Oh, this is so A-Rod.
The New York Daily News reports that the reason Alex Rodriguez is rushing to get back on the field is because the embattled superstar wants to prove he can’t play so he can retire and collect the $114 million remaining on his contract with the Yankees. The New York Post also reports that Rodriguez is looking to use his injured hip as a reason to retire.
With Rodriguez’s chances of success in baseball dwindling — all the way from the current Yankees season to a possible performance-enhancing drugs-related suspension to Rodriguez’s increasing unlikeliness of making it into the Hall of Fame — the Daily News says Rodriguez’s plan is to get back into games as quickly as possible, then retire due to the hip injury. Rodriguez would get what remains of his five-year, $114 million contract.
“It’s all about him getting his money and not losing it to suspension,” the Daily News reported a source as saying. “He knows he’s never going to the Hall of Fame. All that’s left for him is to make sure he gets his money — all of it.”
Even if Rodriguez was later suspended, he would still get full pay if he retired due to injury. The Daily News said Major League Baseball “will try to suspend Rodriguez, no matter his status” for his connection with the Biogenesis clinic in Miami.
The interesting twist in this is that it corroborates an earlier report that the Yankees are also hoping Rodriguez can’t play, which could enable them to collect insurance money. If Rodriguez has to quit due to injury, the Yankees can get 80 percent of what they pay for his remaining salary back from the insurance deal.
Rodriguez, however, has appeared to rebuff those attempts by the Yankees by making it seem like he wants to play again.
It looks like both sides want the same thing — but Rodriguez may be trying, just one more time, to save face through it all.
