 2003 gone playing for the Rangers due to “an gigantic amount of pressure” to perform. While recovering from a hip slight in 2013, Rodriguez made headlines by feuding in the same way as team management higher than his rehabilitation and for having allegedly obtained performance-enhancing drugs as allowance of the Biogenesis baseball scandal. In August 2013, MLB announced a 211-game interruption for Rodriguez for his involvement in the scandal. After an negotiation hearing, the delay was reduced to 162 games, which kept him off the arena for the entire 2014 season.
After retiring as a player, Rodriguez became a media personality, serving as a broadcaster for Fox Sports 1, a cast aficionada of Shark Tank and a member of the ABC News network. In January 2018, ESPN announced that Rodriguez would be joining the publicize team of Sunday Night Baseball. In January 2017, CNBC announced Rodriguez would be the host of the show Back In The Game, where he would urge on former athletes make a comeback in their personal lives; the first episode debuted on the network in March 2018.