November 16, 2007
A-Rod Incentive
The NY Daily News reports Alex Rodriguez's new contract comes with incentives:
The contract will include incentives connected to A-Rod's expected pursuit of Barry Bonds' all-time home run record. Rodriguez hit his 500th home run on Aug. 4 at the age of 32, becoming the youngest player to reach that milestone. A-Rod finished the season with 54 homers, giving him 518 for his career.
That's very unusual for the Yankees. As a rule they don't offer incentives for winning individual honors. Of course, this is a career incentive, and part of what makes Rodriguez valuable is the attention he and the team receive as Alex chases a number of all-time marks. Given that Rodriguez remains untainted by the steroid scandals, his pursuit of the home run record should generate a ton of positive press. No doubt that Rodriguez breaking Bonds record will be written as a story of redemption for major league baseball.
I beg your pardon, David, but the contract does not include incentives. It includes Historic Achievement Bonuses. Hank Steinbrenner says there's a world of difference.
tinyurl.com/ypydxh
Doesn't this sound like the kind of thing that would give Alex fits? Just think about the HR drought before he hit 500 - was it something like two weeks?
No, just checked it was 499 on 7/25 and 500 on 8/4.
I just hope he doesn't get an ulcer as "Historic Achievement" time draws closer in the next few years.
I just read the article, and DAMN, is there any pie Goldman Sachs doesn't have a finger in?
"Two managing directors for Goldman Sachs -- John Mallory and Gerald Cardinale -- were pivotal in brokering the peace between Rodriguez and the Steinbrenners, who were miffed at Rodriguez for opting out of his contract on Oct. 28."
I'm sure the Yankees would like to have the (player with the) career homerun record back for the first time since Henry Aaron and the Braves stole it from them.
Well, Babe did hit number 714 as a member of the Braves (the Boston Braves, of course), so one could argue that Hank just kept the record in the franchise....
So the Yankees will have to trade A-Rod to the Braves in 2014.
For John Smoltz.
If ESPN writes the story then anything any Yankee does is a story of redemption for major league baseball. Today they picked the brightest stars to watch in the future and guess who was first. Joba the Hut. Now a very positive case could be made for Jacoby Ellsbury as MVP of the world series. Not taking anything away from Mike Lowell. But look at what Ellsbury did and then consider that he was a call up this year. Now wouldn't you think that he would be one of THE prospects to watch for next year? Not if you are ESPN, but then again they never have been able to look outside the box. Believe it or not there is a world outside of NYC.
I agree, I get so sick of Peter Gammons carrying on about his beloved Yankees, running for President of "Yankee Nation," and so forth.
Haha yeah, Peter tries to add the "balance". But you have to admit, Peter is the only one. The rest of those bozos are so myopic.
Hey JeremyM, by the way Peter did not run for Red Sox nation President someone else put his name on the ballot. But I admit your point is well taken, but then again he is the only one.
I did see that he had been nominated and didn't choose to run, but I think since he released a "campaign platform," he's fair game:) Also, where you see a bias with espn, I just see general incompetence. For instance, Steve Phillips clearly despises the Yankees, plus he's an idiot to boot. He spent last offseason hollering that the Yankees had to trade A-Rod, and was adamant the Yankees should've traded Melky Cabrera and Phillip Hughes for Eric Gagne this summer. Although to be honest, I can't stomach enough espn analysis to make a true judgment towards them!