One of the most infamous professional athletes in modern times has to be Alex Rodriguez. The former Yankee made headlines for good and bad reasons, ranging from his skills on the baseball diamond to his use of performance-enhancing drugs to the hundreds of millions of dollars in MLB contracts he scored during his career. Now, he's expanding his career beyond Major League Baseball with a major TV deal. Rodriguez has signed on with ABC News to contribute to a number of shows.
A-Rod's deal with ABC News will see him contributing to shows like Good Morning America, World News Tonight, and Nightline. Page Six reports that his new deal will see him providing commentary on personal finance, personal fitness, and various other subjects unrelated to baseball. For folks who only know Rodriguez for his roles in Major League Baseball, the ABC news gig should give a new perspective.
Of course, his appearances on the various ABC News series won't be the first times that he provides commentary as a news personality. A-Rod already works as a baseball analyst for Fox Sports. He was a guest commentator during the World Series in 2015 and 2016; the sensational 2016 World Series between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs went to seven games and didn't end until extra innings, scoring huge ratings and exposing A-Rod's brand of commentary to a huge audience. He was enough of a hit that he was signed as a full-time analyst in 2017, and we can bet that his success on Fox News contributed to his deal with ABC News.
Now 41, A-Rod seems to be working to build a more positive public image for himself. He's shown charisma on camera and is currently in what appears to be a warm relationship with Jennifer Lopez. Co-hosting The View exposed a new side of A-Rod to viewers may not have known too much about him beyond baseball, and he's slated to serve as a guest host on Shark Tank.
Who knows? Maybe in a few years, we won't even remember Alex Rodriguez's connection to performance-enhancing drugs, the handling of his MLB suspension, or why we had to start wondering if it was ever appropriate for pitchers to deliberately bean batters. He wouldn't be the first former professional athlete to find a niche on TV as a news personality. Only time will tell.
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