Mike DiNovo/USA TODAY Sports

Let’s get one thing perfectly clear about Alex Rodriguez’s handwritten apology note to baseball fans.

It doesn’t matter.

Rodriguez wrote Tuesday that he takes full responsibility for the mistakes leading up to his 211-game suspension and despite the fact that many people will not believe a word he says, he is ready to “play some ball.”

OK.

Look, the evidence documenting Rodriguez’s willingness to lie and cheat has been compiled over the course of nearly 15 years. We forgive and forget quickly, Rodriguez’s former teammate Andy Pettitte knows this well; Pettitte was outed as an HGH user in the Mitchell Report and now he’s going to have his number retired by the Yankees. But when you have built an existence upon the foundation of lying and cheating, as Rodriguez has, there is nothing to forgive.

(PHOTO: David Karp/AP Photo)

Rodriguez is a serial liar and a cheater. He can ask forgiveness and get back to playing baseball but neither of those things change the fact that he is in this for two things: Money and himself.

Continuing to play baseball isn’t about earning the respect of his teammates or fans. It’s about the $61 million the Yankees owe him and a shot at breaking a few records. He will hope to crush baseballs and make a few plays, but at the end of the day, Rodriguez just wants the cash, few less boos in stadiums when his name comes over the PA system, and a taste of the fame and prowess he used to enjoy.

There was nothing to be gained by Rodriguez’s apology. There was nothing to be lost, either. It just happened. There aren’t any wounds to be healed, there isn’t any closure to be gained, or any wrongs in need of righting. Fans of A-Rod and fans of baseball and fans of famous people have all reached a consensus on who he is and how they feel about him.

Alex Rodriguez is in this for himself, and the sun is going to rise in the east again tomorrow.