Major League Baseball

Yankees should get behind their biggest star

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:55 p.m. ET

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The Yankees are going about this all wrong. Challenge Alex Rodriguez’s milestone bonuses? No, they should root for A-Rod to reach his milestone bonuses. Root for him to re-emerge as their biggest television star. Root for him to help their team.

Will all that be worth an extra $6 million if Rodriguez hits the six home runs he needs to tie Willie Mays at 660, then cashes additional $6 million chips at 714, 755, 762 and 763? Probably not — now that A-Rod is, uh, tarnished, the Yankees can’t market him as aggressively as they would have if he was perceived to be clean.

Heck, they probably can’t market him at all, at least when it comes to ticket sales, merchandise sales and the rest of the marketing orgy they had originally planned. But the sad truth is A-Rod is the most interesting thing about the 2015 Yankees, the biggest reason, at the moment, to watch them on television. Don’t believe it? Fine, let’s compare the ratings on the YES Network when Alex Kardashian makes his first appearance in spring training to what they were at the same point a year ago.

FOX now owns 80 percent of YES, so perhaps the Yankees are less worried about ratings than in the past. But two hip surgeries, one season-long suspension, a 40th birthday on July 27, lies and lawsuits galore -- A-Rod is a walking train wreck, and we can’t take our eyes off of him. In fact, he might be precisely the distraction the Yankees need, because if you haven’t noticed, their team not only is full of questions, but also lacking in legitimate star power.

Seriously, which Yankees player in the first year of the post-Jeter era is going to compel the casual fan’s attention?

Japanese right-hander Masahiro Tanaka? Maybe, until the moment he requires Tommy John surgery. Jeter’s replacement, Didi Gregorius? Not when he’s hitting a soft .240. The team’s big free-agent signings, third baseman Chase Headley and left-hander Andrew Miller? The first is solid, the second spectacular, but only as a setup man. Next.

Let’s continue down the parade of pinstripes. Catcher Brian McCann, right fielder Carlos Beltran and first baseman Mark Teixeira? Left-hander CC Sabathia, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury and left fielder Brett Gardner? Those six have combined for 24 All-Star appearances, and some might actually be worthy of their fat paychecks this season. But big box office? Are you kidding?

Enter A-Rod, the baseball version of a professional wrestling heel.

His conduct has been indefensible and unforgivable, and I’m not even talking about his use of performance-enhancing drugs. He sued the Yankees doctor who treated him, sued the union that continues to defend him. Everything he accomplishes from this point forward — if he is even capable of accomplishment in his broken-down, supposedly clean state — should be met with the sound of one hand clapping, if that.

Still, this is business. A-Rod has done his time. He is a player (ahem) in good standing. And while the Yankees are rightly ticked off by his past misconduct, they’ve got some nerve threatening to withhold his milestone bonuses, which they did most recently Tuesday at Yankee Stadium during a 90-minute meeting with Rodriguez, according to published reports.

Sure, the Yankees aren’t getting what they thought they would in the marketing deal that they struck with Rodriguez separate from the 10-year, $275 million contract they awarded him after the 2007 season. At that moment, they did not know that A-Rod had used PEDs. But by that point, it wasn’t exactly a secret that many players had dabbled with the drugs.

Baseball had implemented and repeatedly strengthened its drug policy. Jose Canseco had written a book alleging that many players had used PEDs. Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro had delivered their memorable testimony before the House Government Reform Committee. Barry Bonds had been indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice for allegedly lying when he said that he did not use PEDs (Bonds is appealing his only conviction, for obstruction).

Then, on the day that the Yankees officially announced A-Rod’s return, baseball released the Mitchell Report, a 311-page document that said PED use in baseball had been pervasive for more than a decade.

So, at the time the Yankees re-signed A-Rod, they had to know that there was at least a chance he had used PEDs. And unless the marketing agreement specifically gave them an out if Rodriguez was suspended for PED use (doubtful), the team likely will fight an uphill battle in its quest to void the deal. It’s the old story: Buyer beware.

One other thing: Rodriguez confirmed in Feb. 2009 that he had used PEDs during a three-year period from 2001 to ’03, when he was a member of the Texas Rangers. The Yankees won the 2009 World Series with their tainted star making big contributions in both the regular season and postseason. They giving it back?

Personally, I’ll be surprised if Rodriguez can still produce, particularly in the marginalized role of right-handed DH. But seeing as how the Yankees are stuck with him, they might as well milk the moment. The moment A-Rod goes away, they will have nothing left to sell but their dubious team. 

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