Alex Rodriguez has done this before. But, then, hell breaks loose. His past is the reason he should not buy the New York Mets.
I’m not particularly surprised at the rumors in the New York Post that Alex Rodriguez may attempt to buy the New York Mets if he can assemble an ownership group. He’s everywhere in baseball these days so his name was bound to come up sooner or later.
I am surprised, though, that so many people, and even Mets fans, seem to be embracing the news so enthusiastically. I’ve never liked Rodriguez.
I know many people feel differently, especially given his romance with Jennifer Lopez and his public rehabilitation as a commentator. But still, the positive reaction to the news comes as a shock to me.
Rodriguez should never own the Mets. He shouldn’t come anywhere close. He has repeatedly disqualified himself from any important role in baseball. The game will be far better off when Alex Rodriguez is no longer involved.
Why? Let’s review his career.
From 2001 to 2003, as a superstar for the Texas Rangers, Rodriguez used Performance Enhancing Drugs. He admits as much now, although when the possibility was first raised in a 2007 interview, he vigorously denied it.
“It was very loose. I was young. I was stupid. I was naïve,” Rodriguez said in 2009. “I did take a banned substance. And for that, I am very sorry and deeply regretful.”
In 2004, Rodriguez expressed himself differently. In Game 6 of the ALCS against the Boston Red Sox, unable to accept that he’d grounded out, he slapped the ball out of Bronson Arroyo’s hand as Arroyo attempted to make the tag. The ball got away and almost sparked a Yankee rally. Fortunately, the umpires saw what had happened, and called Rodriguez out.
In 2007, Rodriguez announced that he was opting out of his contract with the Yankees. His agent, Scott Boras, made the announcement during Game 4 of the World Series, as the Red Sox were putting the finishing touches on their victory.
“We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his announcement,” Bob DuPuy, baseball’s chief operating officer, told the Associated Press. “There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game.”
In 2008, Rodriguez’s first wife filed for divorce. “Alex has emotionally abandoned his wife and children,” the divorce filing claimed. The document called the marriage “irretrievably broken because of the husband’s extramarital affairs and other marital misconduct.”
In 2010, one year after apologizing for using PEDs and blaming it on his youth and stupidity, Rodriguez began using steroids again. According to the Miami Herald, the DEA found that “Rodriguez used substances prohibited by Major League Baseball from late 2010 to October 2012. He admitted getting testosterone cream, lozenges laced with testosterone (aka ‘gummies’) and human growth hormone injections.”
In 2012, Rodriguez wrote a note on a baseball looking for a female fan’s phone number and had a ball boy deliver it, as his team was losing to the Tigers in game one of the ALCS.
In 2013, Rodriguez was suspended 211 games for his role in the Biogenesis scandal. He was not just punished for his “use and possession of numerous forms of prohibited performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone, over the course of multiple years,” but also “for attempting to cover-up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commissioner’s investigation.”
Rodriguez appealed the suspension and vowed that he was innocent. “I have been clear that I did not use performance-enhancing substances as alleged in the notice of discipline, or violate the Basic Agreement or the Joint Drug Agreement in any manner,” he said. “In order to prove it, I will take this fight to federal court.” Less than three weeks later, he admitted under oath to DEA agents that this was a lie. Separately in 2014, Rodriguez’s lawyers sued him for $380,000 in unpaid legal bills. The case was settled more than a year later.
Public reporting says all we need to know. Alex Rodriguez is a liar, a cheater and a rulebreaker. He ignores rules and morality if he feels he can benefit. Time after time, he has shown his top priority. Not his family, not his team. Himself.
Somehow, he’s managed to rehabilitate his image as a broadcaster. And honestly, I get it. On TV, he’s endearing and fun. He seems like he’s changed. But he’s done this before.
“I’m finally beginning to grow up,” Rodriguez said in 2009. “I’m pretty tired of being stupid and selfish.” By the end of 2010, he was using steroids again.
Alex Rodriguez cannot be allowed to own an MLB team. He has repeatedly defiled the game of baseball. The farther he is from the game, the better off it will be.
