$250 million can't buy A-Rod the fans' respect.

Alex Rodriguez has it all. A beautiful wife, stunning good looks, not to mention his $25 million dollar annual income, complemented by the fact that he is the most all-around talented player in Major League Baseball.

At 30 years old, Rodriguez is only 71 home runs away from 500 and only 99 hits away from 2,000. In 2005, he led the American League in home runs, slugging percentage, and runs scored. He plays for one of the most beloved teams in baseball, and led the New York Yankees to the playoffs and a 96-67 record last season. Oh yeah, he was the AL MVP last year too.

Unfortunately for A-Rod, his career so far hasn’t been praised the way someone with his credentials should be praised, and rightfully so. Though his numbers during his 11-year career have been nothing less than superb, he is criticized for his ridiculously enormous salary, his lack of leadership, his inability to take a team to the next step and his arrogant attitude. A player of his popularity should be interested in his image and whether or not he is being a good role model. He is only focused on himself, not the fans or his team.

When A-Rod signed the “big contract” with the Texas Rangers following the 2000 season making him the highest-paid player in baseball, he was tagged as a premier player getting his deserved due. The stipulation in the contract that bothered many people was the line that read, “if any player signs a contract making them the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball, then the Texas Rangers will increase his level of pay so that he is one dollar more than that player.” That is a ridiculous demand and sparked the first questions of Rodriguez’s character. At $25 million annually, what did it really matter to if he was the second-highest-paid player in baseball?

The criticism of Rodriguez and his contract only got worse following the 2001 season, when the Seattle Mariners, his former team, finished 116-46 – the best record in the league - in their first season without A-Rod.

Meanwhile, the Rangers struggled. And after three seasons in Texas, the team showed no improvement. Rodriguez was an MVP, but hadn’t shown he was a leader, and after the 2003 season, the Rangers found a sucker to take on Rodriguez’s ridiculous contract. And, of course, that sucker was George Steinbrenner.

Since the trade, the Rangers have shown significant progress. Their young players have blossomed into perennial all-stars, and they compete day in and day out. ESPN baseball analyst Peter Gammons recently picked them as his “sleeper” team in the American League to possibly make the playoffs in 2006.

Of course, the Yankees have been the Yankees since Rodriguez joined the club. They are consistently one of the best teams in baseball, but they haven’t gotten any better in the playoffs with A-Rod in the lineup. He has gone 10-for-46 (.217) with 11 strikeouts in two years in the playoffs with the Yanks. Last year, he batted a dismal .133 with no home runs.

During the American League Championship Series in 2004 against the Boston Red Sox, Rodriguez received a lot of criticism and was the target of a lot of jokes for a play that involved him knocking the baseball out of Boston pitcher Bronson Arroyo’s glove with his hand. Arroyo was trying to make the tag on Rodriguez after he had hit a soft groundball back to the mound. A-Rod got a lot of heat for being “soft” and “not a fair player” after the incident.

And most recently, there has been much discussion about the fact that Rodriguez decided to play for the United States instead of the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic. Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen spoke openly about his ill feelings toward A-Rod and his decision regarding which team he would play for. Rodriguez’s responses to Guillen and the media have been short, and anything but pleasant.

A-Rod is an easy person to hate. He has it all, except for one thing. He doesn’t have a good relationship with baseball fans. And until Rodriguez makes a point to establish a more positive image for himself, ideally by winning the big game with his team behind him, he will forever be remembered for being one of the most talented players in the game who couldn’t get it done when it mattered. All of this may not matter to him. With $25 million coming in every year, it’s hard to imagine that he has much to worry about. His stats show no signs of slipping, and he still has plenty of good years ahead of him. Maybe 2006 will be the year that all Yankees fans are hoping for, and A-Rod will lead the team to the World Series, but somehow I doubt it.

Steven Michalovich is a contributing writer for Atomic Sports Media. He is a full-time student at the Ohio State University majoring in Strategic Communication. You can reach him at steven.michalovich@atomicsportsmedia.com.

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