In a new interview, former New York Yankees star Garry Sheffield shed new light on the long-rumored locker room drama between frienemies Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez.
There was a time when, despite being on opposite sides of the continent, Jeter and Rodriguez were good friends. They bonded over being rising-star shortstops in the big leagues. However, that all changed in 2001 when “A-Rod” suggested in an interview that the Yankees’ championship success was less about Jeter and the fact that they had a deep and talented roster.
That opinion reportedly upset the one-time Yankees captain and forever changed their relationship. Even when Rodriguez was traded to the Bronx in 2004, there were always rumors, and even on the field evidence, that the two didn’t get along. Sheffield saw the awkwardness up close in the locker room. And gave new details during a recent appearance on All The Smoke.
Garry Sheffield stats (Career): .276 AVG, .372 OBP, .451 SLG, .823 OPS, 509 HR, 1,676 RBI, 1,636 R
“I got there, and I had a perception of the Yankees. That this is easy money. Look at all these guys on this team, and you add me to it? It automatic,” he recalled. “When I started seeing the politicking part of it, that’s when I said, ‘Okay, I got it.’ I’m an observer. I pay attention, and when I got there, I saw the dysfunction right away. And it came from, I guess, A-Rod had made a statement about Jeter a long time ago.
“You could feel the tension. Every single day, you could feel it. To the point where they had to make them go have lunch and try to make it like they were cool,” Sheffield remembered. “As teammates, we knew something was off, and I was like, ‘Man, we’ve got to fix this.’ Their relationship. I was thinking, why would they have a bad relationship based on what he said? But I could see where it made Jeter upset.”
The nine-time All-Star, who also came in the same offseason as Rodriguez, claimed that then-manager Joe Torre was unhappy he was on the roster. Sheffield alleged Torre did not talk to him for two months. Because he wanted the front office to trade for rising star outfielder Vladimir Guerrero instead.
