Whenever Rodriguez, who turns 41 in July, decides to retire from baseball, Girardi believes he’ll have a future as a coach or instructor sooner rather than later.
MORE: A look back at A-Rod’s turbulent career
“I think Alex would probably prefer to manage, if he was going to do anything, because I think he likes all the strategy of the game,” Girardi said Tuesday, via MLB.com, after the Yankees lost 1-0 to the Marlins in an exhibition game. “He would be a great hitting coach, because he understands mechanics as well as anyone that’s played the game.”
Girardi singing A-Rod’s praises isn’t just a manager flattering one of his players. There seems to be a genuine belief that Rodriguez’s most successful years may still be ahead of him, whether in baseball or business (he took classes in investing and marketing in 2014 during his drug suspension.)
In a USA Today Sports story last month on how Rodriguez has worked to rehabilitate his tainted image, he garnered admiration from the likes of White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria, Milwaukee Bucks co-owner and global investor Marc Lasry and billionaire business magnate Warren Buffett, among others.
It seems, then, as though A-Rod will have plenty of options whenever he hangs up his cleats. He has given no indication of when that will be, but it’s worth noting the controversial slugger is 75 home runs behind Barry Bonds for the most all time. He smashed 33 homers last season, but it will take at least a few more seasons before he can sniff that mark, should that be his intention. He is under contract with the Yankees through the 2017 season.
Girardi said an ideal fit for Rodriguez would be in a role similar to that of Bonds, who is returning to the dugout this season as Marlins hitting coach. He last played in 2007.
“Until you get away from it a couple years, you’re not sure exactly how much guys are going to miss it, but I think he’s really going to miss it,” Girardi said of Rodriguez, “so I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw him in uniform.”
