Alex Rodriguez will turn 40 years old on Monday, but you wouldn’t know that by the way he’s performed in 2015. On Saturday night, A-Rod hit three home runs against the Minnesota Twins, leading the New York Yankees to an 8-5 road victory. After tonight’s game, A-Rod is hitting .277 with a .375 OBP, 23 home runs, and 58 RBIs for the first-place Yankees. Despite all of the other great performances by Yankees players this season, A-Rod has been the team MVP to this point of the year.

Of all the feats that A-Rod has accomplished in his career, this 2015 MLB Season is the most impressive of his entire career. At a time when most players are reaching the end of their careers and pondering retirement, A-Rod is flourishing for the Yankees. He’s second on the Yankees in runs scored, second in home runs, second in RBIs, second in batting average and first in on-base percentage. A-Rod’s return from suspension has been the single most important reason the Yankees are in first place in the AL East.

Some might say that Brett Gardner, Mark Teixeira, or even Dellin Betances have had better seasons than A-Rod. While those guys have had a tremendous impact on the success of the team, A-Rod has been more essential. If not for A-Rod, Teixeira doesn’t get pitched to nearly as much, Gardner isn’t fourth in the league in runs scored, and Betances wouldn’t have received the attention he’s receiving because the Yankees wouldn’t be winning as many games.

There are thousands, maybe millions, of A-Rod haters that will disagree with this entire article, but it’s time to give him some credit. He’s no longer on steroids, he’s about to turn 40 and he missed an entire season prior to 2015; it’s amazing that A-Rod’s playing every day, let alone having a dominant season. If people want to discount his career accolades due to the steroids, that’s their right, but credit has to be given where credit is due. A-Rod has been the MVP of the Yankees this season, whether baseball fans want to admit it or not.

Jason Fletcher is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JasonFletcher25, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google+.