"We had our ups and downs" - When Derek Jeter opened up about his relationship with Alex Rodriguez and Yankees teammates

Derek Jeter played with several stars, but no one comes close to the stardom of Alex Rodriguez. The two former New York Yankees superstars, once close friends, went through a public rollercoaster of a relationship, and one of them believes that the media portrayed it worse than it was.

In November 2023, during an interview with broadcaster Joe Buck, Jeter opened up about his longtime dynamic with Rodriguez.

"I've known Alex since I was 18 years old," Jeter said (35:56), via 'Youth Inc.' "The first time we spoke, he was a senior in high school. He claims he's a year younger than me — I don't know if that's true, but he claims that.

"So, I've known him for a long time. We had our ups and downs throughout the years, but Alex is a teammate. He works extremely hard — he might be one of the hardest workers I've ever played with in terms of his craft. He gets out there and gets after it. But yeah, the media was fixated on our relationship, so to speak — and that's all they spoke about."

Jeter added that there is no need for off-field bonding as a requirement for on-field success. He reflected on one example where the media tried to put a bad light on their relationship.

"You don't have to go out to dinner with guys to play with them," Jeter said. "I mean, Sports Illustrated did a cover with me, Jorge, Andy, and Mariano. They took us out to lunch—we went to lunch together and spoke, and that's the only time we've all been out to lunch together, and we played together for 20 years.

"But I think the media fixated on the fact that me and Alex weren't going out to eat together. They didn’t see us at lunch and made it a bigger deal than it was."

Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez's relationship over the years

Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were both drafted out of high school and played together for the New York Yankees from 2004 to 2010. However, it was before then, in an interview in 2001 with Esquire, that Rodriguez made sharp remarks against Jeter.

"Jeter's been blessed with great talent around him," Rodriguez said. "So he's never had to lead. He doesn't have to; he can just go and play and have fun, and hit second.

These comments put both at a crossroads, with Jeter saying the remarks were bothersome and that he doesn't consider him a true friend.

While Rodriguez later apologized, the damage had been done. Jeter later said in interviews that trust was broken.

Despite playing together for a decade in New York, including a 2009 World Series title, Jeter and Rodriguez rarely spent time together outside the ballpark.

However, once both players retired — Jeter in 2014 and Rodriguez in 2016 — their relationship began to thaw. In 2017, the two shared the stage during the Yankees’ Old-Timers’ Day. Rodriguez also praised Jeter during his Hall of Fame induction and expressed regret over how things played out.

The two seem to have mended their relationship, as they work together on the same panel for FOX Sports, which also includes David Ortiz and Kevin Burkhardt.