Alex Rodríguez Provides Update On Complicated Relationship With Derek Jeter
Even if you’re not a New York Yankees fan, the relationship between Alex Rodríguez and Derek Jeter is a fascinating baseball storyline, and it’s one that keeps evolving.
Rodríguez and Jeter were best buds as teenagers as they shared the dream of becoming MLB superstars, each possessing the outrageous talent to achieve that mission.
And while both Rodríguez and Jeter carved out MLB amazing careers early on (A-Rod with the Seattle Mariners, Jeter with the Yankees), their relationship suffered a major fracture in 2001, when Rodríguez made controversial remarks about Jeter in an Esquire interview, suggesting that Jeter was the beneficiary of New York’s team success and had never had to be a leader.
Jeter reportedly felt betrayed by the comments from Rodríguez, viewing the interview as A-Rod’s way of diminishing Jeter’s individual accomplishments at a time when Rodríguez himself had just signed a massive, new contract with the Texas Rangers.
Then, in 2004, Rodríguez was traded to the Yankees, and Jeter was forced to compartmentalize his resentment towards A-Rod in the name of chasing a championship together (which the duo eventually won in 2009). It probably helped that A-Rod was willing to move to third base to cater to Jeter.
Still, even today as the two friends work together as analysts for FOX, there’s still a sense that their relationship has never quite recovered, even though there is obviously a ton of mutual respect there.
In recent years, A-Rod has been very honest and vulnerable in interviews when talking about his shortcomings in the relationship, his regrets, and how he’s consciously worked on himself and grown as a person. He’s outright stated that he wishes he and Jeter could have the same type of bond they did when they were younger, even if it’s not possible from Jeter’s perspective.
Anytime A-Rod shares his thoughts on the relationship, it’s very interesting for baseball fans to listen in, and the most recent example of this came when Alex appeared as a guest on Barstool’s Pardon My Take podcast.
Rodríguez’s main impetus for appearing on the pod was to discuss the new documentary about his life and career, Alex vs. Arod. Naturally, Jeter arose as a topic of discussion during the interview.
“Our relationship is great,” A-Rod said of Jeter. “It’s as good as it’s been, I would say, in over 20 years. And part of (that) is me growing up. When I look back now, I’m like man, I must have been a very difficult guy to deal with.”
“And, you know, Derek has great parents, he’s a great human being, he’s got great character, and obviously, looking back, it’s easy to see that he had the maturity at 21 of a 31-year-old, and at 31, I had the maturity of a nine-year-old,” Rodríguez contined.
“So, we were just not on the same wavelength. Where we always jibed is … we always loved and respected each other’s game. We both played everyday, and we both had one commonality (in that) we wanted to win, and win badly.”