Alex Rodriguez Believes ESPN’s New KayRod Cast Will Provide Platform To Be Himself

Alex Rodriguez often came across as a little too polished and slick when he dealt with the media as a superstar player, some might even go as far as say disingenuous at times.

A-Rod, as a broadcaster, has often come across as stiff and wooden, especially during his stint at the color analyst on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

However, ESPN believes it has found the perfect vehicle for Rodriguez to shine. The network is pairing him and Michael Kay to form the “KayRod Cast,” baseball’s answer to the popular alternate “Manningcast” that debuted last year during the NFL season and was hosted by brother Peyton and Eli Manning.

Rodriguez and Kay, the New York Yankees’ television play-by-play broadcaster, will team up for eight alternate broadcasts this season on ESPN2. The first one is Sunday night when the Yankees host the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.

While the new SNB booth of Karl Ravech, David Cone and Eduardo Perez will do the regular game broadcast on ESPN, Rodriguez and Kay will be taking a different approach on ESPN2 with a more conversational tone as well as welcoming guests throughout the game.

Kay believes the KayRod Cast will bring out the best in Rodriguez.

“I want to get Alex Rodriguez to be the Alex Rodriguez that I used to speak to in front of a locker where there wasn’t the confinement of this has to be done for television, you have to look here, you have to break here, because I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody who knows more baseball than Alex,” Kay said earlier this week on a conference call.

While Rodriguez had his share of controversies during his 22-year career as a player, including a one-year suspension from Major League Baseball for his role in the Biogenesis performance enhancing drug scandal, no one has ever questioned his knowledge of the game.

“I honestly don’t think anyone who loves baseball more than I do,” said Rodriguez, who is part of a group that bought the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves last year.

Rodriguez believes that love will shine through more in this format.

“The way I look at it is like we’re going to the ‘Michael Kay Pub’ and we’re inviting whoever wants to show up and just eavesdrop,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez admits he never felt entirely comfortable in the booth. The one exception came in 2019 when he did four innings of a Yankees-Dodgers game on the YES Network with Kay and Cone.

“I think it was the best four innings I’ve ever done on TV because I was in the middle of two very close friends and it was going back and forth,” Rodriguez said. “Michael knows exactly how to set me up because he knows me so well, so I think this format will do well for me.”

Kay was highly critical of Rodriguez for his suspension in 2014. However, Rodriguez doesn’t hold any animosity against Kay, who is in his 30th year with the Yankees and hosts a popular sports talk show on radio in New York

“That’s what’s going to make this show really, I think, good, is because you’re going to get forthrightness from both him and I,” Rodriguez said. “Honestly, pre-suspension, I think the show wouldn’t have been as good because I wasn’t as comfortable. I think I’m just more comfortable in my skin today and we’re going to let it rip.”

Which is exactly what Kay wants.

“It’s not like there’s a third-rail issue we wouldn’t touch,” Kay said. “I think that kind of unpredictability is going to make this ‘KayRod Cast’ something you want to tune into, because anything can happen on any given day.”

Chemistry between the hosts is a big reason why the Manningcast drew rave reviews. Of course, the brothers have had a lifetime to perfect their rapport.

“We’re presently in the legal maneuverings to get adopted by a pair of people so we can actually be brothers, so that will give us more of a ‘Manningcast’ feel,” Kay said jokingly.