Larry Brown Sports

The New York Yankees are working to void Alex Rodriguez’s contract in light of the Miami New Times report linking him to PEDs, ESPN New York reports.

Miami New Times reported Tuesday that Rodriguez was a client of Anthony Bosch, who ran an anti-aging company that also allegedly supplied performance-enhancing drugs to numerous athletes. Their report states that Rodriguez appeared in Bosch’s records 16 times and that he was associated with products like HGH and testosterone.

Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $275 million contact extension with the team in 2009. The Yankees expected A-Rod to become the all-time home run king and tied many monetary bonuses to his pursuit of the career home run record. His performance has fallen off dramatically in recent years, and the Yankees would like to rid themselves of the $114 million they owe him through 2017.

ESPN New York says the odds are slim that the Yankees are successful in voiding Rodriguez’s contract. They reportedly are exploring around 20 potential different factors that could help them void the contract. Some of the possible reasons they’re exploring to void the contract includes A-Rod consulting a non-team doctor and/or buying illegal products.

A-Rod has denied the report linking him to Bosch.

“The news report about a purported relationship between Alex Rodriguez and Anthony Bosch are not true,” his publicist said in a statement. “Alex Rodriguez was not Mr. Bosch’s patient, he was never treated by him and he was never advised by him. The purported documents referenced in the story — at least as they relate to Alex Rodriguez — are not legitimate.”

The Yankees’ case may be weakened by the fact that they continued to pay A-Rod even after he admitted in 2009 to using PEDs. Of course, when A-Rod made his 2009 admission after being busted by Sports Illustrated, he said the usage was confined to his time with the Texas Rangers from 2001-2003.

The Yankees also reportedly have explored the possibility of trading Rodriguez.

After spending his entire career with the Boston Red Sox, it looks like Kevin Youkilis is going to the dark side.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal says Youkilis and the New York Yankees have agreed on a one-year, $12 million deal, which is pending a physical. Youkilis is expected to replace third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who had hip surgery and is expected to miss the first few months of the season.

Youkilis was drafted by the Red Sox in 2001 and he developed into a star with Boston. He was a three-time All-Star, won two World Series with the team, and he peaked in 2008 and 2009 when finished in the top six in AL MVP voting both years. And now he’s going to the Yankees.

The move is not as painful for Red Sox fans as it would have been had Youkilis played the entire 2012 season in Boston.

Youk was criticized by manager Bobby Valentine amid a horrible start to the season. After he returned from the disabled list, the Red Sox decided to trade him to the Chicago White Sox. He played half the season in Chicago and already had his “welcome back” game at Fenway Park.

What makes this different from a situation like Johnny Damon is that Youkilis was run out of town by Boston, whereas a player like Damon chose the Yankees over the Red Sox for more money.

Though Youkilis’ bat has been declining the past two seasons, he should be able to adequately fill a need for the Yankees. I think it’s a pretty good signing.

Photo Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-US PRESSWIRE

New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi reportedly went out of his way to try to spare Alex Rodriguez’s feelings during the playoffs.

According to CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman, Girardi called the Yankees public address announcer to have A-Rod’s name omitted from the announcement when Eric Chavez pinch-hit for the aging slugger during the postseason. Typically, pinch hit announcements include both the new batter and the player he is replacing in the lineup. In this case, A-Rod’s name wasn’t mentioned in the stadium.

Yankees GM Brian Cashman reportedly confirmed to Heyman that Girardi made the call.

Rodriguez was pinch-hit for on consecutive nights during the ALDS against the Baltimore Orioles. The first time was after he went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in Game 3. Raul Ibanez replaced him and hit two home runs to help the Yankees win 3-2 in 12 innings. A-Rod seemed to take things fine and was the biggest cheerleader in the dugout after being replaced. Rodriguez was replaced by Chavez the next night after going 1-for-4 with a walk in a 2-1 loss to the Orioles in Game 4.

A-Rod was also pinch-hit for during a 6-4 loss to the Tigers in Game 1 of the ALCS. He was 0-for-3 with a strikeout before Eric Chavez hit for him. Strangely, he also served as a pinch-hitter replacing Ibanez when the Yanks were eliminated in Game 4 of the ALCS. They each went 0-for-2.

Rodriguez spoke positively about Girardi throughout the playoffs despite being replaced by pinch-hitters and eventually benched. He said Girardi had built up a lot of equity with him. It’s considerate moves like this that make us see why A-Rod would feel strongly about his manager.

Say what you want about the whole thing, but that’s a really considerate move by Girardi. It’s nice to hear about another side of him after the August incident.

