Yankees fans — and high-ranking members of the organization — were no doubt thrilled with the unfolding of events in recent days, as the perfect storm appeared to coalesce around Alex Rodriguez and create a way for the Yankees to ditch his contract.
But not so fast. For the Yankees to cut Rodriguez loose, they need his recent hip surgery to turn into a very long recovery (or make him unable to play again), and they need his PED use to be confirmed to the extent that they can leverage it to help nullify his contract.
Both scenarios appeared likely recently, but sources are now telling the New York Post that neither escape hatch could be opening for the Yankees.
While some people around Major League Baseball are now saying that Rodriguez is unlikely to ever play for the Yankees again, the New York Post reports that the hip injury is not so severe that Rodriguez cannot play this season.
“If the more recent surgery was more involved, recovery might be a little slower, but I can’t think of a reason why anyone would be able to say he couldn’t play again,” Dr. James Gladstone told the Post. “Especially if the other hip is holding up, there shouldn’t be a lasting impact.”
That means that the Yankees aren’t that close to collecting the insurance they have on Rodriguez’s contract, for which they need him to miss an entire season or have a career-ending injury, according to reports.
The hip injury also cannot be linked to performance-enhancing drug use, the New York Post reports. That means that the Yankees’ attempts at possibly voiding Rodriguez’s contract for PED use will be that much harder.
“I still don’t think any PED would have had an effect on the injury or the surgery,” Dr. David Geier told the New York Post. “They can impact tendons and muscles, but not what he had. They might impact recovery, but I don’t see the argument where the surgery itself would have been any different. Even if this turns out to be true, it wouldn’t impact the hip joint. His problem was one of anatomy.”
Rodriguez will no doubt want to get back to playing form and prove his side of the story, and he still has $114 million waiting for him from the Yankees.
