Baseball herpes. 87 comments


Unknown-4

 

Alex Rodriguez won’t go away. He is causing large, gaping sores on the skin of the New York Yankees. Yes, so much of this is self-inflicted. And, yes, it’s satisfying to see them cave under the weight of a contract that was so stupid.

A-Rod is coming back to Yankees team that, plain and simple, does not want him. In a sport that does not want him. They could cut him and eat the losses. But, since they owe him more than sixty million dollars over three years, that’s like an endless trip to the Golden Corral.

A-Rod’s recent attempts to meet team management for reconciliation were slammed down. They don’t want him at third base, at first base, at DH, in the clubhouse. Even sitting in front of them in the front office for fifteen minutes.

The latest news is, the Yankees are now going to attempt to void the ridiculous home run bonus clauses they put in the ridiculous contract. At the time, the thought was, as A-Rod got closer to each home run milestone, like Willie Mays’s 660 home runs, then Babe Ruth’s 714 home runs, then Hank Aaron’s 755, and then the holy grail of them all, Barry Bonds’s asterisk-laden 770, Rodriguez would generate so much press and goodwill and public excitement, it would profit the Yankees as well. So, they gave him a contract that gives him an additional six million dollars when he hits those four home run totals. The bonus idea, and subsequent marketing of the home run totals, by the way, was the brainchild of Warren Buffet.

Rodriguez is only six away from Willie Mays. Meaning, he is only six away from his first six million dollar bonus.

The Yankees Barnum and Bailey thinking has backfired on them mainly because Alex Rodriguez has made himself anything but a feel good story. Nobody is rooting for him to do anything but get hit by a bus. And then bounce off that bus and get hit by another.

The Steinbrenner boys will argue that Rodriguez’s actions have so tainted his worth that he has made his home run chases invalid. Never mind that his entire career is invalid.

I doubt they have a prayer in court. The Players Union is as powerful and the Yankees are stupid.

The Yankees are stuck with A-Rod.

Back when they “stole the thunder” of the 2007 World Series with their major announcement of the A-Rod ten-year extension, nobody with two brain cells thought this was a good idea.

Now those two brain cells residing collectively in Hal and Hank Steinbrenner agree.