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The New York Yankees don’t seem overly enthusiastic about A-Rod’s return.
Alex Rodriguez, who reportedly met with new Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred last week, offered to meet face-to-face with Yankees executives before spring training in an attempt to clear the air regarding his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, according to the New York Daily News. The Yankees reportedly denied his request, telling the slugger, “We’ll see you in spring training.”
Rodriguez is set to return in 2015 after serving a season-long, performance-enhancing drug suspension. The 39-year-old apparently is trying to make amends with both the league and his team, but the Yankees aren’t exactly embracing the “new” A-Rod. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said earlier this offseason he doesn’t know what to expect from Rodriguez from a performance standpoint, and it looks like the 14-time All-Star will compete for New York’s designated hitter role this season.
Rodriguez is owed $61 million from the Yankees over the next three seasons. He’s also slated to earn bonuses as part of the $30 million “milestone home run” marketing agreement he signed in 2007, but sources told ESPN.com that the Yankees are devising legal arguments so that Rodriguez won’t be able to collect any of those bonuses.
New York reportedly plans to contest the validity of Rodriguez’s marketing deal because of his steroid revelations and season-long ban. A-Rod currently is eligible to earn a $6 million bonus if he hits six more home runs, which would tie him with Willie Mays for fourth on MLB’s all-time homers list.
Nevertheless, Rodriguez’s name is resurfacing after some time away from the limelight. He’s supposedly working out with Barry Bonds — insert joke here — and a source told the New York Daily News he looks noticeably thinner and “massless” than previous years.
Thumbnail photo via Paul Sancya/The Associated Press
