GM: House isn’t divided over A-Rod bonus brouhaha
BOSTON — Brian Cashman doesn’t believe the controversial situation surrounding Alex Rodriguez’s home run bonus will cause any strife between the team and its player.
And that’s mostly because the general manager doesn’t view the marketing pact as controversial to begin with.
As the Daily News first reported on April 10, the Yankees don’t plan on declaring ARod’s 660th home run as a milestone, meaning they would not pay ARod the $6 million bonus to market his climb up the home run chart.
“We have the right — but not the obligation — to do something,” Cashman said Saturday after A-Rod tied Willie Mays for fourth place on the all-time list the previous night. “That’s it. It’s not, ‘You do this, you get that.’
“If we choose to pursue something, we’ll choose to pursue it. If we choose not to, it’s our right not to. In both cases, we’re honoring the contract.”
Cashman declined to say whether he felt there was historic significance to A-Rod tying Mays on the home run list.
“I think given a lot of the circumstances, that’s for other people to discuss and debate: where or what it means,” Cashman said. “From my perspective, I just care about him performing on the field for this team in 2015. I want him to do the best he can to win games and that’s what he’s been doing.”
In the Yankees’ eyes, A-Rod’s PED admissions and his 2014 suspension make his home run numbers a moot point from a marketing standpoint.
As for whether he believes A-Rod is truly playing clean this year — don’t forget, Rodriguez never actually tested positive for any performance-enhancing drugs he received from Biogenesis — Cashman appeared to give his player the benefit of the doubt but didn’t make any declarative statement.
“I hope so,” Cashman said. “I hope that’s the case with everybody that’s putting on a uniform throughout this entire game.”
A-Rod has deflected any questions about the agreement, trying to keep his focus on the field. Cashman congratulated A-Rod on the “big hit for us” after Friday’s game, but said there was no conversation about the bonus situation.
“I don’t have to (talk to Rodriguez about it),” Cashman said. “We’ll honor the contract and follow the contract. There’s nothing to address. He’s got a copy, too.
“There’s nothing to resolve.”
After employing scorchedearth tactics in 2013-14 against the Yankees, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA, Rodriguez tried to mend those fences this past winter. He met with the Yankees in early February to clear the air, a meeting Cashman felt wiped the slate clean.
“He came and apologized this winter,” Cashman said. “I was asked about the ‘Us versus Alex’ and I was like ‘I thought that stuff was dead and buried.’ He came and apologized. We accepted it and we turned the page and moved forward.
“So there is no issue going forward for us, none whatsoever. We obviously want him to perform at the highest level. He’s been obviously great in the clubhouse, he’s been saying all the right things with the press and we’ve got a nice thing going on with the club. So as far as we’re concerned, as we said in the winter, it’s time to play baseball and that’s all that’s going on.”