Fox Sports hires Alex Rodriguez as a baseball analyst
During Alex Rodriguez’s guest stints as a studio analyst on Fox’s baseball coverage the past two postseasons, an unexpected thing happened: the tainted superstar came across as likable, and more authentic than he ever seemed during his accomplished, controversial 22-year playing career.
Fox struck gold with a 2016 postseason studio team of Rodriguez, Pete Rose, Frank Thomas, and ringmaster Kevin Burkhardt, a crew that generated the kind of quirky, easy chemistry scarcely found on sports television beyond TNT’s decorated Inside the NBA cast. It was well-known that Fox wanted to add Rodriguez to its permanent broadcast team, but the three-time Most Valuable Player, released by the Yankees last summer, was non-committal, at least until now.
Fox announced Tuesday that Rodriguez is joining the network as a full-time analyst. In addition to his continued studio work, Rodriguez will work as a game analyst for Fox’s MLB Saturday broadcasts, and also will serve as a feature reporter for Fox’s pregame coverage and Fox Sports 1’s MLB Whiparound program.
“Bringing Alex back was a priority of ours and we are fortunate to have him as a key contributor to our baseball coverage,” said John Entz, president of production and executive producer for Fox Sports, in a statement. “His potential is off the charts and he’s been an incredibly quick learner in the world of television.”
Said Rodriguez: “I’m excited to continue working with the Fox Sports family. It’ll be great to get back on set with the guys for the regular season and postseason, especially the All-Star Game in my hometown of Miami.”
A 14-time All-Star, Rodriguez owns a lifetime .295 batting average and has collected 3,115 hits (20th all-time), 696 homeruns (4th all-time), 2,086 RBI’s (3rd all-time), and 25 grand slams (1st all-time) in 2,784 games played.
But multiple controversies involving performance-enhancing drugs damaged Rodriguez’s reputation. His prominence on Fox’s baseball coverage – and his appealing approach as a superstar who is clearly a huge fan of the sport – might just help him repair it.
