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It's Official, Alex Rodriguez's Career With The New York Yankees Is Over

USA Today Sports

Alex Rodriguez has just five days left to call himself a New York Yankees player.

That timeline became official after the Bronx Bombers announced on Sunday morning that A-Rod's last game in pinstripes will be on Friday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium.

Hal Steinbrenner, who heads the Yankees organization, said in statement,

After spending several days discussing this plan with Alex, I am pleased that he will remain a part of our organization moving forward and transition into a role in which I know he can flourish.

The role that Steinbrenner referenced will see A-Rod become an advisor and ambassador for the Yankees organization, and the transition into that job appears to be clearly mapped out.

Rodriguez will not be with Yankees during their rivalry series against the Red Sox in Boston this week, but he will rejoin the team on Friday night to play as a designated hitter in what is scheduled to be his last game.

After that, the Yankees are expected to release the player from his contract. The club will still pay him the combined $40 million he is owed for the next two seasons, per the contract he signed with the team in 2007.

Lastly, for the remainder of this season and next, A-Rod will be an advisor to the organization, 'til December 2017, ESPN reports.

In an exclusive interview, Rodriguez told Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal,

It's both a happy and sad day. I'm obviously disappointed but I'm also at peace with their decision.

The announcement marks an unceremonious end for a player who was once on the path to being considered the greater player in baseball history.

When the Yankees re-signed A-Rod in 2007, there were incentives placed within the contract to pay A-Rod bonuses of $6 million each time he passed the players ahead of him on the all-time home run list.

But after controversies over performance-enhancement drug usage tainted his career and before serious injuries interrupted that same career, Alex Rodriguez headed down toward a different path: the one that will see him dumped by the most famous team in baseball in the middle of the season.

Citations: Alex Rodriguez to play last game Friday, become adviser for Yankees (ESPN), Rodriguez, Yankees settle dispute over home run milestone bonus (Sports Illustrated), Exclusive: Alex Rodriguez reveals how things ended with the Yankees (Fox Sports)