Derek Jeter reveals how he felt about Alex Rodriguez’s PEDs scandal
When the Boston Red Sox failed to acquire Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees got him, it felt like yet another reminder that the Evil Empire would remain on top forever.
Instead, it turned out to be one of the biggest blessings in disguise in the history of the Rivalry, as it quickly became clear that A-Rod was a bullet and the Sox were lucky to dodge him.
Hindsight’s 20/20, after all.
During his tenure in the Bronx, the baseball world found out that in addition to having quite an attitude, A-Rod had really been A-Roiding during some of the best years of his career. And it was one of several things that fractured his relationship with longtime friend-turned-teammate, Derek Jeter.
Jeter confirmed as much in his ESPN docuseries, The Captain, when talking about what it was like to find out his then-teammate had juiced:
"“My reaction was: another distraction. Like, f***, we gotta deal with this now? That was my reaction.”"
Jeter, who will go down in history as one of the most focused, championship-driven players in MLB history, viewed the whole thing as a distraction from his job:
"“We got to answer questions about it, man, and I did not like to answer questions that didn’t have to do with what was going on on the field. I was like, I don’t want to talk about this s*** anymore, but it wasn’t something that you could just end like that.””"
By the time Rodriguez confessed to using steroids during his time with the Rangers, it was February 2009 and he’d been with the Yankees for five years, during which time the Sox had won two championships and they’d won none. The Yankees would go on to win later that year but haven’t won since. Manny Ramirez, who would’ve gone to the Rangers in the A-Rod trade, won World Series MVP in 2004.
By the time A-Rod’s steroid use came to light, he and Jeter were teammates, but not the bosom buddies they’d been in the early years of their professional careers. Jeter attributes it to several comments Rodriguez made about him in various interviews, and the evidence is pretty damning. From bragging about making more money, to saying Jeter wasn’t a leader, A-Rod was clearly quite insecure and petty. If he hadn’t been, he wouldn’t have needed to tear down a friend just to feel better about himself.
He essentially admitted it, too:
"“I wanted to prove to everyone that I was worth being one of the greatest players of all time.”"
It’s unfortunate for his own legacy and reputation that he tried to prove his greatness by doping and badmouthing his friends.
The biggest takeaway from all of this is that A-Rod sounds like an awful teammate and friend, so not only would the steroid revelation have rocked the Red Sox had they acquired him, but the clubhouse chemistry would’ve been way off. Imagine A-Rod instead of Manny on the lovable Band of Idiots in 2004.
Paying A-Rod also would’ve prevented the Sox from building the rosters that yielded the following two championships in 2007 and 2013. The ripple effect from the nixed trade is too enormous to fathom. It’s a good reminder to Sox fans that sometimes – not always – what feels like a disaster is really the prevention of one.
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