Alex Rodriguez discusses Yankees' facial hair policy, offers advice to Juan Soto

The New York Yankees’ facial hair policy never mattered to Alex Rodriguez.

"I’ve never had a beard,” the former Yankee told NBC Local ahead of 2025 MLB Opening Day while promoting Lysol Laundry Sanitizer. “I’ve tried to grow a beard for 30 years, and I still can’t.”  

But those in pinstripes who can grow one are now permitted to, with the Yankees having lifted their long-standing ban on beards that limited players from having any facial hair other than a mustache.

“I was surprised,” Rodriguez said. “It was wild pivot for the organization, a rule that had been on there since 1973 when George Steinbrenner acquired the team,” he said. “Give them credit, they’re fluid, they’re willing to change, they’re not just married to whatever the past was.”

But what would “The Boss” – Steinbrenner, who died in 2010 – have said about the team’s change in policy?

“Well, it maybe wouldn’t have happened,” Rodriguez said. “I’m not sure what he would have said, but ‘The Boss’ was very kind of rigid and strict. But give Hal [Steinbrenner] a lot of credit to be able to open things up and think in a more progressive, contemporary way.”

The Yankees, unfortunately, lost more than just razors and shaving cream in the offseason. Juan Soto, after one season with the team, signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the crosstown rival New York Mets. Gerrit Cole was lost for the season after it was determined he required Tommy John surgery. Giancarlo Stanton and reigning American League Rookie of the Year Luis Gil also are expected to miss significant time due to injury.

“The Yankees, they've ran into some tough luck here,” Rodriguez said. “They’ve had a bit of a mixed offseason, obviously ups and downs, with losing out on Juan Soto, but then they quickly pivot and deploy their resources really, really smartly.”

The Yankees signed starting pitcher Max Fried to an eight-year, $218 million contract and traded for former MVP Cody Bellinger.   

“For them it’s just play par golf, just move on to live another day,” Rodriguez said. “Look to get healthy and hot at the right time in the summer, kind of leading into the fall, just play really, really strong fundamental baseball. I think one of the things Brian Cashman did a really good job of is addressing some of their liabilities, which kind of all came together in that fifth inning of Game 5 — which is a bit of a lack of fundamentals, lack of focus on those details. I think they’re really much better off going into this year, and then when the time is right, I’m sure they have the resources to go out and plug and play whatever they need at the deadline.”

They’ll have to fill the void left by Soto, who signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets. Rodriguez also changed teams as a marquee free agent at the height of his career when he left the Seattle Mariners for the Texas Rangers in 2001 at the age of 25.

“What advice would I give him? I think slow and steady wins the race,” Rodriguez said. “Don’t try to get all [15] years done in one at bat or one month. But I think he's really well positioned. I think he has perfect training. He’s been around a little bit, he’s already been a world champion, he's already been to another World Series, he played in New York, he understands the media market, which is one of the biggest and toughest challenges of New York, he's already done that very, very well. So, take your time, be patient and play the long game.”

What does he think Soto saw in the Mets that convinced him to change New York boroughs?

“I think Alex and Steve Cohen are very compelling owners,” Rodriguez said. “They have a really big vision, they have tremendous resources, they’re avid, avid enormous Mets fans. They’ve been partners with the Mets now for over a decade. Usually when Steve Cohen wants something, he gets it. And I’m sure he made a really strong compelling argument of why Juan Soto's career was better with the Mets than the Yankees.”

Soto returns to Yankee Stadium for his first game as a member of the Mets on May 16.

“He's gonna get a Bronx reaction,” Rodriguez said with a smile.

But A-Rod did not pick either New York team to reach the World Series -- predicting it will be between the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles, who have not reached the Fall Classic since 1983.

“The one thing I will not sleep on is the Baltimore Orioles,” Rodriguez said. “The Baltimore Orioles I think can win 100 games. In many ways, everyone is talking about the Yankees and the Red Sox, but I think the Orioles have a chance to be the head of the class in the American League.”