Alex Rodriguez to retire after 2017 season (maybe)

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Controversial Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez may or may not retire after the 2017 season, according to conflicting reports. Rodriguez, 40, told ESPN Wednesday that he won't play after his monster 10-year contract with the Yankees ends.

"I've really enjoyed my time," he told ESPN. He said it will be time for him to focus on fatherhood.

But later he told the New York Post that he was only referring to his current contract. "After that, we'll see what happens," he wrote in an email to the Post. "I've got two years and more than 300 games to play."

Rodriguez sat out all of 2014 on a suspension over involvement in a performance-enhancing drug scandal. Initially he denied the allegations and vigorously fought the discipline. He sued Major League Baseball and the Yankees. But he eventually dropped the lawsuits and served the suspension.

He surprised many observers in 2015 by rebounding with a respectable performance. Rodriguez comes into the 2016 season with 687 home runs, 3,070 hits, and 2,055 RBI. 

Rodriguez came up with the Seattle Mariners as a shortstop in 1994 when he was 18. He played seven seasons for Seattle and then three with the Texas Rangers.

He came to the Yankees in 2004, witched to third base because star Derek Jeter had dominion of shortstop, and went on to win two American League MVP awards in pinstripes. In 2009, A-Rod helped the Bombers to a World Series title. In recent years, he has been a fulltime designated hitter.

Rodriguez's admission that he took PEDs while with the Rangers and later implication in the Biogenesis scandal will forever taint his legacy and likely keep him out of the Hall of Fame.