Why Tigers ace opted to stay with club instead of move to World Series contender

The comments from Rodriguez and his agent show the human side of the sport and prove that it's not always about playing under the brightest lights with a chance for a championship. Sometimes, players will choose their team, or do what they can to stay in a particular organization, based on what's best for their family.

The 30-year-old Rodriguez spent the first seven seasons of his career from 2015-21 with the Boston Red Sox, winning a World Series title (against the Dodgers) in 2018 and finishing sixth in the AL Cy Young voting in 2019.

Soon after contracting COVID-19 in July 2020 though, the lefty was diagnosed with myocarditis -- a heart condition -- that caused him to miss the entire pandemic-shortened campaign. Rodriguez signed a five-year deal with the Tigers in December 2021 but was limited to 17 starts in 2022 due to injury and personal matters.

He's now having one of the best seasons of his career, despite the campaign being interrupted by an IL stint from late May to early July. When he went down with his finger injury, Rodriguez had been ranked third in MLB in WHIP, tied for third in wins above replacement for pitchers and fourth in ERA across 11 starts.

The Venezuelan still leads Detroit with his seven wins (against five losses), and his ERA (2.96) and WHIP (1.04) both lead the team and are career bests. Rodriguez's 96 strikeouts are also the most among all Tigers hurlers.

Per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, two of Rodriguez's former Red Sox teammates (who are now members of the Dodgers) who he won the 2018 title with reached out ahead of the recent trade deadline but didn't get a response.