Chemistry and morale is key to this years New York Yankees, and while many believe that Alex Rodriguez should not get his bonus money for hitting number 660, the fact of the matter is, he should.
As you know, Cashman has made his statement yesterday. The New York Yankees aren't interested in paying Alex. Dumb... dumb... dumb. Wally Matthews has it here:
"'We have the right but not the obligation to do something, and that's it,' said Yankees general manager Brian Cashman before Saturday's Yankees-Red Sox game at Fenway Park. 'We're going to follow the contract as we follow all contracts, so there is no dispute, from our perspective.'
In other words, in the Yankees' interpretation of the contract, they are under no obligation to pay off on a deal they feel is no longer valid due to Rodriguez's 162-game suspension for drug violations last year."
So now what? The Yankees will look at the wording of the contract and try and figure out how to weasel out of the deal they originally agreed on. The wheels are in motion. Meanwhile, if you think about it, this is what the Yankees wanted all along, to have the All-Time home run record back. They banked on Alex, until now, they aren't.
And it's funny... as players, all is forgotten. It's a boys club again. Yankee players showered Alex with champagne the other night because, guess what... it's a major milestone. Willie Mays released a statement to Alex to congratulate him...
"Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez on his 660th home run. Milestones in baseball are meant to be broken and I wish him continued success throughout his career."
My point is, aren't we passed all this? Well, not exactly, Jack Curry of YES has explained it wonderfully, and it's quite interesting:
Clause from ARod's marketing agreement: "It is the sole discretion of the New York Yankees to determine whether each of these milestones...
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) May 2, 2015
is commercially marketable as the home run chase."
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) May 2, 2015
A second ARod passage: "The Yankees have the right, but not the obligation, to determine whether it's a commercially marketable milestone."
— Jack Curry (@JackCurryYES) May 2, 2015
So this is a duel, a major duel because now, if you read that, you may think that suddenly the Yankees are just pulling the carpet out from under Alex. But what it actually does is pull the carpet out from under not only the whole club, but us fans as well. Chemistry and morale is a terrible thing to waste and the Yankees are doing something very noble this season as a team. They have, with ARod's help, taken the field, worked toward winning and left all the baggage behind. Yankee brass however has not. They're holding onto their grudge and trust me, that will kill a club because this will become a war. Fans once again pitted against fans, and Yankee brass getting even more heat for making bad decisions that appear angry and desperate. It's happening... and no one wants that, trust me.
I understand baseball is a business. I also understand that Alex Rodriguez is not the most likable guy in the world. But I do know "Team" and what I've seen from the Yankees this year is the will to win. It took a few weeks to get there, but they're there. Now you have Cashman making a statement about possibly withholding a bonus and Yankee brass basically being able to do whatever the hell they want, and I call foul.
I'm not an Alex fan. I'm a baseball fan. I'm a Yankee fan and I've come to the realization that these players that violate the illegal substance agreement get fined, get suspended and disappear only to come back and play again...time served. But for some reason Alex Rodriguez continues to get punished... over and over and over again. No player in baseball history was suspended for 162 games like Alex was, but that's apparently not enough. Now the Yankees will take away a bonus that they sat across a long table and agreed on, knowing Alex had skeletons from his Rangers days. The Yankees are not innocent in this either, but now they stand there tall, holding the cards or moral judgement and acting like they are the authority. Sure, they are... but they are also part of the problem.
Stop the charade... pay the man. Let him donate it to charity or something. He earned it. You signed off of it. That's it.
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