Report: A-Rod Close To Exclusive Deal With Fox Sports

Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz

After a few years of double duty on Fox Sports and ESPN, it appears Alex Rodriguez is close to an exclusive deal with Fox as an MLB analyst.

The Hollywood Reporter reports the 14-time MLB all star and World Series champion is closing in on a contract extension with Fox Sports, a deal that if completed will keep him working big MLB games for Fox for years to come.

Rodriguez is a critical piece of Fox’s MLB on Fox studio team, working alongside host Kevin Burkhardt, 10-time all star and three-time world champion David Ortiz (“Big Papi”), as well as 14-time all star and 5-time world champion Derek Jeter, who previously played with Rodriguez on the New York Yankees.

Terms of the new Fox deal were not immediately clear, though it is believed to be the most lucrative deal yet for an MLB analyst, with a term of more than three years.

Rodriguez currently works double duty: as an MLB studio analyst for Fox Sports, and also for ESPN on its “KayRod” alternate broadcast for Sunday Night Baseball alongside Michael Kay. The Fox Sports deal in the works is said to be exclusive, meaning that the current season will be his last at ESPN. Rodriguez joined ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball team in 2018.

Rodriguez joined Fox Sports full time as an analyst in 2017, after working the playoffs for the network in 2015 and 2016.

Fox’s MLB studio show is unusual not only for the on-field success of its analysts, but for their personal relationships as well. Rodriguez and Ortiz have been close friends for years, and Rodriguez and Jeter rekindled their friendship in recent years. Jeter joined Fox’s broadcast team earlier this year, with the analysts tossing autographed baseballs to advertisers from the stage at Fox’s upfront in May.