A-Rod not planning to play in 2017, will work as Yankees advisor

Alex Rodriguez has no intentions of returning to the diamond.

In 2017, that is.

Following his release by the New York Yankees last season, rumors began to swirl about whether or not A-Rod would return to baseball in an effort to reach the illustrious 700-home run plateau.

His agent, Ron Berkowitz, put those rumors to bed, saying his client intends to serve as the Yankees' special advisor in 2017, just as it was agreed upon.

"Alex is enjoying his time off and looking forward to heading to spring training to work with the young guys as he has said all along," Berkowitz said, according to Christian Red of the New York Daily News.

As far as Yankees general manager Brian Cashman knows, he's heard "nothing new" about a potential Rodriguez comeback this coming season.

That being said, if he wants to keep playing, Cashman won't stand in his way.

"He's certainly invited to participate in spring training," Cashman said. "But Alex is also free to do as he pleases, if he wants to try and keep playing. We welcome the opportunity for him to impact our young players at spring training.

"Alex would work directly for Hal (Steinbrenner)," he added. "All the parameters have been vocalized and they remain the same from last year. He's got a life to live too, and I'm sure he's going to have a lot of opportunities in broadcasting, in business.

"People will be tugging him in a lot of different directions."

Following the 2016 campaign, A-Rod excelled in his role as a postseason analyst for FOX Sports, which he also did in 2015.

By the numbers, and through the controversy that riddled most of his career, it's difficult to argue that Rodriguez is one of the greatest players of all time.

He has 696 career home runs, fourth on the all-time list behind legends Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, and Babe Ruth. After netting a season-long suspension in 2014 following the Biogenesis doping scandal, he came back in 2015 to slash .250/.356/.486 with 33 homers and 86 RBIs.

It was a completely different story in 2016, though, as he crawled to a .200/.247/.351 line with 67 strikeouts in 65 games.