Alex Rodriguez is having a pretty darn good year for a 40-year-old guy coming off a season-long suspension for performance-enhancing drugs, and David Ortiz appreciates that he’s clean.
Sort of.
The Boston Red Sox designated hitter was asked about A-Rod ahead of Tuesday’s 13-3 loss against the New York Yankees, and Ortiz gave his fellow slugger what seemed like a rather passive-aggressive compliment.
“It is what it is,” Ortiz said, per the New York Post. “The guy is playing the right way now — as far as we know. He’s having a good season and doing the right thing. I guess that deserves credit.”
Rodriguez is batting .281 with 24 home runs and 62 RBIs as the Yankees’ designated hitter this season. That’s something that Ortiz, who’ll be 40 years old himself this year, didn’t think Rodriguez would be able to do.
“He’s having a good season,” Ortiz said. “Me, personally, I thought having a year off and getting older was something that would affect you, but he looks good to me.”
Ortiz’s frustration with Rodriguez goes way back. He said in December he hadn’t spoken with the former third baseman, who used to be a good friend, in over a year. That was after many believed Rodriguez’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, accused Ortiz of taking steroids on ESPN Radio when he said, “I’m not going to start naming all the other players, but some of them are God-like in Boston right now.”
Ortiz wouldn’t elaborate on the state of their relationship now, but he did talk about the state of the Red Sox, which he said is “very frustrating.”
“I really thought we were gonna do better,” Ortiz said, per the Post. “Hopefully something happens this year.”
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
