In 2006, Alex Rodgriguez played for the United States during the World Baseball Classic. In 2009, A-Rod will be playing for the Dominican Republic.A-Rod, 33, has 553 career home runs and could very well break Barry Bond's all time record. A-Rod also has a career .306 AVG and .967 OPS. With Team USA, A-Rod hit .333 with no home runs and 3 RBI in the 2006 WBC.
A-Rod is also a wealthy man. Over his career, he has made a total of $194,431,586. He made $28 million in 2008, more than the entire Florida Marlins roster.
The controversy is whether A-Rod, a New York born player, should be able to switch his WBC team.
A-Rod is a Dominican American, so playing for Team Republica Dominicana isn't out of his roots. At the age of four, A-Rod and his family moved to their native country, the Dominican Republic. He lived there for a few years before moving to Miami.
The rules state that a player can chose his native country, or a country of his ancestors. The decision for A-Rod in both 2006 and 2009 weren't easy ones. Wanting to satisfy both sides, A-Rod said in 2005 he would not play for either team. However, he stated in interviews he was leaning toward playing with the Dominican Republic in 2006. With the help of David Ortiz, A-Rod committed to the Dominican Republic in 2009.
"I am 100 percent sure that I will play for the Dominican Republic team,"
Rodriguez said. "This time, there will be no doubts, and it is a dream of my
mom's that I intend to fulfill."
Perhaps A-Rod was not satisfied with Team USA's loss to Mexico early in the first WBC. Perhaps he feels he has a better opportunity with the Dominican team.
Because A-Rod is both American and Dominican, he should have a choice as to which team he wants to play for, even if he decided to flip flop teams. After all, in the first place, A-Rod was not completely committed to playing with the United States.
QUOTE SOURCE: Worldbaseballclassic.com
2 comments:
Nice fact about Florida Marlins.
One thing is certain. It would be hard to claim anyone offered him a meaningful cash bribe to play for the Dominican Republic.
How do you bribe a guy who has 194.5 million and plenty more on the way?
I believe his motivation is sincere and honest for sure.
I don't think players should be allowed to change their team affiliation, unless a country folds their team.
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