If there's one baseball player who will be the subject of life and death conversations, it's Alex Rodriguez. Controversy rhymes with his name. Even though he retired a long time ago, he is still a part of the sports environment thanks to the media.
He recently took his rage out on the organization of his former club, the New York Yankees. He criticized the club's batting philosophy, saying it was completely broken. That in itself is fine because now he's being paid to give his opinion and, to be fair, he might not necessarily be wrong. In the Yankees' case, it's essentially the other side of the fence or out.
The problem is that to add weight to his argument, he took a swipe at current Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe.
“A-Rod could be that guy [a mentor] for Volpe, but instead he decided to publicly crap on him.”@KPILLAR4 And @EricKratz31 I didn't like the way Alex Rodriguez used Anthony Volpe to show why he thinks the Yankees' hitting philosophy is broken. pic.twitter.com/cXKXrmfL3Y
– Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) December 28, 2025
But why?
Okay, it wasn't that bad at first. He mentioned that coaches did not allow Volpe to use what he excels at: his legs. He stole just 18 bases in 2025, down from 28 in 2024. Moreover, in the minors he dominated in this aspect.
On the other hand, he broke Volpe's fists by saying that if Volpe isn't stealing bases, he's not helping his teammates because he retired 150 times last year and batted .212.
It's not very pleasant.
And personally, this is not very relevant to me.
Volpe is a young baseball player. He is only 24 years old and just completed his third major league campaign. Moreover, in the case of the current player, his problem is more in defense than in attack. After all, in 2025 he led the American League with 19 errors.
And let's not forget that Volpe suffered a shoulder injury, which is certainly affecting his performance. Despite his shoulder, his at-bats are down, a sign that he is improving. He works hard and is not lazy on the field. And, frankly, the Yankees’ “number 11” is far from the main reason for the New Yorkers’ failures.
Help him, not vilify him
If I were Rodriguez, I would call Volpe and offer him my experience. To his credit, Alex Rodriguez was one of the best baseball players in the sport's rich history, and he was also a longtime shortstop.
Or I contacted him to apologize for using him as an example and that it was awkward on my part.
Perhaps all this has already been done. Perhaps this is not the case. But hey, Volpe doesn't deserve to be in the news because of Alex Rodriguez.
This content was created using artificial intelligence.
