Barry Bonds: Alex Rodriguez will not break my home run record in two years
It’s nothing personal, A-Rod. It’s just a matter of simple arithmetic.
Legendary slugger and current Marlins hitting coach Barry Bonds commented on Alex Rodriguez’s pursuit of his all-time home run record, saying he doesn’t think Rodriguez will break it if he does indeed retire in two years.
“Not in two years,” Bonds said to Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com. “He said he’s only going to play two more years. He said he’s retiring. So he’s not going to do it in two more years if he’s retiring.
“It’s nothing against A-Rod. I love the guy. He’s one of my best friends,” Bonds continued. “But just do the math. He’d have to hit close to 40 a year just to get there. He’s the one who set the bar of retirement at two years. I don’t think he can do that in two years. I’m just trying to be realistic.”
The 40-year-old Rodriguez, who recently announced his intention to retire upon the expiration at the end of 2017 of his current contract with the Yankees, currently sits at 688 dingers for his career, 74 short of Bonds’ all-time record of 762 set in 2007.
It was surprising enough that Rodriguez, who has one home run in the Yankees’ first five games of 2016, clubbed 33 homers last season, his highest total since the 2008 season. To expect him to average 37 a year for the next two seasons would be bordering on the impossible and Bonds realizes that.
The seven-time NL MVP did acknowledge that surpassing Babe Ruth’s home run total is something that is very achievable for Rodriguez, perhaps even as soon as this year (a prospect Rodriguez has said is “overwhelming”).
“I know he can get that one,” Bonds said. “I think he can hit 30 homers this year, I know he can hit 30 homers.”
As of right now, it looks like Bonds’ all-time home run crown should be safe for a long time to come. But we’re guessing that Rodriguez, who holds the edge over Bonds in both career earnings ($395 million and counting to $188 million) and World Series rings (one to zero), isn’t too broken up about it.
H/T theScore
