Guide Note

Alex Rodriguez is the current third baseman for the New York Yankees and currently the most highly paid player in baseball. ¹ If he remains healthy, Rodriguez is expected by many experts to break the all-time career home run record currently held by Barry Bonds. He is the youngest player in baseball history to ever hit surpass the 500 home run mark, doing it at the age of 31.

Fast Facts:

1. Born: July 27, 1975
2. Birthplace: New York City, New York
3. Hometown: Miami, Florida
4. Batting average: .307
5. Home runs: 534
6. Runs batted in: 1,546
7. Hits: 2,323
8. Doubles: 412
9. On-base plus slugging: .968
10. Spouse: Cynthia Rodriguez

The number one pick overall in the 1993 draft, Rodriguez began his career with the Seattle Mariners in the strike-shortened 1994 season at the age of 18. He didn't play in his first full season until 1996, when he finished a close second in Most Valuable Player Award balloting to Juan Gonzalez. In 2000, Rodriguez became a free agent and signed then the most expensive contract in baseball history, a 10-year, $252 million deal which sent him to the Texas Rangers. In 2003, Rodriguez won the AL MVP Award, but the next year the Rangers traded him to the New York Yankees for outfielder Alfonso Soriano. In 2005, Rodriguez again won the AL MVP Award.

Despite Rodriguez's achievements, many sportswriters and fans believe that the superstar does not perform well in clutch situations or in the postseason, and that he is a disruptive force in clubhouses because of what many perceive to be his large ego.²

As reported July 6, 2008, Rodriguez's six-year marriage to Cynthia Rodriguez was near an end. Cynthia Rodriguez's lawyer announced that she would file for divorce, due to a "long period of infidelity on the part or Mr. Rodriguez."³ Rodriguez had been rumored in recent weeks to be involved in a relationship with pop singer Madonna, a development the lawyer called, "the final straw."³