New York Yankees

5 milestones within A-Rod's reach in the next two seasons

Published Mar. 23, 2016 3:30 p.m. ET

Chris Bahr

Alex Rodriguez reportedly will retire after the 2017 season -- leaving plenty of time for you to shop for that going-away gift for him and plenty of time for him to inch higher on some all-time lists.

Of course, numbers alone will mean little to A-Rod's Hall of Fame chances, thanks to his PED past. But just for history's sake:

Homers: His 33 long balls last season were his most since 2008 and pushed him past Willie Mays into the top four with 687. Next up is Babe Ruth at 714, then Hank Aaron at 755. In order to eclipse all-time home run king Barry Bonds, however, A-Rod would need to average 38 homers the next two seasons.

Hits: Rodriguez is 21st on the all-time list with 3,070. With 249 more hits, he'd move into the top 10. Can he average 125 hits over the next two years? He had 131 hits in 2015 when he played in 151 games.

RBI: His 86 runs batted in last season lifted A-Rod to fourth all-time (2,055). He will take sole possession of third place with 21 more RBI, and needs 160 RBI to pass Ruth for second place. All-time leader Aaron (2,297) is out of reach.

Total bases: A-Rod ranks eighth heading into the 2016 season, just 18 behind Pete Rose, 59 behind Ruth, 120 behind Ty Cobb, 242 behind Bonds, 332 behind Mays and 400 behind Stan Musial. But he is a whopping 1,122 behind Aaron. Rodriguez had 254 total bases in 2015.

Runs: Rodriguez also ranks eighth here with 2,002 and realistically can leapfrog Mays (2,062), Rose (2,165) and Aaron/Ruth (2,174) before it's all over. But that's about as high as he can aim because Bonds is third on the list at 2,227.

And if you're wondering, Rodriguez is fifth on the all-time strikeout list with 2,220 and has Sammy Sosa (2,306) and Adam Dunn (2,379) within his range.