Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Alex Rodriguez is the highest-paid player in baseball and is set to make even more money. Even in the face of a lengthy suspension through the 2014 season handed down today by MLB, Rodriguez has appealed, and during that process will have a chance to net a cool $6 million bonus.
With just 13 more home runs, A-Rod will tie Hall of Famer Willie Mays‘ 660-homer mark and earn the gaudy bonus written into his 10-year, $275 million contract.
When the New York Yankees signed Rodriguez to an extension in 2007, they thought they were signing the star that would help baseball turn the corner on the steroid era and become the new all-time statistical record holder. The mere notion of that idea sounds silly now.
After his voluntary admission in 2009 that he doped with the Texas Rangers between 2001-2003, Rodriguez became a spokesperson for the Taylor Hooton Foundation. He used the platform to speak out to America’s youth about the dangers of performance-enhancing drugs.
In retrospect, this was nothing more than another public relations ploy by the insecure and egomaniacal third baseman, who has always had a keen focus on the bottom line. Even after signing the two richest contracts in sporting history and being caught cheating twice, Rodriguez pushes on in his quest to net as much income as possible.
By appealing, A-Rod will likely have his suspension reduced due to a technicality, or some other currently unknown loophole. After all, $500 million buys you some pretty good lawyers, and MLB is attempting an unprecedented step by suspending A-Rod for 211 games without a positive drug test on record.
Perhaps even more distasteful than the embattled star potentially earning more money is his inevitable climb in the history books over all-time greats such as Mays. At this stage in his career, Rodriguez has to know that no one will consider him a better player than Mays or the many other players he has already surpassed for that matter. Cheating has a funny way of negating numbers — just ask the Hall of Fame voting committee.
In commissioner Bud Selig’s swansong, he took a big swing at PED use in MLB by implementing the bold suspension, but don’t expect it to be the last we hear of A-Rod or for his wallet to be hit too hard in the end.
Will Reeve is a MLB writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him/her on Twitter @WillyDBroadcast, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
