696 career home runs and three MVP awards — Alex Rodriguez was the most talented all-around shortstop the game had ever produced before a career-long association with performance-enhancing drugs clouded his legacy. Signed the richest contract in baseball history twice, delivered a World Series championship with the New York Yankees in 2009 and set records at virtually every position he played. His 2013 suspension for 211 games — ultimately reduced to 162 — became one of baseball's most bitter disputes and permanently separated his statistical achievements from full recognition.
Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez was born in New York City in 1975 and grew up in Miami. The Seattle Mariners selected him first overall in the 1993 MLB Draft. His 22-season career produced 696 home runs — fourth all-time — 2,086 RBIs and three AL MVP awards (2003, 2005, 2007). He won the World Series with the New York Yankees in 2009, hitting three home runs in the Fall Classic. He was a 14-time All-Star. He received a record $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers in 2000 — the largest in baseball history at the time. The Yankees then signed him for $275 million in 2007. His career is shadowed by his admission of steroid use during his Rangers years (2001–2003) and a 2014 suspension of 162 games — the full 2014 season — for violating baseball's drug policy in the Biogenesis scandal. Despite the controversy, his statistical production — 696 home runs and 2,086 RBIs — places him among the most productive hitters in baseball history. After retirement he became a television analyst and businessman, founding A-Rod Corp.
696 career home runs, 14-time All-Star, 3-time AL MVP
How They Played
Power hitter with excellent plate discipline and defensive versatility
Lasting Impact
One of greatest shortstops/third basemen, overshadowed by PED scandal