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Alex Rodriguez has opinions on the issues of the day, like everyone following New York baseball. So, for the record, he favors Masahiro Tanaka to launch the game of the cards of the American League and Jacob deGrom for the price Cy Young of the NL.
Unlike us, it has two national forums to discuss such things.
A-Rod will finish his rookie season as a game analyst for ESPN with NL's wild card game on Tuesday, then return for his fourth year as a Fox analyst for the remainder of the season .
"It's very interesting. it's so much fun and so different, "he said of both roles. "I think that's the exciting part. . . The optics are completely different.
Rodriguez has been working for Fox since 2015 – the fall before he left the Yankees and retired from baseball – a job for which he has received many accolades.
This season, he joined ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" team, replacing Yankees manager Aaron Boone alongside Matt Vasgersian and analyst Jessica Mendoza when he had previously worked in a stand. three times before.
Critics have been more mixed in this role, for which Rodriguez said that there were "learning difficulties for me, just being my first time to do it. But I thought that towards the end, I began to become more comfortable and more fluid.
A common criticism of ESPN's approach is his interest in Rodriguez, who placed him at the center of the show. Rodriguez did not agree with this perception.
"You have to crawl before you can walk, and then you run," he said. "For me, having someone as experienced as Matt and Jessica also has a few years to his credit, then I, the rookie, I thought it was a very democratic approach .
"I think Buster [Olney, the sideline reporter] is a kind of unsung hero. He is fantastic. And I thought it was great. I was very happy and looking forward to next year, just building on what we started this year.
He said the challenge was to learn the nuances of a game show, from the "talk back" button that connects advertisers to the production truck to "the importance of keeping the points, stay in the flow. And you think a lot more about a manager than a player. This is the biggest change for me. "
Rodriguez rejected the notion that doing a game of the week was a trick.
"One thing I always tell people, no matter what the situation is right now, is a fraction of the way I played," he said. "Nothing in life will be comparable to playing 200 games in 232 days."
Rodriguez said that he was "crazy" that five days before the wild card match of NL, he did not know who would play there, but he chose the Cardinals at the Brewers.
He also chose the DeGrom des Mets for NL Cy Young.
"The enigma that we have every time we start these conversations is in many ways that we are married to our history, and our story tells us that victories are a big component of the Cy Young," he said. -he declares. "So, if we say now that we're changing that, then DeGrom can very easily be Cy Young.
"If we value victories, over which he can not ultimately control, then, eventually, he will have to go to someone else."
DeGrom is 9-9 with a 1.77 ERA before Wednesday night's start.
Rodriguez said that if competitors like Aaron Nola of the Phillies or Max Scherzer of the Nationals had led their teams to the playoffs, he might have had one of them. Absent, "I'm good with DeGrom," he said. "DeGrom is my choice."
Regarding the debate on which the Yankees should start Wednesday against Athletics – Tanaka, Luis Severino or J.A. Happ – Rodriguez said: "Boy, oh boy. It is good to have three choices. . . I think I would start Tanaka and then I would play Severino 1 game in the ALDS.
"I think Tanaka in a controlled environment like Yankee Stadium, for him, he was really good there. I think he has the ability to get out and get out of trouble, run out of barrels when he needs double play and position his position well. Then I like that Severino has it for games 1 and 5 of ALDS against the Red Sox.
Rodriguez chose the Yankees but warned against overconfidence.
"I think the Yankees win this game at home, but it's a trap, so you have to be careful," he said. "Oakland is a dangerous team and she's pretty young where I think she's good no matter where she plays."
Rodriguez continues to serve as a special advisor to the Yankees and has worked particularly with Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres, "talking to them, trying to guide them as much as possible, just like me, Gary. [Sanchez] last year.
"I keep talking to Gary this year, [Aroldis] Chapman, a lot of our guys, whether it's [Giancarlo] Stanton or [Aaron] Judge. I love being someone who can be right there for them when they need help.
Beyond that and his work on television, Rodriguez said the game's retirement had allowed him to spend more time with his family and with philanthropic work and to be what he called "An ambassador of the game".
His contracts with ESPN and Fox expire after the 2020 season.
"For me it may be like it was fun, it was great, I did it for five years, and the next chapter," he said. "Or I can do it again. I do not know where I am. Until now, it was an excellent driver, an excellent project. . . But I did not think about life after my contract regarding the broadcast. "
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has since specialized in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and more recently in sports media and sports. business.
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