After a ridiculous 2007 season in which Alex Rodriguez hit .314 with 54 home runs and 156 RBIs and won his second American League MVP award in four years as a Yankee, he opted out of his contract.
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman originally said he would not negotiate with the slugger, but of course that changed and the Yankees gave Rodriguez another 10-year contract worth $275 million.
Right about now Cashman probably wishes he spent $500 million to design a time machine rather than on the free agents the Yankees brought in this off-season.
With Saturday’s revelations by Sports Illustrated that Rodriguez was one of the 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003, there is no more defending Rodriguez, for anything.
When Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s home run record in 2007 the relief came from the hope that Rodriguez, then 32 years old, would one day reclaim the crown for the good of the game.
Now that dream is crushed as well.
It was bad enough when Rodriguez’s extramarital affairs in Toronto, his ex-wife’s idiotic choices for a T-shirt and his running around with Madonna were making headlines and causing distractions, now it’s steroids.
Rodriguez now joins the growing list of Yankees who cheated just like Jason Giambi, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Gary Sheffield, to name a few.
Instead of worrying about clauses to prohibit players and coaches from writing books in the future, the Yankees front office should pay more attention to whom they’re bringing into the clubhouse in the first place.
Unlike Giambi or Pettitte, who both acknowledged their use of performance-enhancing drugs, Rodriguez has already passed on an opportunity to make a mea culpa, refusing to comment on the test results and deferring to the players’ union.
He could go the denial route of Clemens and Mark McGwire, or worse Sammy Sosa – ‘No hablo Englais.’
When Jose Conseco’s second book, “Vindicated,” came out in 2008 and Rodriguez was accused of using steroids prior to 2000, even Yankee-haters thought the claims were asinine. After all, the Mitchell Report came out and Rodriguez was not mentioned.
Now, Jose Canseco looks like a genius; the guy has been proven right, again.
“I said in my book ‘Vindicated’ that he was a known steroid user before 2000,” Canseco said to the Miami Herald on Saturday. “It’s old news. I’ve been saying this forever. You guys are playing catch-up.”
A-fraud currently has 553 home runs, 202 shy of Aaron and 209 shy of Bonds. The 2003 test puts 345 of Rodriguez’s home runs into question.
Albert Pujols is now the player to pull for.
The St. Louis Cardinals first baseman has 319 home runs, 443 shy of Barroid’s record. The 29-year-old will need to average 44 long balls a year for the next 10 years to reclaim the crown.
At least until the next Canseco book.
James Crepea can be reached at [email protected]
