Alex Rodriguez spent the bulk of his career playing for the New York Yankees, so it’s easy to forget just how close he was to becoming a member of the Boston Red Sox.
A-Rod signed a then-record 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers prior to the 2001 season. He put up godly numbers with Texas, leading the American League in home runs all three years he was there. Unfortunately, Rodriguez’s success did not translate to team success, so the Rangers decided to deal him.
The Red Sox were dying to get their hands on the reigning AL MVP and agreed to trade Manny Ramirez and prospect Jon Lester to Texas for A-Rod. Rodriguez would have taken a pay cut as part of the deal. However, the players association rejected the trade because they did not want the league’s highest-paid player to take a pay reduction.
During an appearance on Boston sports talk station WEEI’s “Dale & Keefe” show Wednesday, Rodriguez discussed his feelings when the deal fell through.
“And of course it all came down and collapsed really quickly after the union did not allow me to give back tens of millions of dollars because it would set the wrong precedent for the other 749 players. I was completely bummed it collapsed. It was so depressing, never knowing that the Yankees were even an option at that point,” Rodriguez said.
In a separate interview last year, Rodriguez admitted he even got drunk after the deal fell through.
Of course, everything worked out well anyway. The Red Sox went on to win several World Series with the help of Lester and Ramirez. The rival New York Yankees decided to swing a trade for Rodriguez later in the offseason after third baseman Aaron Boone injured his knee playing basketball. A-Rod played 12 seasons for the Yankees and helped them win the 2009 World Series.
