NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez's New York Yankees teammates were nearly unanimous in their reaction to the announcement that Friday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays would be his last. Almost to a man, they were happy for him, congratulatory and wishing him the best.
With one notable exception: Brett Gardner, who will become the longest-tenured Yankee once Rodriguez departs, was not swallowing the party line of a happy parting between Rodriguez and the team.
Asked about the 1-2 punch of losing Mark Teixeira, who announced his impending retirement Friday, and A-Rod, who will be released by the Yankees after Friday's game, Gardner said, "It's two completely different situations. I think growing up, you always want to play in the big leagues, but the longer you play and the longer career you have, I think the ultimate way to go out is to go out on your own terms, and Tex is getting an opportunity to do that, and it's sad to see that Alex isn't."
Gardner, who became close with Rodriguez during their nine seasons together, said he believes Rodriguez still has some good baseball left in his 41-year-old body.
"I saw some of the balls he hit over at Citi Field [during batting practice] within the last week or so, 480, 490 feet to left-center, and I know he can still hit," Gardner said. "I feel bad about the way the season's going. Not just for him and for myself but for the team, and it's sad to see it all coming to an end. If we had played better collectively, as a team, things wouldn't be unfolding this way. It's something that's kind of hard to swallow."
Gardner said he was not surprised by the extraordinary season Rodriguez had in 2015, when, after missing a season because of a PED suspension, he returned to hit 33 home runs the year he turned 40.
"I feel like I've always been a big fan of him, always loved watching him work, whether it's in the cage or behind the scenes in the weight room or out on the field during batting practice," Gardner said. "So nothing he's ever done surprises me. He's obviously got a world of talent, and he's one of the hardest workers I've ever played with, and all the success that he ever had, all the things he was able to do on the field, the pitches he was able to hit from foul pole to foul pole, I was never really surprised by any of it."
Gardner said his fondest memory of Rodriguez would be "the 2009 World Series, and him putting us on his back and really stepping up and coming through in some big spots. It's something I'll cherish forever."
But the way his Yankees career is ending -- first, Rodriguez was benched against right-handed starters, then he was benched altogether and has started just one of the past 11 games -- clearly left a bad taste in Gardner's mouth.
"I've been around for a little while," he said. "And it's sad to see Alex going like this."
