NEW YORK — The former Yankees slugger has never been shy about speaking his mind. On Monday, Alex Rodriguez aimed his frustration directly at the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Rodriguez appeared on The Stephen A. Smith Show on SiriusXM and called out what he sees as a glaring double standard. The issue? Former commissioner Bud Selig sits in Cooperstown while the biggest stars from baseball’s steroid era remain locked out.
The former Yankees third baseman did not hold back. He questioned how Selig could earn baseball’s highest honor while players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa continue to be denied entry.
“All of this stuff you’re talking about was under Bud Selig’s watch,” Rodriguez said. “And the fact that those two guys are not in, but somehow, Bud Selig is in the Hall of Fame, that to me feels like there’s a little bit, some hypocrisy around that.”
The numbers that tell the story
Rodriguez spent 12 seasons with the Yankees from 2004 to 2016. He won the World Series with New York in 2009 and captured two of his three AL MVP awards in Yankees pinstripes.
The 50-year-old finished his career with staggering numbers. He hit 696 home runs, which ranks fourth all time. He drove in 2,086 runs, third in MLB history. He collected 3,115 hits and scored 2,021 runs. Many of those came during his Yankees tenure.
Rodriguez won 14 All-Star selections, 10 Silver Slugger awards and two Gold Gloves during his 22-year career. He played for the Mariners, Rangers and Yankees, spending the final stretch of his career in New York.
Yet none of those accomplishments have been enough to sway Hall of Fame voters. The Yankees legend has appeared on the ballot for four years and has never reached 40 percent of the vote. He received just 37.1 percent in 2025.
Players need 75 percent to gain induction. His name will appear on the 2026 ballot for the fifth time when results are announced on Jan. 20.
The steroid era shadow over Rodriguez
Rodriguez admitted in 2009 that he used performance-enhancing drugs from 2001 to 2003 while playing for the Rangers. The admission came after he had already become a Yankees star. He later received a full-season suspension in 2014 for his involvement with Biogenesis, a Florida clinic that supplied PEDs to multiple players.
The former Yankees star acknowledged in a recent interview on TODAY that his actions cost him a spot in Cooperstown.
“I knew the rules, I broke the rules, and if that’s the penalty, that’s completely on me,” Rodriguez said earlier this month while promoting his HBO docuseries Alex vs. ARod.
But Rodriguez believes the punishment should apply evenly. He pointed out that Bonds and Clemens are statistically among the greatest players ever. Both exhausted their 10 years on the BBWAA ballot without reaching 75 percent.
Why Bonds deserves enshrinement
Rodriguez made a compelling case for his fellow steroid-era stars. The former Yankees infielder argued that even if voters applied a severe statistical penalty, these players would still qualify for the Hall.
“Barry Bonds was basically a Hall of Famer the minute he came out of Mrs. Bonds’ stomach,” Rodriguez said. “He’s that good. He was a Hall of Famer at Arizona State. He was a Hall of Famer for the Pittsburgh Pirates.”
Rodriguez then proposed a thought experiment. He suggested cutting 50 percent from the statistics of players linked to PEDs.
“If you take a 50% tax on PED for those two guys, they are still Hall of Famers,” Rodriguez said. “If you take 50% of their home runs and RBIs or do whatever tax you do like in the U.S. government, I still think they are first-ballot Hall of Famers.”
Bonds holds the all-time home run record with 762. Roger Clemens won seven Cy Young awards. Both players spent years on the ballot before falling off after the 2022 cycle. They now await a vote from the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee, which will meet on Dec. 7. The Yankees great believes they deserve entry alongside Selig.
The commissioner question
Selig, now 91, served as commissioner from 1992 to 2015. He led the league through its most controversial period for drug use.
MLB embraced the home run chase between McGwire and Sosa in 1998. The league celebrated when Bonds hit 73 homers in 2001. The Yankees and other clubs benefited from increased attention during that period. Testing and suspensions did not arrive until the Joint Drug Agreement in 2004.
The Today’s Game Era Committee inducted Selig in 2017. That committee consisted of just 16 voters. Players like the former Yankees slugger face a much larger pool of Baseball Writers’ Association of America members.
Rodriguez may also carry personal animosity toward Selig. The former commissioner handed the Yankees third baseman an initial 211-game suspension that was later reduced to one full season. Selig refused to testify at the arbitration hearing and declined to be interviewed for the HBO docuseries.
A different view of the current commissioner
Rodriguez has taken a different tone toward Rob Manfred. The former Yankees star has praised the current commissioner and even suggested he belongs in Cooperstown someday.
Manfred was in charge when Rodriguez rebuilt his relationship with baseball. The former Yankees infielder dropped his lawsuit against MLB, served his suspension and later became a television analyst and ambassador for the sport.
Rodriguez now co-owns the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves. His docuseries has sparked renewed discussion about his legacy as the former Yankees power hitter tries to rehabilitate his public image.
The ongoing debate
The Hall of Fame question continues to divide baseball fans and writers. Some voters refuse to support any player connected to PEDs. Others argue the entire era should be judged differently. The Yankees faithful remain split on their former star.
The former Yankees great has six years of eligibility remaining on the BBWAA ballot. His voting percentage has moved only slightly since his first year in 2022.
The one-time Yankees MVP seems resigned to his fate. But that has not stopped him from calling out what he sees as an unfair system.
If players who used steroids cannot enter Cooperstown, Rodriguez believes the man who oversaw that era should face the same standard. For now, that argument falls on deaf ears in baseball’s most hallowed halls.
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