A-Rod adds another American League MVP to his collection

NEW YORK (AP) — Alex Rodriguez has millions of dollars in his investment accounts, three AL MVP awards for his trophy case — and zero World Series rings for his fingers.

“There’s definitely a huge hole in the resume. And I mean, it’s my third MVP and I’m here to say that I would trade all three for one world championship. I wouldn’t think twice about it,” Rodriguez said.

Of course, a World Series will have to wait. But for now, he has the satisfaction of his latest MVP, won Monday in a romp over Detroit’s Magglio Ordonez.

While A-Rod wouldn’t address why he opted out of his old Yankees contract or the reasons for his decision to reverse course and return to New York, he did slip this into a 30-minute conference call: Yankees general manager Brian Cashman asked him after the 2006 season, after he was dropped to eighth in the batting order in the playoff finale against Detroit, whether he’d prefer a trade.

“I had many, many opportunities,” Rodriguez said. “There was a lot of interest from a lot of other teams and I felt I didn’t want to go anywhere.”

Cashman later confirmed that he approached A-Rod after the 2006 playoff elimination and asked the star third baseman whether he wanted to be traded. Despite four seasons in New York that filled more tabloid headlines than most players get in a lifetime, Rodriguez wants to stay. If and when he breaks Barry Bonds’ career home run record, he wants to do it with the Yankees.

“It’s something magical when you go in that field in front of 55,000 people, and then when you make championships and all-time records. I mean, the potential of it is exciting,” he said.

By then, the Yankees will be in their new stadium, one Rodriguez hopes to put his stamp on. He admitted playing in the glare of the Big Apple took a long time to get used to.

“I banged my head against New York; New York didn’t bang me against the head. I felt like I made a lot of mistakes,” he said. “I was trying to please everybody rather than do what made me happy.”

His new attitude produced his best season and it showed in the MVP race. Rodriguez received 26 first-place votes and 382 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, while Ordonez had two firsts and 258 points.

Rodriguez won his first MVP in 2003, his last season with the Texas Rangers. He also won with the Yankees in 2005. Those yearly fluctuations bother him.

“It’s something I’m aware of and something that needs to stop,” he said. “I’d much rather have above average every year or great every year or good every year.”

Rodriguez started this year with 14 homers in his first 18 games, hit .314 for the season and led the majors with 54 homers, 156 RBIs and 143 runs. He was the first player since New York’s Roger Maris in 1961 to lead the majors in homers, RBIs and runs, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

An 11-time All-Star, Rodriguez became the ninth player to win the MVP three or more times. Barry Bonds holds the record with seven — all in the NL — and Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Mantle, Stan Musial and Mike Schmidt won three apiece.

“I’m expected to do great things, I mean, for a lot of reasons, and I understand that,” Rodriguez said.

The only two first-place votes that didn’t go to Rodriguez were from Tom Gage of The Detroit News and Jim Hawkins of The Oakland Press in Pontiac, Mich.

“Magglio is a friend and had an unbelievable season,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve been on that side of the fence many, many times.”