TAMPA – Alex Rodriguez is going to hang on to more of that $275 million this year than he did last season.
Whenever Rodriguez said something to the media that Larry Bowa and Mike Borzello deemed stupid, they fined Rodriguez $500.
“He agreed with us,” said Bowa, who for two years was part of Rodriguez’s daily routine that also included Borzello, the bullpen catcher who joined Bowa on Joe Torre’s Dodgers staff as a catching instructor. “He knew he said stupid stuff.”
Rodriguez doesn’t need six weeks of spring training to get in shape, hone the swing or build arm strength. Thanks to a winter workout program, all those elements are in place when Rodriguez arrives in camp.
What Rodriguez will do this spring is try to acclimate himself to a new program that won’t include Bowa, who often had Rodriguez out for early fielding, and Borzello, who was part of the mid-day workout program that included long toss and a running program that included running pass patterns with a football.
Each man also worked on Rodriguez’s mind by not coddling the superstar.
“He is a routine freak,” Bowa said. “You can’t mess up his program. It’s a mental thing with him. He feels he needs to do it to perform.”
While Rodriguez works with new third base coach Bobby Meachem and bench coach Rob Thomson and is in his second year with hitting coach Kevin Long, he admits to missing Bowa and Borzello.
“That’s because they were always ragging on me,” Rodriguez said. “I love those guys.”
According to Bowa, sometimes it was tough love.
“The biggest thing with Alex was that he wanted to be told the truth and I did. Sometimes he didn’t like it but when push came shove, he wanted the truth,” Bowa said. “If he made an error and I thought he should have made the play, I told him that. He wants to be perfect. If he messed up a slow roller the night before, he wanted to work on that the next day. The same thing with the backhand and his throwing.”
Bowa says the plan is more important than who is part of it.
“He has to have a plan and the Yankees have more than enough guys to work with him on the plan,” Bowa said when asked if Borzello and him leaving would negatively affect Rodriguez.
Rodriguez matching last year’s MVP season, in which he batted .314 with 54 homers and 156 RBIs, is not out of the question. However, the smart money is on him not reaching those lofty digits this year. Where Rodriguez will likely miss Bowa and Borzello the most is when he goes off the rails at the plate. If Rodriguez slumps, Bowa says it won’t be because Rodriguez lost two key members of his inner circle or due to a lack of effort.
“He is the hardest worker as far as the overall game,” said Bowa, who routinely had Rodriguez on a back field early in the morning the past two springs. “It’s not just hitting and not just during spring training.”
Smartly, Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera bought into Rodriguez’ daily routine. Cabrera, especially, was seen doing agility drills on the field long before the first pitch and strengthened his core muscles by tossing a medicine ball with Rodriguez.
As for who will catch and throw passes to Rodriguez, a former high school quarterback, that’s to be decided.
“I am going to hold tryouts, we have to find somebody,” Rodriguez said.