Oddly enough, I think the Yankees have a legit point in their attempt to fleece one of their players.

"Oh sure, it's natural to want to see the chief offenders from the Steroids Era in baseball punished for their sins. Suspend them from the game. Drag them before Congress. Demand their apologies, and bar them from the Hall of Fame, and if that's not enough shame, paint a giant scarlet 'S' on the front of their uniforms."

Funny, I don't care about that really.


"Now the Yankees are taking that to the next logical level: They want their money back. Or more accurately, they don't want to pay Alex Rodriguez the $6 million bonuses he is owed for climbing up the all-time home run list — including the one he will earn in the coming days when he tops Willie Mays at 660."

I think the difference is actually quite important.

The Yankees already got quite a bit of their money back when ARod was suspended.

The bonus may not be legitimate because nobody cares anymore. In essence, the terms of the contract are voided.


"They're forgetting one not-so-minor point. Not only were the Yankees one of the chief beneficiaries from Alex Rodriguez's PED use (probably only second to the man himself), but they continue to benefit from all that illegal stuff he injected and swallowed."

Agreed.

Get to your cogent point.


"Don't buy that? Go ahead and give me three more compelling storylines around a Yankees team that is 6-6 heading into this series against Detroit and seems bound for 81-81. I'll wait."

Jeez.

Let's assume Politi is not generally a sportswriter, so he gets off the hook for the inability to come up with three compelling storylines.

For one thing, every game in sports is, in and of itself, a compelling storyline. For some of us, it's all we need. Every game has a time, a place, a background, a beginning, a middle, an end, conflict resolution, antagonists, protagonists, theses, antitheses, syntheses, drama, comedy, and, if you've ever seen CC Sabathia try to cover first base on a ground ball, dramedy.

But if you want three NYY storylines that are not ARod:

1. Tanaka.
2. Girardi.
3. Pineda.


"And the Yankees are kidding themselves if they don't think that'll be good for business. This is the unspoken truth about steroids and many baseball fans: They don't care. For all the hand wringing and manufactured outrage if Rodriguez approaches the great Ruth, you can bet that the closer he gets, the more tickets the Yankees will sell and the higher the ratings will be on the YES Network."

Agreed.

So why are we going to disagree?


"Are they going to ignore the milestone when Rodriguez becomes just the 29th player in Major League history to record 3,000 hits — he needs 51 more — after turning Jeter's ascension to that level into a Steiner Sports marketing orgy?"

Yes, they are going to ignore it.

No comparison to Jeter and I shouldn't have to explain why.


"It seems awfully petty, and besides that, it's bad business. Rodriguez's assault on the records books is not the happy little story it once was, but that doesn't mean it's not interesting. Because it's A-Rod, and because he's always been a human lightning rod, it might even get more attention because of the controversy."

I think $6 million is kind of petty, but I also think the Yankees are simply not able to monetize this as easily as Politi thinks.

I agree that a lot of fans don't really care about steroid use. But that doesn't mean ARod is a beloved figure in NY, in case you hadn't noticed.


"If he somehow chases down Bonds in the coming years, make no mistake, the Yankees will have gotten their $30 million's worth."

Getting wayyyyyyyyyyyyy ahead of yourself here.



The contract itself was stupid to begin with. It put individual goals stupidly ahead of team goals. It put a monetary value on unimportant milestones.

A steroid cheat is beating the dubious record of another steroid cheat? You really think this is still a big deal? I sure don't think so.

You've got to sell a heckuva lot of tee shirts to stupid fans if you are going to clear $30 million.


The Yankees shouldn't be able to void a contract simply because they were stupid enough to sign it. As Politi points out, the Yankees knew what they were getting into and they have profited from the services of ARod and other steroids cheats.

But, with regards to this specific clause of the contract -- the bonuses for setting career HR milestones -- ARod's PED suspension changes the circumstances. These milestones are no longer particularly marketable.

So maybe the Yankees will just fork over the $6 million and get some pointless satisfaction by denying ARod the pomp and ceremony.

But I think the Yankees have legit beef.