Though it's not a huge surprise, we learned Wednesday that Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez will retire after his current contract ends. That means he's set to play just two more big league seasons. Though many people will want to throw caveats and asterisks at them, few could deny that A-Rod's put together a remarkable group of counting stats.
We shouldn't ignore his rate stats, as his current .297/.382/.554 (AVG/OBP/SLG) line is good for an impressive .937 OPS and 142 OPS+. In fact, his slugging ranks 22nd all-time, his OPS is 31st and even his average is 250th with the OBP checking in at 154th. It's just that those are bound to dip in his final two campaigns and the counting stats are easier to track, as they only go up.
Let's take a foray into where A-Rod currently stands and where he might get with regard to the more well known counting stats.
And don't be one of those "well that just means he played a long time" haters. To those misguided folk, might I re-direct you to the above rate-stat paragraph. He played a long-ass time because he was a bad-ass player for a long-ass time.
Again, keep in mind we're talking about two more seasons, not one.
Runs
1. Rickey Henderson, 2,295
2. Ty Cobb, 2,244
3. Barry Bonds, 2,227
4. Hank Aaron, 2,174
4. Babe Ruth, 2,174
6. Pete Rose, 2,165
7. Willie Mays, 2,062
8. A-Rod, 2,002
A-Rod scored 83 runs last season and SportsLine projects him to cross home plate 79 times this year. It looks like The Say Hey Kid is going down but getting to Pete is a tall order. The best guess is A-Rod finishes in seventh, but fourth place alone isn't off the table. Also, how awesome is it that Hank and Babe are tied?
Hits
He can't get very close to the top here, but there's still a chance to move pretty high. Rodriguez had 133 hits last season and SportsLine projects 128 this year. Gathering 250 more hits would get him to 10th all-time.
9. Carl Yastrzemski, 3,419
10. Paul Molitor, 3,319
11. Eddie Collins, 3,315
12. Willie Mays, 3,283
13. Eddie Murray, 3,255
14. Nap Lajoie, 3,243
15. Cal Ripken, 3,184
16. George Brett, 3,154
17. Paul Waner, 3,152
18. Robin Yount, 3,142
19. Tony Gwynn, 3,141
20. Dave Winfield, 3,110
21. A-Rod, 3,070
So Yaz isn't reachable absent a time machine and getting to Molitor and Collins will be tough but doable. Murray is 185 hits away, though, and so my bet is A-Rod settles in at 13th at the worst. He has a shot at 12th, too.
Total bases
1. Hank Aaron, 6,856
2. Stan Musial, 6,134
3. Willie Mays, 6,066
4. Barry Bonds, 5,976
5. Ty Cobb, 5,854
6. Babe Ruth, 5,793
7. Pete Rose, 5,752
8. A-Rod, 5,734
This is tougher because we aren't used to citing what an average, good or great season in total bases would be. The baseline to know is A-Rod had 254 last season. Take note that even a down year gets him to 200 and then he's top five heading into his final season. Hammerin' Hank is out of control here, but guess what: A-Rod needs 400 total bases to tie Stan the Man for second all-time. Again, he had 254 last year and is playing two more seasons.
Doubles
He's only ranked in the top 10 in his league in doubles in his career, but Rodriguez still moves the needle a bit here. He had 22 last season and has 541 career, so let's see where 600 total (a reach) would get him.
14. Barry Bonds, 601
15. Luis Gonzalez, 596
16. Todd Helton, 592
17. Rafael Palmeiro, 585
18. David Ortiz, 584
19. Albert Pujols, 583
19. Robin Yount, 583
21. Cap Anson, 582
22. Wade Boggs, 578
23. Bobby Abreu, 574
23. Charlie Gehringer, 574
25. Ivan Rodriguez, 572
26. Adrian Beltre, 560
26. Jeff Kent, 560
26. Eddie Murray, 560
29. Chipper Jones, 549
30. Manny Ramirez, 547
31. Derek Jeter, 544
32. Tony Gwynn, 543
33. Harry Heilmann, 542
34. Rogers Hornsby, 541
34. A-Rod, 541
First of all, don't expect him to catch the active players who are italicized. Let's say he doubles 22 times in each of the next two seasons. That gets him to 585, tied with Palmeiro. Again, I expect Ortiz, Pujols and Beltre to end up higher than this, but that would put Rodriguez as a top-20 doubles man in history.
Home Runs
Uh oh, get your pitchforks.
1. Barry Bonds, 762
2. Hank Aaron, 755
3. Babe Ruth, 714
4. A-Rod, 687
He hit 33 last year and SportsLine has him pegged at 30 for this season. That would pass Babe Ruth and put him within 38 of Aaron with one season left. The most likely scenario is third place all time, ahead of Babe Ruth.
RBI
1. Hank Aaron, 2,297
2. Babe Ruth, 2,214
3. Cap Anson, 2,075
4. A-Rod, 2,055
Hitting toward the middle of the order for a team that was second in all of baseball in runs scored last season, Rodriguez drove home 86. He'll be in a similar situation again, but he's getting older and this a team-dependent stat. Still, Anson's toast. Ruth is attainable, as 160 gets the job done. That one actually might go down the wire.
Extra base hits
Based upon total bases, doubles and home runs seen above, this shouldn't be surprising but it still matters.
1. Hank Aaron, 1,477
2. Barry Bonds, 1,440
3. Stan Musial, 1,377
4. Babe Ruth, 1,356
5. Willie Mays, 1,323
6. A-Rod, 1,259
He had 56 extra-base hits last season, so he probably get move up this year, but Mays can be had next year and maybe even Ruth. So we're likely looking at yet another top five all-time finish.
Times on base
He got on base 221 times last season, vaulting him up to 16th place in history. He can't get to Hank Aaron at seventh (636 times ahead of A-Rod), but eighth is possible.
8. Tris Speaker, 4,998
9. Babe Ruth, 4,978
10. Eddie Collins, 4,891
11. Willie Mays, 4,791
12. Derek Jeter, 4,717
13. Ted Williams, 4,714
14. Mel Ott, 4,648
15. Eddie Murray, 4,606
16. A-Rod, 4,569
Even just 200 times on base gets him to 12th this season. He's 322 from tying Collins for yet another top-10 entry.
Hit by pitch
Yes, he could even get into the top 10 all-time here.
9. Minnie Minoso, 192
10. Jake Beckley, 183
11. Jason Giambi, 180
12. Chase Utley, 179
13. Andres Galarraga, 178
14. A-Rod, 175
Rodriguez was hit six times last year, so he could manage at least eight over the next two. Of course, Utley's in the mix, too.
It seems possible that Alex Rodriguez can retire in the top 10 in eight different counting categories and in the top five of six. That's rarified air, even with all his baggage. If it was as simple as "he cheated!" where are all the other guys who did the same?
