Alex Rodriguez

ALEX RODRIGUEZ - TEXAS RANGERS

Shortstop
Age: 27 (July 27, 1975)
Height: 6-3 Weight: 210
Throws: Right Bats: Right



History

Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez was born in New York City but grew up and played his high school baseball, as well as football and basketball, in Miami, Florida. In three seasons at Westminster Christian, A-Rod compiled some extraordinary numbers, batting .419 over his career with 17 homers, 70 RBI, and 100 steals and earning honors as the top junior player in the nation after a senior season in which he hit over .500 and was successful on all 35 of his steal attempts. All in all, it was somewhat less than surprising that the Seattle Mariners drafted Rodriguez #1 overall in 1993.

The Talent

Rodriguez tore up the Midwest League for the first two months of his professional career, batting .319 in his first 65 games before being called up to AA Jacksonville in mid-June. His stay in Jacksonville was even shorter, though he did jack a homer in his first at bat in AA, as he was called up to the big club in his first professional season just a month before his nineteenth birthday to fill in for Felix Fermin for a bit. He struggled initially in the majors, batting just .204 in his seventeen games, and was sent back down to AAA Calgary when Fermin returned. In 1994, at four different levels of the system in his first professional season, Rodriguez ended up combining for a gaudy .300-21-85 season.

1995 saw Rodriguez shuffle back and forth between Calgary and Seattle four times. At 20, he didn't really seem ready for success on the big league level, batting just .232-5-19 in his 48 games, but he once again demolished the Pacific Coast League, batting .360 in 60 games and earning a place on the PCL All-Star Squad. His star-power was clearly evident at the top minor league level, despite the fact that he was facing older, more experienced competition.

The Breakthrough

1996 was when A-Rod stuck. The Mariners came out of Spring Training and removed the "of the future" label that was patched onto his jersey and let him fly. Rodriguez responded by crushing 36 HR and 123 RBI, placing him third on the team, as well as in the top 10 in the league. Rodriguez wasn't quite proving that he was the demon on the basepaths that he had been in the minors and high school, but his 15 steals were certainly adequate, and no SS had ever hit for this much power in the big leagues.

Oh, by the way.... He became the first SS in 36 years to win the batting title, smashing the ball to the tune of .358. His OPS was an outrageous 1.045! Post-season accolades flew left and right, as the Sporting News and the AP named Rodriguez the Major League Player of the Year. However, he was thwarted by current teammate Juan Gonzalez for the AL MVP honors, losing by just three votes.

Here to Stay

Rodriguez' numbers dropped off considerably in his second full season in 1997, but he was still clearly the best SS in the game. His average slipped to .300 and his power numbers dipped a bit. 1997 remains the only season since A-Rod was a full-time starter where he had less than 30 homers or less than 100 RBI (23/84 respectively). However, he was beginning to show the last of his five tools which he had disguised in his first major league season, stealing 29 bases in 35 attempts. Yes.... the so called sophomore slump even bit A-Rod.

40/40

In 1998, A-Rod treated the fans of Seattle to something that only three players in the history of the game have accomplished. Rodriguez re-invented the word five tool player by smacking 42 homers and stealing 46 bases, joining Jose Canseco and Barry Bonds as the third player to join the exclusive club. As he raised his average back to .310, Rodriguez led the AL in hits (213), placed in the top five in runs (123), total bases (384), steals (46), extra base hits (82), and RBI (124). He also finished in the top ten in homers (42). Rodriguez was voted the Player's Choice as the AL Player of the Year, but barely registered in the top ten in the MVP voting.

Consistency

Rodriguez managed to hit 42 homers in 1998, 42 in 1999, and 41 in 2000, establishing himself as a consistent 40 homer guy before making the jump to 52 in 2001, a pace which he figures to match in 2002. Since 1998, Rodriguez has averaged .308-45-125.5 with 125 runs.

2001

After signing a ten year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers, many began to call Alex "Payrod". Rodriguez was clearly one of the top players in the league to build a team around, and did everything he could to justify the outrageous contract. The pressure was on early, and Rodriguez slumped through the first couple of weeks, but proved that if anyone is worth that kind of money, he is.

After a slow start, Rodriguez caught fire the rest of the way, hitting over .300 in every month of the season and compiling double digit homer totals in three out of six months. He finished the season hitting a robust .318-52-135. His 52 dingers led the league, as did the 133 runs he scored, while his RBI total placed him third in the AL. He sat out just one game all year, and established as many as four Rangers records in his initial season with the club. Colleagues named Rodriguez the best player in the AL for the third time in six years, but he was once again snubbed in the MVP voting, finishing sixth overall.

2002 Outlook

In 2002 and beyond, A-Rod is without peers at his position. He is hands down the best SS in the game. Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter are often mentioned in the same breath as Rodriguez as the "big three". However, neither of them are even in the same league when it comes to matching his total production. Garciaparra and Jeter could combine to give him a run for his money, but they are separate players. Expect Rodriguez to lead all SS's in homers by about 20, steal around 20 bases, drive in about 25 more runs than any other SS in the league, and hit somewhere in the .315 range.

2002

Rodriguez is third among all SS's in batting average (.306), leads the majors at all positions with 88 RBI, leads the majors in home runs with 34, and is tied for the major league lead at all positions with 81 runs. He does, however, seem to be taking the year off on the basepaths, with only 6 stolen bases. In other words, he's the best player in the majors right now, justifying the fact that he went #1 in just about every fantasy draft.

Fantasy Decisions

Nah.... He's not that great ;). Seriously, A-Rod is just 27 years old and promises to be the best SS in the league, if not the best overall player in the league, for years to come. Any team that gets him already has a solid nucleus to build around. Note to those in Keeper Leagues... Enjoy!

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James Meyerriecks
Cardinals & Royals Lead Correspondent