A-Rod to CNBC: "Warren Buffett is the Smartest Man in the World"

Jeff Zelevansky

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez pauses as he autographs "Out of the Ballpark," a children's book he wrote, at a signing in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2007. (AP Photo/Jeff Zelevansky)

In a CNBC Exclusive video interview, baseball star Alex Rodriguez talked with our own Becky Quick about how he wants to play for the Yankees and about his friend, Warren Buffett, who appears to have played a rolein getting A-Rod back with the Bronx Bombers.

I'll leave the baseball news for Darren Rovell's Sports Biz blog.

Here's what Rodriguez said about Buffett, in a clip that aired this morning on Squawk Box:

"I've always looked up to Warren. He's just a fascinating personality. In my mind, the smartest man in the world. In the baseball world, he's like the Babe Ruth of baseball, and he's just done it all. And to me what's been most impressive about Warren is how humble, and how he's been able to just keep his Omaha way about him."

In the clip, Darren also comments on the subject of his post yesterday in which he points out the irony of Buffett helping A-Rod get an enormous contract when Buffett himself would never pay that kind of money.

Becky did the interview with A-Rod as part of her preparation of a new one-hour special called Warren Buffett: The Billionaire Next Door - Going Global (premieres Friday, November 30 at 9p ET). It will give you an all-access pass to Becky and Buffett's whirlwind tour of Asia last month. Becky promises that in the special we'll also hear from A-Rod about the best piece of advice he ever got from Warren Buffett.

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