Yankees legend admits Hall of Fame nod would make him feel ‘hollow inside’

Former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez says he has made peace with not being in the Baseball Hall of Fame, saying therapy has given him something more valuable than a plaque in Cooperstown, New York.

Speaking to The Athletic’s Jason Jones in a story published Sunday, Rodriguez shared his feelings about how he would feel if he ever received the honor.

“I have a life today that I didn’t have for the first 40 years,” Rodriguez told Jones. “If I went to the Hall of Fame, in a weird way, I would be hollow inside. I would still be in a lot of pain... I would rather have what I have today, because it really helped me unlock a lot of the work that I needed to do.”

Rodriguez, who became eligible for the Hall of Fame in 2022, has topped out at 37.1% of the vote (in 2025) because of his performance-enhancing drug ties. He needs at least 75% to be elected.

In 2009, Rodriguez admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs earlier in his career. He was suspended in 2014 for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal.

Rodriguez said a trauma therapist and clinical psychologist have helped him grow.

“I’m like, ‘Whoa, what the hell am I doing here? This doesn’t make any sense,’” Rodriguez said. “But the more I stayed with it, the more it started to really affect me in a positive way. Seeing things in a different way and then looking at my past, definitely not as a victim but understanding some of my behavior and making sure that I’m learning from those behaviors and it never happens again.”

Rodriguez’s statistics are Hall of Fame-worthy: .295 career batting average with 696 home runs and 2,086 RBIs. He was also a three-time AL MVP, 14-time All-Star, 10-time Silver Slugger award winner and two-time Gold Glove recipient.

Rodriguez had been critical of the voting process for getting into the Hall of Fame, especially pertaining to the players who were linked to or accused of using performance-enhancing substances, including himself and other players such as Barry Bonds and Mark McGwire.

“Barry Bonds was basically a Hall of Famer the minute he came out of Mrs. Bonds’ stomach,” Rodriguez said during a November appearance on “The Stephen A. Smith Show.” “He’s that good. He was a Hall of Famer at Arizona State. He was a Hall of Famer for the Pittsburgh Pirates. If you take a 50% tax on PED for those two guys, they are still Hall of Famers. If you take 50% of their home runs and RBIs or do whatever tax you do like in the U.S. government, I still think they are first-ballot Hall of Famers.”

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