The current relationship between Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees seems contentious, to say the least. For further proof of that, we have the Yankees reportedly looking to get out of paying A-Rod some bonus money.
In addition to the roughly $20 million per season Rodriguez is owed over the next three years, he is also eligible to receive a series of $6 million bonuses for reaching home run milestones. If A-Rod, who has 654 home runs, ties Willie Mays for sixth on the all-time home run list with 660, he is slated to get a $6 million bonus. The same is true if he ties Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds.
According to the NY Daily News, the Yankees are looking for a way out of paying the bonuses.
The Yankees, however, now view the marketing bonuses as worthless and invalid, according to sources, the result of Rodriguez’s suspension for violating the game’s collectively bargained drug policy and his scorched-earth attack on baseball and the Yankees. The club plans to do battle with its onetime superstar over paying the bonuses, and is prepared to fight Rodriguez if he files a grievance with the Players’ Association.
Apparently the bonuses are part of Rodriguez’s “marketing” contract, and not the same contract that pays him his yearly salary. The Yankees will reportedly argue that A-Rod doesn’t deserve the bonuses because he has “rendered his opportunities worthless based on years of lies, deception and, finally, admission to DEA agents last year that he had paid $12,000 a month to Anthony Bosch for steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs.”
That seems like a tall task for the Yankees. But given the report we recently read about how the team reacted when A-Rod tried to apologize, we wouldn’t rule anything out.
