Alex Rodriguez credits his mother for her negotiation tactics with the Seattle Mariners.
The veteran baseball player has been recovering from a shoulder injury and rehabbing in Florida, but he’s not on as good of terms with his team now that he is considering retirement after this season. His mom was able to convince the franchise they should give him another year before trying to move him at the trade deadline next summer.
MVP three times When Alex Rodriguez graduated from high school, he had a few possibilities. He had baseball clubs pounding on his door since he was one of the greatest high school athletes in the nation. He was a great quarterback in football. Was he going to college or would he begin his professional baseball career straight away?
Rodriguez recently discussed the days when he had to make a decision regarding his future. He grew up impoverished, his mother working many jobs to make ends meet, he said. He claimed it was his mother who stood up and wouldn’t accept no for an answer when it came to last-minute talks with the Seattle Mariners.
In high school, Alex Rodriguez was a fantastic two-sport athlete.
During the 1996 season, Alex Rodriguez of the Seattle Mariners fields a ball during an MLB game against the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California. | Getty Images/Ron Vesely/MLB Photos
Rodriguez is most known for his 22 years in Major League Baseball, during which he played for three different organizations. They know him as the player that was caught up in a steroid controversy and was banned for the whole 2014 season as a result. Many people are unaware that he might have pursued a professional football career instead.
Rodriguez was a wide receiver on the football squad at Westminster Christian School in Miami before taking over as quarterback in his junior year. Under center, he was the whole package: strong-armed, mobile, and smart.
According to Fox Sports, former high school classmate Tris Moore remarked, “What I remember is, for someone who didn’t really play the sport growing up, his (instant) knowledge and comprehension really blew me away.” “I recall viewing footage with him and him pointing out defenses and what they were attempting to achieve. It was fantastic.”
Rich Hofman, who was the defensive coordinator and also coached the baseball team, described him as “the sharpest athlete I’ve ever been around.”
Rodriguez intended to attend the University of Miami and play baseball and football. The Mariners became engaged in the negotiations, and his mother got involved as well.
During the discussions, Alex Rodriguez praised his “brave” mother.
*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden} html,bodyheight:100% img,spanposition:absolute;width:100% ;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto;bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyhe spanheight:1.5em;text-align:center;font:48px/1.5 sans-serif;color:white;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow
Rodriguez was a recent guest on the Trading Secrets podcast, where he revealed how he came to the decision to join the Mariners. He was 17 years old and had received a $1.3 million offer from the Mariners, but he had to choose between pro baseball and four years of college, maybe playing both sports.
Rodriguez told podcast host Jason Tartick, “It got down to the 11th hour.” “I signed the contract in the middle of the night in this building when I was 17 years old” (his A-Rod Corp headquarters). The Grand Bay Hotel was its name.
“I was promised a million dollars by the Mariners. My mother, who worked two jobs at the time — secretary in the mornings and waitress in the evenings — said no way. My kid will go the University of Miami to play quarterback and shortstop if we do not get the 1.5 million dollars.
“I was thinking to myself, are you sure, we’re broke,” I said to my mother. This is a substantial sum of money. She was so brave that it came down to a box of bats and two first-class American Airlines tickets in the end.
“We ultimately came to an arrangement in the early hours of the morning that it would be 1.35 million dollars, that it would be a three-year big league deal, and that the Mariners would purchase me major league wood, my Louisville Slugger, while I was in the minors.” The wood in the main leagues is far superior than that in the lesser leagues.
“Since I was 17 and meant to be a freshman in college, I said, ‘I’m going all the way to Seattle, could my mother buy three first-class tickets so she could come visit me three times a year?’”
Rodriguez confesses that having his mother in charge of the program made him feel insecure.
Alex Rodriguez and Patrick Mahomes have a particular friendship that dates back to baseball.
The story of how the Chiefs QB grew up loving baseball, but ultimately chose football: pic.twitter.com/v15ZTqhOow
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) October 7, 2018
Rodriguez couldn’t sign with an agency when he was 17, since he wanted to go to college. He had no choice but to delegate the negotiating process to his mother and sister. That made him feel a little uneasy.
“Technically, my sister was my agent,” he said. “If you employ an agent as an amateur, you forfeit your eligibility.” You may hire a professional adviser. Scott Boras was my adviser at the time. Scott Boras was giving advice to my mother, sister, and myself on what we should do next.
“It was an exhilarating period, but one that was also filled with worry.” To think that my mother earns $20,000 to $25,000 each year. We’ve decided to rent an apartment. My mother is practically staring them down and shouting, “Stick that million you know where.” My youngster will get a 1.5. Wow, she has a lot more bravery than me, I thought.
“My mother and sister handled the discussions better than I did. They didn’t even bother to ask for my opinion. It was ridiculous; my mother would get home at 11:30 p.m., and I would grab her pouch and begin calculating her tip money, as I had done since I was 11 years old. It was a beautiful night once we got like 65 dollars, and my mother would say, ‘It’s 1.5 or nothing.’”
Rodriguez’s financial situation improved dramatically, and he owes it to one heroic mother.
RELATED: Alex Rodriguez’s Heartbreaking But Memorable 16-Year Wait for a Reunion With His Father
