From the archives: No-frills A-Rod not over Mets

This story was originally published in Newsday on February 22, 2001

YOU GET THE FEELING Alex Rodriguez still can't believe he's a Texas Ranger and not a Met. After his first workout at noticeably unglamorous Charlotte County Stadium, a place to house minor-leaguers, not $252-million icons, Rodriguez said he "felt like I was dreaming." And it's not because this was his great dream.

It isn't often that such a rich man is housed in such a dingy place. But if he felt out of place, it's because he expected to be 150 miles east of here, in Port St. Lucie.

"It still hasn't hit me," Rodriguez said. "Until the umpire says 'Play Ball!' it's not going to hit home."

Rodriguez figured he'd be a Met, something he'll admit in private moments. He has told friends he'd have gone to the Mets for less money, a lot less.

When a visitor suggested that maybe $200 million, $52 million less than he received from Texas, would have gotten it done in Flushing, Rodriguez did not disagree. He mentioned something about sharing a city with his friend Derek Jeter and almost looked wistful about a place in which he has never played.

Rodriguez would like an answer as to why the Mets dropped out so abruptly but knows he will never get one. The man who has everything else wouldn't mind closure. But the Mets offered neither a deal nor a straight answer for the most widely asked question of the winter: Why did they drop out of the A-Rod Sweepstakes?

"It's a mystery, but it's over," Rodriguez said. "I'm happy where I'm at." He sounded as if he were trying to convince himself.

He can't seem to fight the feeling he was meant to be elsewhere.

Rodriguez knows it can't be, as Mets general manager Steve Phillips implied, because he's a selfish star, a "24 and one" player. He knew it before, but he must know it even more now as the Mets chase Gary Sheffield, who's all about himself. Sheffield is underpaid for the first time in years, and he demanded a trade. Rodriguez made $11 million total over the past four seasons, well below his value, and never said a word.

Rodriguez is such a fine young man that Rangers GM Doug Melvin estimated that he's worth $20 million annually for his physical talents, that the other $5.2 million is for what else he brings.

Rodriguez sounded almost humble talking about his big deal.

"The happiest time was when the Mariners signed me and paid me my first million dollars. I thought I was the most overpaid kid in the world," Rodriguez said. "I'm almost embarrassed to talk about [his $252-million contract]. I don't know if Michael Jordan or Bill Gates or Alexander the Great ... I don't think anyone's worth this kind of money.

"I came from very humble beginnings. My mom worked two or three jobs at times and put me through private school and put my sister and brother through college. I can remember her coming home late from her waitress job and the tip money ... Forty dollars was a great night. But sometimes it would be $18." Now he has everything he wants. Except for an explanation from the Mets.

Rodriguez doubts they rejected him because his agent, Scott Boras, asked for those infamous perks. That's because Rodriguez instructed Boras to call back and make clear that he'd come without one extra amenity. Yet the Mets still said no.

When Rodriguez rolled into the Rangers' no-frills park here yesterday morning to get started fulfilling his no-frills, big-bucks deal, there was not a perk to be seen for miles around. No billboards, no A-Rod merchandise tents, no office, no public-relations staff.

Besides the obligatory news conference and excited looks on his teammates' faces, there was no evidence that the world's richest team-sport superstar was among them. Rodriguez gets only one locker in the clubhouse, one fewer than catcher Ivan Rodriguez. And he shares the media guide's cover with I-Rod and Rafael Palmeiro.

If nothing else, the Mets made an impression.

"We said [to Texas], even if you want to give it to us, we wouldn't take it, because I want to be one of 25. I'm real big on being a team leader, a team player. I'm all about the team," Rodriguez said. "I think it's kind of ludicrous that I'd even want billboards or an office or any of that stuff ... They were always my favorite team growing up. I'm very fond of them."

You know he wishes the feeling had been mutual.