Longtime New York Yankees star and FOX analyst Alex Rodriguez made a tongue-in-cheek but telling comment about the rival Boston Red Sox following their trade of Rafael Devers ahead of the 2025 MLB All-Star Game.
In a candid moment during the FOX pregame show, Rodriguez admitted, “It’s great for baseball when the Boston Red Sox are good.” This statement, coming from a Yankees legend, is sure to raise eyebrows among his loyal fans.
Rodriguez nearly joined Boston before the 2004 season but was ultimately traded to New York, where he won two MVP awards and a World Series title. He also played a part in the historic 2004 ALCS, when the Red Sox famously overcame a 3-0 deficit against the Yankees to win the American League pennant.
The 2025 Red Sox had a slow start but shocked many by trading longtime star Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants, citing an effort to improve the team’s “clubhouse culture.”
Since then, Boston has surged, winning 10 straight games for the first time since 2018 and closing in to within one game of the Yankees, who began the season strong.
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Rodriguez elaborated to former Yankees teammate Derek Jeter and Red Sox legend David Ortiz:
“Bottom line boys, if we zoom out, it’s great for baseball when the Boston (I can’t believe I’m saying this), when the Boston Red Sox are good.”
He added, “Sometimes, when you clear a clubhouse of whatever perceived energy… I remember when [Ken] Griffey left us in Seattle, we got better.”
Rodriguez reflected on his own departure from the Mariners:
“And then when I left us a year later, we got even better. Sometimes you need the big brother to get out for all of the other big brothers to excel and thrive and they’re doing that in a beautiful way.”
This harkens back to the Seattle Mariners’ 1999 season, when the team traded star Ken Griffey Jr. to his hometown Cincinnati Reds for a disappointing package.
After Griffey’s departure, the Mariners rebounded to make the 2000 playoffs. Rodriguez then left the Mariners for a record-breaking deal with the Texas Rangers—a 10-year, $250 million contract—even though the team was in last place.
Fueled by the offseason signing of Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki, the 2001 Mariners set the single-season MLB wins record with an astonishing 116-46 mark.
How did they do it? Ichiro earned both the 2001 American League Rookie of the Year and MVP awards, new acquisition Bret Boone posted a career-best 8.8 WAR, and starter Freddy Garcia emerged as a true ace.
