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The New York Yankees were already one of the best teams in baseball when they traded for Alex Rodriguez prior to the start of the 2004 campaign to secure the talents of one of the best players in the MLB. The man known as “A-Rod” lived up to expectations during his time in the Bronx, and he’s apparently not too thrilled the franchise hasn’t decided to retire his number as a result.
Rodriguez played 1,509 games during the 12 seasons he spent with the Yankees. During that span, he clocked 351 home runs, contributed 1,096 RBIs to the cause, secured a couple of American League MVPs, was selected to the All-Star Game seven times, and helped the Bronx Bombers win the World Series in 2009.
The Yankees have taken a fairly aggressive approach to retiring numbers, as it has removed a grand total of 22 options from circulation to honor the players and managers who are immortalized in Monument Park—including a number of guys A-Rod shared the clubhouse with (specifically Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada, and Joe Torre).
A-Rod retired in 2016 after 22 seasons in the MLB, and his number didn’t grace the jersey of another member of the team until Joey Gallo opted to stick with No. 13 after he was traded from the Rangers in 2021.
According to WFAN, Rodriguez admitted that didn’t sit well with him during a recent appearance on Evan and Tiki where he called out the team for failing to give him the recognition he feels he deserves.
He didn’t blame Gallo but did blame the Yankees for keeping his number up for grabs while suggesting it may have something to do with negative comments he’s made about the team after pivoting to broadcasting, saying:
“With my job on TV, I’m too critical of the Yankees and that doesn’t help my case. I get paid to tell the truth. and if you guys ask me a question I’m going to tell you exactly as I see it and not sugarcoat it.
I want my number retired. If it’s not retired, so be it.
Of course it bothers me. It’s less about bother, but of course it would be nice to be recognized in one of the coolest places to be in Yankee history. But that’s not my decision.”
It’s worth noting Rodriguez wasn’t a member of the core of players who had their numbers retired after building a dynasty in the 1990s and early 2000s, and the fact that he only played a role in a single championship could be a knock against him compared to the peers he aspires to join.
There’s also the Biogenesis HGH scandal that led to him being suspended for the entirety of the 2014 season, which is the primary reason he hasn’t been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
There’s always a chance the Yankees change their tune in the future, but it seems like if they were going to pull the trigger, they would have done it by now.