I don’t understand why people seem to be surprised by this:
Indeed, no one has convinced Hal Steinbrenner to take even the slightest loss on the $60-plus million Rodriguez is still owed through 2017. The family has decided A-Rod will have to earn his every last dollar, even if it’ll mean being subjected to public ridicule.
That, apparently, doesn’t matter to Rodriguez. A friend who speaks to the slugger on a regular basis said he can’t be swayed into thinking the landscape will be too toxic. “If [Ryan] Braun could handle [negative public opinion], Alex thinks he can, too.”
In other words, the humiliation of the Biogenesis scandal will not factor in A-Rod’s preparation for next season.
A huge ego often goes hand-in-hand with developing great talent into super-star status. Players like Braun and Rodriguez need to compete, and they will go to any lengths to win. They won’t be well loved, but they often are champions.
How could it get much worse anyway, unless people actually throw stuff at him?
And given that people hated him on a truly insane level long before there was any known remotely reasonable reason to do so, I’m not inclined to fault him for it–particularly since it will inflict pain on the Yankees for signing him to a f***ing stupid contact. Play on, ARod, collect your money and don’t let the door hit you in the @$$ on the way out, or expect a call from Cooperstown (as utterly irrelevant as that will make it to the history of the game in so snubbing you).