Alex Rodriguez may be one of the most polarizing players in MLB history, but there is no denying his greatness and talent. But for as great as he was as a player, he has built an equally as impressive business portfolio off the field while entering the world of media and ownership with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx. He's started his own podcast and has had his hand in one of the breakout teams of this NBA season.
But even with all of those different endeavors, Rodriguez’s first love will always be baseball.
"I love baseball," Rodriguez tells Complex. "Baseball has been my first love ever since I was a little kid born in New York. I think there's as much talent today as ever before, especially young talent under the age of 25-26 years old. You know, I think baseball had a phenomenal year last year."
It’s clear that A-Rod is a man that wears many hats and his hands in different places. We sat down the basbeall legend to discuss his new podcast, the Minnesota Timberwolves and Anthony Edwards, MLB’s new golden era of talent, the Yankees and much more.
This interview has been condensed for clarity.
You have this new partnership with Lysol Laundry Sanitizer? Can you explain why it's a must have when it comes to your laundry routine?
Yeah, I was really excited when Lysol approached me with the idea of celebrating equipment managers all over sports. It was something that I was really into because I know how important the equipment manager is. Usually you feel like they're the 26th man in our locker room.
So I partnered up with Lysol Laundry Sanitizer. And what was fascinating was that I learned that it kills 99 percent of odor causing bacteria and laundry. And that's pretty cool because, you know, these uniforms can get pretty smelly.
Why do you think it was important for the equipment managers to get their love with this product?
I mean, they're the unsung heroes, right? They sit right in the middle of the clubhouse, their office is usually even closer than the managers. So they're fully weaved into the culture of the team and usually people call their names when they're doing something wrong or something right. And the truth is 99.9 percent of the time they're crushing it, but usually people don't say thank you.
You have a new podcast titled "The Deal" that you're planning on releasing. Can you explain to those who might not be familiar with the podcast, what it is and what even prompted you to jump into this space?
Well, first of all, I was very excited to join ventures with Bloomberg and my partner Jason Kelly, who's a 25-year veteran in this world. I grew up watching the main three sports in America, right? Baseball, basketball, and football. Today, I think we are at the intersection between media, sports and culture.
And that's really what we get to unpack is we get to have these iconic athletes, executives that live in the world of sports, media and culture and talk about the biggest deal they've done or the biggest failures or lessons learned and we're getting tremendous soundbites because there is tremendous interest in the world of sports entertainment, how these deals come together, how they're sourced, how they're financed, how they're closed.
So it's really a masterclass. If you love sports, music, media and culture, I think that you'll find this podcast very educational and worth your time for sure.
You’re one of the owners of the Minnesota Timberwolves, can you speak to what you have seen with the team this season, and why this team is special and could make a championship run?
Look, I think the NBA is just an awesome league, very progressive. It's a global league. What's happened in Minnesota is very exciting and the fanbase is just thrilled with this team and excited to see what the prospect is during the postseason for sure.
And you have a front row to Anthony Edwards every night. Do you think he has potential to be the face of the NBA?
You know, I think for him he's one-of-one and he's a special player. He's even a more special human being. And I think he can go as high as he wants to go for sure.
Pivoting to MLB, your knowledge of the game and IQ has long been applauded as a player but even as an analyst and commentator. People have even wondered if you would get into managing at some point? Is that something that you might pursue down the line?
I love baseball. Baseball has been my first love, ever since I was a little kid, you know, born in New York. But I've never had a vision to be a manager. I never thought about it. That ship has sailed.
There is a lot of great talent in MLB right now between Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Ronald Acuna, the list goes on. Do you think the league is in a new golden era of talent?
I do think so. I think there's as much talent today as ever before, especially young talent under the age of 25-26 years old. You know, I think baseball had a phenomenal year last year. I mean, in a year that everyone thought the industry was going to be flat or go the other way, the game rose another 12 percent.
I think the Rob Manfred adjustments around the time clock and the rules were very good and very impactful and it was a better game last year for the players and for the fans watching for sure.
And one of the biggest fan bases is the one that you had a chance to play for, which is the New York Yankees. You're a Yankees legend. They haven't won the World Series or even made it since 2009. From the outside looking in, what do you think needs to happen for them to be able to get back to the mountain top?For me, it's always been about pitching and defense and that's how you win championships. That's the truth today and it's been the same truth for the last decades or a century. So I think they need to continue to build up their pitching staff behind Gerrit Cole and they need to defend and, you know, give them credit. They made a Blockbuster move bringing in Soto and hopefully that pays great dividends.
