Players showing up early to spring training usually is a welcomed sight for teams, but Alex Rodriguez is a different story.
The New York Yankees third baseman surprised everyone — including the Yankees — when he showed up to spring training Monday in Tampa, Fla., three days early. The surprise arrival actually upset the Yankees, according to the New York Daily News.
Rodriguez’s unannounced touchdown at Yankees headquarters caught the team and its public relations staff by surprise. The media circus that is sure to follow Rodriguez everywhere for the rest of his career quickly descended upon the complex and made for another bizarre twist in the ongoing saga.
“He’s learned nothing,” a baseball executive told the New York Daily News. “He’s the same old guy. He just did what he wanted to do.”
Despite the Yankees’ annoyance, Rodriguez’s surprise arrival meant there were fewer media members than expected for his supposed Wednesday report date. According to the report, there were “only” 20 reporters at the Yankees’ minor-league complex, which is where A-Rod did his work Tuesday.
Even that work came with some controversy, though. A source told the Daily News that Rodriguez was just planning a workout, which is something he’s done before at the minor-league complex. However, the Yankees requested Rodriguez take his physical before getting on the field to do his work.
This is far from the last time we’ll hear of Rodriguez this spring, and it’s probably not the last time he’ll do something to annoy a large group of people.
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
