Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez told ESPN on Wednesday he will retire after his contract is up at the end of the 2017 season.
Rodriguez, 40, hit 33 home runs, drove in 86 runs and scored 83 runs last season after serving a seasonlong doping suspension in 2014. He is set to be paid $20 million each of the next two seasons, the final two years of his 10-year, $275 million contract.
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The Yankees plan to use him as a designated hitter only this season. He played 27 1/3 innings in the field in 2015.
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In his 21 seasons, Rodriguez has amassed 3,070 hits, 687 home runs (fourth all-time) and 2,055 RBIs. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Mariners and the next three with the Rangers before being traded with cash to the Yankees on Feb. 16, 2004, for Alfonso Soriano and Joaquin Arias.
UPDATE: Rodriguez was not as certain about retirement when he texted Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News later Wednesday.
"I’m thinking in terms of my contract which ends in 2017," Rodriguez wrote. "After that, we’ll see what happens. I’ve got two years and more than 300 games to play."