Mike Stobe/Getty Images(BOSTON) — The New York Yankees have no intention of paying designated hitter Alex Rodriguez a $6 million bonus for tying Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time home runs list.
According to multiple reports, Rodriguez was supposed to receive $6 million for reaching each of the following home run milestones: 660 (Willie Mays), 714 (Babe Ruth), 755 (Hank Aaron), 762 (Barry Bonds), and 763, which would make him the all-time home run champ.
“We have the right but not the obligation to do something, and that’s it,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Saturday. “We’re going to follow the contract as we follow all contracts, so there is no dispute, from our perspective.”
That contract, according to the Yankees, states that Rodriguez would not earn the bonuses if the team could not market the achievement. The Yankees believe this can’t be done because of Rodriguez’s troubled past with his admitted usage of illegal PEDs.
Rodriguez has refrained from commenting on the issue publicly.
The 39-year-old has 14 days from the time the Yankees refuse to pay the bonus to file an appeal, according to baseball’s collective bargaining agreement.
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