A-Rod Loves His Countries Just Too Damn Much

Well, after much careful deliberation — that is to say:

A-Rod: I think people are going to be mad at me if I don't play for the U.S. team. Scott Boras: Don't play for either. It'll make George happy anyway. A-Rod: Yes, sir. Does this look OK? Scott Boras: Not really. I told you that was a terrible applicator.

— Alex Rodriguez has decided to go back on his original proclamation and will now not be playing in the World Baseball Classic after all. He says he doesn't want to disrespect either one of his adopted countries, so he won't play for anyone (though we think it would be funny if you found a Japanese relative somewhere and played there).

We understand A-Rod's geographical confusion and understand that when you're making $25 million a year, it's important not to offend whole geopolitical regions. But we can't help but wonder if A-Rod (Boras) might have discovered the first loophole that allows a player to get out of reporting a month early for an exhibition event that offers no pay. The NBA players who skip the Olympics are accused of not being patriotic enough; A-Rod's fascinating spin on this is that he's too patriotic. Same result, different tactics. Just a thought.

The Neutral [NY Post] A-Rod, The World's Free Agent [Deadspin]