Alex Rodriguez Returning To Baseball: A-Rod Hired By FOX As MLB Playoffs Analyst

It's understood now why Alex Rodriguez retired from the sport of baseball. The 2016 season saw him sit more than stand as he experienced the worst season in his career, a year removed from his resurgent 33 home run effort in 2015. Though he remained respected in the clubhouse, his battles with management were always another story. "He's a great teammate and loves the game of baseball," said Mark Teixeria, New York Yankee first baseman, told Fox Sports. "I think deep down in there he cares about people. He really does."

After 22 MLB campaigns Alex, 41, was better appreciated for his numbers than his character. He finished his career fourth in home runs, third in R.B.I's, eighth in runs scored, and 19th in hits. However, it was not clear what he would do beyond his playing days as his contract entered the twilight years.

But it was his well-elucidated breakdown of the game that impressed FOX Sports during the 2015 MLB Playoffs. It also opened the doors for a new career turn. But it also was a trip into the unknown. "My first day, it was scary," Alex recalled, according to Newsday.

Alex served as an analyst. It turned out to be a perfect fit for a man who was a student of the game and was reported as studying its nuisances tirelessly. His extensive knowledge of the game especially having played with or against most of the current generation of players is a given but it was his ability to breakdown pitchers tendencies and issues and other nuisances of the game that made many curious to hear more. "I see it as my responsibility to convey what I am seeing in the simplest way," Alex admitted to the New York Times.

But it was his professionalism above all that impressed John Entz, president of production for Fox Sports. "He gets all the credit, because he's not treating this as if it's a hobby," Entz explained. By avoiding topics of controversy or side- stepping them deftly, he has gained the respect of the media that once spent years attempting to make sense of him on and off the field.

Alex would admit that it was not as easy as he made it apear to look. But unlike his final years with the New York Yankees, he felt part of a team this time around. "I never said I was comfortable," Alex retorted, "But the team and the cast, they have made it a lot easier and a lot more fun."

Though FOX may think twice about letting him throw balls around in the studio as he overthrew FOX NFL Insider Jay Glazer and cracked a monitor in 2015. But his invitation to return to the postseason desk this year showed there are no hard feelings as long as the only thing in his hand is a microphone.