Derek Jeter Explains Rift With Alex Rodriguez: ‘Not A True Friend’

It’s no huge secret that Derek Jeter didn’t see eye to eye with Alex Rodriguez during their time together with the Yankees, and now “The Captain” is opening up about how their relationship soured.

When speaking out about their disconnect during the 2001 season, Jeter revealed that he immediately realized that A-Rod was not a “true friend”.

It all started with A-Rod’s disparaging comments made to Esquire during that season.

“He’s never had to lead,” Rodriguez said, via TMZ. “He doesn’t have to, he can just go and play and have fun, and hit second. I mean, you know, hitting second is totally different than hitting third or fourth in a lineup because you go into New York trying to stop Bernie [Williams] and [Paul] O’Neill and everybody. You never say, ‘Don’t let Derek beat you.’ That’s never your concern.”

Derek Jeter says his issues with Alex Rodriguez began in 2001, when he realized the MLB superstar was "not a true friend." https://t.co/1OSCDzloVS

— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) July 12, 2022

Before that, Alex Rodriguez also went on the record to talk about why he believed he was worth more money than Derek Jeter.

“Even a guy like Derek, it’s going to be hard for him to break that because he just doesn’t do the power numbers and defensively, he doesn’t do all those things,” said Rodriguez. “So, he might not break the 252. He might get 180. I don’t know what he’s going to get. 150? I’m not sure.”

Derek Jeter explained how the comments from Alex Rodriguez led him to believe that his third baseman was not a “true friend”.

The Dan Patrick interview, he was talking about a comparison between me and him on the field. In my mind, he got his contract, so you’re trying to diminish what I’m doing maybe to justify why you got paid? Because I think, look, when you talk about statistics, my statistics never compared to Alex’s statistics. I’m not blind. I understand. But we won,” says Jeter.

“You can say whatever you want about me as a player. That’s fine,” Jeter continues. “But then it goes back to the trust and the loyalty. ‘This is how the guy feels? He’s not a true friend,’ is how I felt. Because I would not do that to a friend.”

In Derek Jeter’s upcoming docuseries “The Captain”, Alex Rodriguez took blame for the past rift.

“To allow that opening, that gap, that space to come between Derek and I, that’s on me,” Rodriguez said.

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