Faced with reality, Alex does what’s best for Alex

THIS was Alex Rodriguez, so of course it was complicated.

Most players either retire immediately or effective after the season, like Mark Teixeira just did. Most players don’t have summits with ownership to plot a post-career organizational job to be announced concurrently with news the player is going to be unconditionally released.

You can be dazzled by all of that and by the testimonials given for Rodriguez during and after his press conference.

But let’s be clear that for the second time in 2 1/2 years, Alex Rodriguez simply accepted the inevitable and relented to do what was best for Alex Rodriguez.

Remember, it was not long ago that he was never going to give up the fight to overturn his PED suspension and the loss of his 2014 season and salary. Until he was faced with the reality that all of his handlers’ promises that he could win this fight were empty and so were his threats. Until he realized the only sane eleventhhour play was to accept the punishment and present a kinder, gentler A-Rod — playing nice with Commissioner Rob Manfred and the Yankees, the entities against which he had previously sworn mafia-level vengeance.

It was his only option for what he still wanted, a chance to play and have post-career opportunities in the sport. And he has handled that well.

Now, as recently as a week ago, Rodriguez was pretty much insisting the Yankees uniform would have to be pulled off of him. But then the Yankees cleared a trade deadline in which their mandate to emphasize the future was made manifest. The next move involved an ineffective 41-year-old who was not playing and had no future with the team, but was causing daily discomfort for manager Joe Girardi.

In two face-to-face meetings with just them in the room, I was told, Hal Steinbrenner never gave A-Rod an ultimatum that he agree to some kind of parachute landing or just out-and-out be released. No such threat was needed. A picture of Gary Sanchez and others getting the playing time was painted, and as Rodriguez said, si tting for the last month already was “painful and embarrassing.” Faced with more of the same hurt and humiliation and no job in 2017, Rodriguez again blinked and worked out the best deal possible. He never used the word “retire” and instead will be unconditionally released. He got to stay with the team an extra week, which will give him some shots at the Green Monster and one more home game against Tampa Bay to try to hit four homers and reach 700. And as it legally must be, Rodriguez will get every cent of the approximately $26.4 million owed through next year.

The Yankees get a 25th roster spot to test Tyler Austin or Aaron Judge, beginning Saturday. They get a large gate Friday for Rodriguez’s final game before likely sellouts Saturday (hail to the 1996 champs) and Sunday (Mariano Rivera’s plaque ceremony).

Also, after all the talk about not playing A-Rod because the Yankees still think they are in a pennant race and wanted the best players in the lineup, Girardi said if Rodriguez wants, he will find a way to play A-Rod every day in Boston. The team announced Rodriguez will play Friday at home against the Rays. So much for the best lineup possible.

As for the new role as a special advisor and instructor, it is so vital that Rodriguez will begin doing it next spring, not immediately. Keep in mind that another polarizing former Yankees slugger, Reggie Jackson, has had essentially the same title for years, and his job is more ceremonial than instrumental.

It could be different for A-Rod because of how much his passion for the game is appreciated by Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman and Girardi. Rodriguez’s history in the game and with the Yankees is complicated by his PED trail, his magnetism for controversy and the endless wonder about his sincerity What no one has questioned is how much he loved playing, how dedicated he was to preparation, what a baseball gym rat he was, his eye for talent, understanding the game’s nuances and sharing his wisdom.

Cashman put his 2009 championship ring on a press conference table as a symbol of how valuable Rodriguez was in getting that jewelry. But Cashman also mentioned how the game is revelatory, that it tells you when a player such as Sanchez is ready and for a player such as A-Rod that is not 2009 any more — and never will be again. Words are not necessary, though Rodriguez did say, “No athlete ever ends his or her career the way you want to.”

But — as with accepting his PED suspension — Rodriguez ends this chapter in a way that keeps him in the good graces of the Yankees and MLB. Again, he saw the inevitable, figured out what was best for himself — and blinked.