Over all, there has been little overt sympathy expressed by the Yankees for their troubled third baseman, their expensive albatross, which is really the root of the underlying tension.
They apparently blame Rodriguez for the 10-year contract that will ultimately cost at least $275 million — unless Miami or some other team can be talked into picking up a small percentage in a trade and the Yankees not only swallow the rest, but have it count against their payroll for revenue-sharing purposes.
But if Rodriguez is not one to easily feel sorry for, whatever in-house resentment there is for him and his contract is misplaced and grossly unfair.
He didn’t force the Yankees to re-sign him. Rodriguez, in fact, provided them an airtight excuse to sever all ties when he opted out of his original deal during the 2007 World Series. Be it Hank Steinbrenner acting alone or with encouragement from brother Hal and others, a disastrous decision was made because they believed Rodriguez — then considered to be the likely future and clean home run champion — was a potential cash cow.
They even had the audacity to officially announce the deal on the day George Mitchell released the contents of his long investigation into baseball’s steroids culture — the sort of cheesy, transparent call for attention that Rodriguez had long been known for. All things considered, the events leading to where they are now might convince a few folks to think the inscription on that A-Rod Yankees tombstone should actually read: They deserved each other.