Will A-Rod take his talents to Miami? He says no.
He wasn’t much of an asset for the Yankees this year in the playoffs, but Alex Rodriguez is saying that he will do everything in his power to stay with the team after this season. In a press conference after ALCS game 4, where the Yankees were swept by the Tigers, Rodriguez said “I’ve never thought about going to another team”.
He added, “my focus is to stay here. Let’s make that very, very clear. I will be back and I have a lot to prove and I will come back on a mission.”
A-Rod isn’t a free agent this year – rather, he’s signed through 2017, including a no-trade clause, with the Yankees. However, there have been trade whispers swirling around him for the last few weeks. It’s rumored that Yankees president Randy Levine and Marlin’s owner Jeffrey Loria met and discussed the possibility of Rodriguez waiving that clause and taking his talents to Miami over the offseason.
“I don’t get into speculation, I can only deal with what I can control and I’m going to take care of that,” Rodriguez continued.
Members of the press and, reportedly the inner sanctum of the Yankees organization, at least in part blamed the Yankees sweep on Rodriguez and his flirty ways in game one. Levine came to his defense, however, saying that the losses were caused by the whole team, not any one player.
“I think that too much attention is put on Alex,” Levine said. “The fact that we lost this was a total team effort, a total organization effort. To single out one person is not fair. At the end of the day, we as an organization lose as an organization. We are all in this together.”
Heading into the offseason, it will be interesting to watch the trade wire and see what things come up for A-Rod’s future. Is a move to Miami in the cards? Or is it just over-hyped speculation? Only time will tell.
