There are no gray areas when it comes to Alex Rodriguez. A polarizing figure both on and off the field, fans either love him or hate him. He was an absolute stud with the Seattle Mariners, became a perennial All-Star with the Texas Rangers and now he retired as a member of the New York Yankees.
The fact that A-Rod is retired, however, doesn’t mean people will stop talking about him. His legacy will always be questioned due to the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs, and people from all over the industry believe he shouldn’t be allowed to enter the Hall of Fame. Others, however, are convinced his numbers are good enough to be part of Cooperstown. He certainly has enough talent to be considered one of the best players of All-Time.
Even if some are blindsided by their beliefs, there’s no easy way to answer this. If we only consider his numbers and his on-field performance, then A-Rod should be a first-ballot selection for Cooperstown. He finished his career with 696 home runs, 2,086 RBIs, and a slash line of .295/.380/.550. To put things into perspective, some players can’t even perform at that level in a single season, yet A-Rod did it throughout a 22-year span.
As if those numbers weren’t enough, players and the league as a whole did their best to recognize A-Rod’s accomplishments until his last days. He was selected to the All-Star Game 14 times (both at SS and 3B), won the AL MVP Award three times, and also won several Silver Slugger and Gold Glove Awards.
Is that not enough? If not, Rodriguez leads all active players in home runs and sits fourth in the all-time ranking behind three of the best players to ever step on an MLB field: Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714). So far, so good with A-Rod and a future in Cooperstown, right?
Well, not so much. PEDs will always be a huge red flag in Rodriguez’s career, and that’s the main reason why experts, voters and fans alike don’t want to see him reaching the Hall of Fame. Not only he used them repeatedly, but also lied about more than once. He maintained his story even after it was clear he was lying. And no one likes a liar.
His PED problems led him to spend the entire 2014 out suspended. However, I’m one who believes his numbers on the field should be the only thing that matters to decide whether he deserved to be inducted into the HOF or not.
It’s undeniable that the use of PEDs helped Rodriguez throughout his career, but they don’t make magic either. It’s time to accept reality and recognize Rodriguez as one of the all-time greats in the baseball world. He was always a talented player and he would’ve been an above-average player with or without steroids. There will always be haters and people who criticizes, but at the end of the day, Cooperstown should be a place where fans can recognize the best players of any given age. With or without PEDs, A-Rod deserves to be included in that group.