NEW YORK, NY – AUGUST 07: Alex Rodriguez speaks during a news conference on August 7, 2016 at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York City. Rodriguez announced that he will play his final major league game on Friday, August 12 and then assume a position with the Yankees as a special advisor and instructor. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

With Alex Rodriguez announcing that he will retire following the New York Yankees home game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday (Aug. 12), the natural question became what the three-time American League MVP do after he’s done playing baseball. The company plan is for A-Rod to become a special advisor and instructor next season.

But will that be a full-time job for Rodriguez next year? Unless Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner has a considerable amount of need for his input in the team offices, that doesn’t seem likely. While Rodriguez has also expressed an interest in working with the club’s minor league prospects, and all accounts are that he will be a good teacher and coach, he’s probably not going to be roaming around the Yankees’ farm system to tutor hitters. In fact, he said during his Sunday morning press conference that the plan will be for him to work with players at the team’s training facilities in Tampa, which is closer to his Miami home.

That would leave plenty of time for Rodriguez to pursue a job in television, something that would appear to be a natural next step for him. He’s handsome, well-spoken, and showed an ability to provide thoughtful analysis clearly during his postseason stint with Fox Sports last year. He also showed a strong throwing arm, as a monitor in the Fox Sports studios found out the hard way.

At the very least, Rodriguez could conceivably be a part of Fox’s postseason coverage again this year. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that Fox Sports executive producer John Entz told both Sporting News‘ Michael McCarthy and Sports Illustrated‘s Richard Deitsch that the network would love to have him back and plan to approach the subject after he officially retires and processes everything that comes with that.

McCarthy also reached out to ESPN to suss out possible interest and was told the network would have interest in anyone who could add to its baseball coverage. The Yankees’ YES Network could also be a possibility, but did not respond to McCarthy’s inquiry. Still, with the prior relationship and connections Rodriguez has with Fox Sports, that seems like a natural fit.

Rodriguez could still decide that he wants to play baseball for at least one more year. He’ll be paid the $20 million that the Yankees owe him on the final year of his contract as a result of the team releasing him. It’s difficult to believe that A-Rod would want to retire finishing four home runs shy of 700 for his career. Some teams might like having him hit that milestone home run — regardless of the doubt and disgrace now associated with his numbers — in their uniform, in front of their home fans, with all of the promotional opportunities that could come with that occasion.

There will be plenty of speculation connecting Rodriguez with his hometown Miami Marlins. But if A-Rod no longer plays a position in the field — having been relegated to a designated hitter role with the Yankees during the past two seasons — that might not be an ideal fit, unless he can play first base or tries to crank out those final four homers as a frequent pinch-hitter.

Personally, I believe Rodriguez identifies so strongly with being a Yankee, tying it to his legacy, that he won’t want to end his career in another uniform. That makes a jump to television, while he can still work for the Yankees in an advisory role, look much more likely.

About Ian Casselberry

Ian is a writer, editor, and podcaster. You can find his work at Awful Announcing and The Comeback. He's written for Sports Illustrated, Yahoo Sports, MLive, Bleacher Report, and SB Nation.

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