Since Aug. 7, 2015, Alex Rodriguez is hitting just .196, ranked 212th of 214 players with at least 400 plate appearances. This season, he’s at .204, including a .196 batting average against righties. Entering 2016, Rodriguez had a .300 career average against righties.
But the past few years are not representative of the Hall of Fame-worthy numbers Rodriguez has put up in his career. Consider:
Wins (Above Replacement)
Rodriguez has accumulated 117.9 career wins above replacement, which ranks 16th all time.
Every player with at least 80 career WAR is in the Hall of Fame except: Mike Mussina (on ballot), Chipper Jones (not yet eligible), Adrián Beltré (active), Albert Pujols (active), Rodriguez, Roger Clemens (on ballot) and Bonds (on ballot).
His 117.9 career WAR is the most among players to debut since 1990.
Rodriguez is in the top 12 in WAR for each team he played for: sixth for the Mariners, 11th for the Yankees, 12th for the Rangers.
Homered like a king
A big reason why he accumulated all that WAR is his home run total. Rodriguez is fourth in career home runs. If he does not hit four more, he’ll finish the closest to 700 of any player not to reach it (Willie Mays, 660).
Four of the six players with at least 630 home runs are in the Hall of Fame. The only eligible player who is not in is Barry Bonds, who is on the ballot.
Rodriguez is the only player in baseball history to hit 150 or more home runs with three different teams. He’s one of five players to hit at least 100 home runs with three different teams, along with Adrian Beltre, Jim Thome, Darrell Evans and Reggie Jackson.
He was as multifaceted with positions as he was with teams. Rodriguez is the only player in history to hit at least 250 home runs at two different positions. The Elias Sports Bureau notes that the only other player in history to hit at least 200 home runs at two positions was Ernie Banks, who did so at first base and shortstop.
Hitting all of those homers means he racked up the runs batted in, too. He’s one of just two players with 2,000 RBIs (the other is Hank Aaron).
His prowess encompassed speed and power. He's one of three players with 300 stolen bases and 500 home runs: Barry Bonds (762 HR, 514 SB), Rodriguez (696 HR, 329 SB) and Willie Mays (660 HR, 338 SB).
Epitome of No. 1 overall
No first pick in the draft has hit more home runs than Rodriguez.
His 117.9 career WAR are the most by any first pick. Ken Griffey Jr. (83.6 WAR, third among No. 1 picks) just became the first such pick to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Well-decorated
Rodriguez is one of 10 players to win three MVP awards (only Barry Bonds has more, with seven) and one of just six players to win multiple MVP awards with the Yankees.
Rodriguez won 10 Silver Slugger awards total (three at third base, seven at shortstop), tied for the second-most since the awards were first given in 1980. Mike Piazza won 10 at catcher, and Barry Bonds 12 in the outfield.
On this date
The timing of this announcement coincides with Sunday being the ninth anniversary of Barry Bonds hitting his 756th career home run, breaking Hank Aaron’s record for most all-time.
For a long time, Rodriguez was thought to be a strong candidate to surpass Bonds’ total. At the end of the 2010 season, he had 613 home runs and had hit at least 30 in 13 straight seasons. He totaled 83 home runs over the next six years (including 2014, when he did not play), surpassing 30 only once. He’s reached the 100-game mark twice in that span.
Mark Simon also contributed to this post