Photo Credit: Aristide Economopoulos/THE STAR-LEDGER via US PRESSWIRE

If any excuse the Yankees could make for their poor ALCS showing would be off-limits, I would have to think it would be blaming the fans. Nothing New York fans say should surprise the players, no matter how vulgar, inappropriate or unsupportive it may be. According to one anonymous Yankee, it did this year.

“I really think the booing spooked a lot of guys,” the player reportedly told John Harper of the NY Daily News. “A lot of guys hadn’t been booed before, and they couldn’t believe how nasty it got in the stands. A lot of guys were talking about it in the clubhouse. I was surprised by how much it bothered them. I really don’t think they ever recovered.”

It certainly bothered Nick Swisher, who was open about the fact that the criticism he heard from Yankees fans at the start of their series against the Tigers was hurtful to him. Robinson Cano was one of New York’s most beloved players throughout his monster regular season at the plate, but even he was booed in the postseason because of his horrendous slump. And A-Rod, well, that’s a novel in itself.

As Aaron Gleeman of Hardball Talk pointed out, the Yankees played two games in Detroit in the ALCS as well. They embarrassed themselves on the road just as badly as they did at home. It all came down to poor play and an inability to get the bats going. It didn’t help that the Tigers’ starters are as hot as they’ve been all season. When your payroll is as high as New York’s, the team shouldn’t expect any sympathy from the fans.

Alex Rodriguez continues to be a non-factor for the Yankees, and now reports have emerged indicating that the Yankees and Marlins have discussed a potential trade that would send the third baseman/DH to Miami.

Keith Olbermann, writing on his “Baseball Nerd” blog on MLB.com, first reported that the teams have engaged in discussions about the possible trade.

Sources close to both organizations confirm the Yankees would pay all – or virtually all – of the $114,000,000 Rodriguez is owed in a contract that runs through the rest of this season and the next five. One alternative scenario has also been discussed in which the Yankees would pay less of Rodriguez’s salary, but would obtain the troubled Marlins’ reliever Heath Bell and pay what remains of the three-year, $27,000,000 deal Bell signed last winter.

Olbermann did not know how serious the discussions were, but he says a source close to the Marlins believes the trade makes sense for both sides and that a deal would eventually be made.

ESPN New York followed up on Olbermann’s report and noted that Yankees president Randy Levine and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria have casually joked about A-Rod being traded to the Marlins. Here’s how they characterized the conversation:

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There is an appropriate time and place for everything, even police officers asking professional baseball players for autographs. The ninth inning of Game 1 of the ALDS is not the time nor the place. As if asking the Yankees players for their autographs during a game wouldn’t be strange enough, some Maryland state troopers reportedly asked the Bombers for them during the most crucial inning of their win over Baltimore on Sunday.

According to the NY Post, officers assigned to the game asked Nick Swisher and Derek Jeter for their signatures sometime before, after or during New York’s five-run rally in the ninth inning. Swisher was reportedly “livid” over the request and Jeter had the following to say after the game when asked if that was a first for him.

“What do you think?” the Yankee captain asked.

I think not — especially in the ninth inning of a playoff game. Police officers are fans like the rest of us and many of them have kids who would kill for an autograph, but I’m sure these particular Maryland troopers now know that it’s better to save those types of requests for when you’re off the clock.

Photo credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE

By signing a three-year, $51 million extension prior to last season, Derek Jeter made it official that he will retire as a Yankee. That is, before he went out at age 38 and put together one of the best seasons of his career. Jeter ranks third in the American League with a .323 batting average and has belted 15 homers. He has over 200 hits on the season for the eighth time in his 17-year career. At the moment, the captain is showing no serious signs of slowing down.

The Yankees have an $8 million option for Jeter in 2014 which could increase to $11.5 million if he wins a Silver Slugger award and finishes in the top six in MVP voting. Given his numbers, that is certainly possible. If the Yankees decide that is too much, would they actually let him walk?

“Well, if I wanted to keep playing, yes,” Jeter told ESPN’s Rick Reilly when asked if he can see himself playing for a team other than the Yankees. “It’s a business. People forget that.”

When it comes to Jeter in pinstripes, we do indeed tend to forget that it is a business. He wants to keep playing shortstop, but the one thing that is deteriorating is his range. People point to the fact that Jeter hardly ever makes errors, but a lot of that is due to the fact that he can no longer get to balls he once used to gobble up.

New York faced a difficult decision with Jeter two years ago when he was 36. It will be even more difficult when he’s 40 — especially if he still wants to play shortstop and is not open to being a DH just to retire a Yankee. If Brian Cashman wants to keep him, he’ll probably have to pay. Plenty of teams are willing to open their checkbooks just to sell tickets with a name like Derek Jeter.

H/T Eye on Baseball
Photo credit: Mike DiNovo-US PRESSWIRE