Yankees Not Listing A-Rod HRs On 'Upcoming Milestones' Handout
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It's expected that the New York Yankees will fight a series of marketing bonuses due to Alex Rodriguez by not declaring his steps up the all-time home runs list as milestones.
If that's the plan, they're sticking to it.
With 655 career home runs, A-Rod is just five behind Willie Mays -- and tying Mays for fourth on the list would trigger a $6 million payment. But the looming feat was nowhere to be found on a handout of "upcoming milestones" given to the media before Monday night's series opener in Baltimore. Rodriguez was only listed for runs scored and stolen bases.
Rodriguez, who has admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs in the past and was banned for the entire 2014 season, is scheduled to receive the same sum for matching Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762). The fifth and final payment would be for home run No. 763. The Yankees and Rodriguez agreed to the separate $30 million marketing contract when he inked a 10-year, $275 million deal in 2007.
"They say the records are tainted," an anonymous source recently told the New York Daily News, "and therefore they're not milestones that can be marketed."
Rodriguez apologized for his role in the 2013 Biogenesis scandal -- without publicly getting into specifics -- and has said all the right things so far in his return. The only drama surrounding the soon-to-be 40-year-old is related to the bonus issue, and both sides have remained mum.
"There's no wounds on my end," Yankees co-owner Hal Steinbrenner told WFAN's Mike Francesa last month. "Anybody that knows me know that I don't dwell in the past. It's unhealthy."
Rodriguez would reportedly have the players' union on his side if he decides to challenge the Yankees for his cash.
Also in his corner: disgraced home run king Bonds, who recently told USA Today that A-Rod's 660th dinger should be celebrated.
"Anyone that supports me at this point, it's well appreciated," Rodriguez said Monday. "It's not taken for granted, that's for sure. But my focus continues to stay between the lines."
