Sounds like a copout. Most folks don't much mind that Puerto Rico, whose native-born inhabitants are American citizens, is being separated from the continental U.S. Has any Puerto Rican player made such a "gesture?"

Jeeez, this guy can't win. I honestly feel bad for him - no matter which side he chose, there'd be someone breathing down his neck criticizing his decision. So he decides NOT to play, and of course the first comment on the story today is a rip against him.

Good for you, Alex - just stay home and avoid the whole circus...

I see this as another example of Alex deciding to take the bland way out for fear of maybe, somehow, offending someone. He's tried so hard throughout his career to be liked that he just comes off as boring. Who would criticize him if he chose one or the other, and why? At least he would be making a choice.

I'm still not entirely sure that he's not some sort of android.

Give me a break guys... I completely agree with Pete.

I dislike ARod as much as the next guy, but he just can't win. No matter which team he chose, he was going to get shit for it. He just gets less shit overall for choosing neither.

It's pretty sad when the World Baseball Classic won't have one of the best players in the world, because loudmouth journalists and stupid, stupid people won't let him just play the game.

No, it's A-Rod himself who's not letting him play the game. He should be used to being in the public eye now.

Sorry, that wasn't meant to be about anyone here... just baseball "fans" as a whole that get upset about things and, for a little while, forget that it's supposed to be about fun. And the journalists who make a living by saying outrageous, stupid things to get people to pay attention to them. I'm sure ARod, at $25 million a year, is compensated enough for having to deal with this crap. But what would have happened in the public eye if he chose one team over the other is just such an embarassment to me, it kind of makes me feel sick.

So what if he gets shit for a decision? Life is full of tough choices, and it's rare that you can please everyone. But make a choice and prepare to defend that choice. It should be easy in a case like this where the stakes are so low - either team will be good with him or without him.

Everything this guy does seems like it's been heavily focus-grouped and run through a PR machine. People aren't stupid, and they tend to see through it. Alex is a great ballplayer, but stuff like this just contributes to his reputation as a phony.

This whole idea of picking a team based on heritage is the real problem. If you have dual citizenship, then you have a choice. If not, deal with it. That would save these fake dilemmas that A-Rod are stuck with.
Besides, if you've ever seen the Yankee Stadium scoreboard announcements, A-Rod sounds like he's reading Spanish phonetically off of a cue card. He's American as bemoaning the end of Christmas.

A-Rod takes a beating the media for the contract, that's the only reason.

If he signed for $10-$15M a year for 4 yrs or so, he'd be the talk of baseball.

He takes a beating for decided not play in the WBC, but no one says a word when Mo Rivera bows out.

Wasn't the word a few months back that Bud was going to talk ARod into playing for the US?

My guess is that it came down to Bud telling ARod to play for the US or to go home. I don't blame ARod for getting out of this one, and I'm normally the first person to get on his case.

I think the thing that bothers me is the arrogance; instead of just saying "I don't want to play", he implies that the baseball fans of two nations are on the edge of their seats, fingers crossed, hoping against hope that Arod picks their team. The reality is that nobody cares who he plays for.

Sorry AROD apologists, but AROD really wanted to play for DR because he thinks they are the winning team. Have you been reading what he's been saying?

He wouldn't have received any crap if he had just stuck with the country of his birth. I think all the players should do that unless they were raised in another country or went out of their way to gain citizenship to another country that they are currently living in.

Perhaps WBC should have instituted a rule that you play were you have citizenship and if you have dual citizenship THEN you get a choice. That would take all the DRAMA out of the situation and we could just get to watch some BASEBALL and cut the soap opera crap.

I agree with BJ. I think A-Rod overestimates how much people care about the decisions he makes. At least when he retires he'll be able to slide right into his next career. Politics.

Yep, no one cares what Arod does. That's why the Commissioner has weighed in on the question, why Rodriguez gets asked what he is going to do by reporters daily, why his decision is headline news, even if briefly, and why there are more comments on this story than on the others on the board.

Look, I don't care what Arod does, and I agree that few people would care enough for it to make a difference to Arod's life. But I can't say there is no good reason for Arod to think people care, and I think it is a hard position to hold to say: "No one cares which decision he makes, and the decision he made just shows how phony he is."

just play for cuba

"Sorry AROD apologists, but AROD really wanted to play for DR because he thinks they are the winning team."

Yeah, and as everyone knows, this (2-week long) tournament is for ALL THE MARBLES!!!!! ;-)

I don't buy the argument that 'no one cares' what A-Rod does. Hogwash - any time he makes a move, there's a virtual firestorm surrounding it. He's finally beginning to realize that you can't please everyone, so he's ultimately being a little selfish and just dropping out altogether.

Once he stops caring so much what people think, he'll garner that much more respect in everyone's eyes. At least outside of Boston, perhaps...

...or he really wanted to stay home an extra month and used this as an excuse.

I don't really think that A-Rod deciding not to play in the Classic should be the big story. It's his choice and if he's not going to play then so be it.

The real problem is how the Yankees are keeping Posada from playing (and a few other players as ESPN mentions). I think its ridiculous that MLB is letting the team keep Posada from playing. Sure, it does raise the chance of him getting injured during the season, but it does with every single player. What about pitchers? If they can keep Posada from playing then there's no way Randy Johnson or Clemens (if he has a team) will be allowed to play because they are so old. If they keep ruling out players, pretty soon it will be like the Olympics with a bunch of college players representing their country.

If baseball wants to make this tournament legit then they need to clean things up: formalize the rules on which country you can play for and not allow teams to keep players from playing.

S'okay Alex, I wasn't planning to watch anyway after Cuba was banned from playing...

Alex is being a weasel, as usual. If he doesn't want to play, that's fine, I certainly can't blame a player who wants some time off (and whose team probably doesn't want him risking injury). It'd just be nice if he'd be honest for once. His endless calculation reminds me of Hillary Clinton, and is a prime reason I don't like either of them.