Yankees: Should Alex Rodriguez continue in the booth with Sunday Night Baseball?

Should Alex Rodriguez continue calling games for ESPN?

Former New York Yankees superstar Alex Rodriguez has taken a ton of heat from baseball fans over the last week for his forgettable performances in ESPN’s broadcasting booth.

The Sunday Night Baseball commentator has always been widely criticized for his tendency to over-analyze, but it appears that the former slugger having to call games in a studio off a monitor has him completely discombobulated.

On top of delivering uninspiring commentary, Rodriguez has also embarrassed himself on several occasions through his first handful of appearances for ESPN this year.

Perhaps his most egregious moment came during the Nationals-Yankees rain delay last Thursday when he tabbed the Houston Astros, who oddsmakers rightfully have as one of the prohibitive favorites to win the World Series in 2020,  as his “sleeper” pick to win it all. For context, the club won 100 games and were in the freaking Fall Classic last year.

With Rodriguez in the final year of his contract, there’s been growing speculation that this could be his last season with the Worldwide Leader. Conveniently enough, New York Post reporter Andrew Marchand addressed this question in his latest mailbag column.

There’s a slew of candidates who could potentially replace A-Rod starting next season if he doesn’t improve and this comes to an end. As Marchand notes, the former three-time AL MVP could let his bid to purchase the Mets not play a factor during ESPN’s telecasts. Siding with commissioner Rob Manfred when it’s totally uncalled for and sucking up to league owners are normally when he finds himself trending on social media.

Furthermore, there are too many instances when Rodriguez references his playing days while analyzing a specific momen. While that can be viewed as invaluable insight at times, A-Rod seemingly depends on it when he runs out of creative ideas. More often than not, he goes off on a tangent about one subject and that rarely sits well with viewers.

If you asked us, we’d say no, Rodriguez should not continue in the Sunday Night Baseball booth with ESPN. The 45-year-old celebrity is markedly better in his studio role with FOX, where his chatty personality is perfectly complemented (and filtered) by the likes of fellow co-hosts Kevin Burkhardt, David Ortiz and Frank Thomas.

We love A-Rod, but his time in the broadcasting booth has unfortunately run its course.