Last Sunday, Alex Rodriguez held a press conference with the New York Yankees stating he’ll play his final game with the Yankees on Aug. 12 and that New York has offered him a role as a special adviser.
Although some could say it’s a retirement, Rodriguez never actually said his playing career was over and the former slugger still believes he can hit.
All of which has some speculating whether A-Rod will play for another team before this season ends or in 2017, for that matter.
ESPN’s Buster Olney said there are four destinations for Rodriguez and the Minnesota Twins are one of them. Olney stated with Torii Hunter’s retirement last year, there’s a void of veteran mentorship on the Twins.
Olney believes Rodriguez could mentor the Twins’ top prospects who have struggled to figure out major league pitching.
The 40-year-old Rodriguez has logged 22 seasons in the big leagues since breaking onto the scene as an 18-year-old with the Seattle Mariners in 1994.
Currently the Twins have a logjam of corner position players and at designated hitter but Rodriguez’s presence could also help ticket sales on top of the leadership he could provde to younger players.
Although A-Rod has been under the microscope with PED suspensions, younger players have supported him, including Baltimore Orioles rising star Manny Machado.
Rodriguez has worked with Machado in the batting cage during the offseason and Machado considers him a close friend.
Miami, Tampa Bay and Houston are the other teams Olney mentioned that could use Rodriguez’s services.
