As embattled New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez continues his legal battle with Major League Baseball over his 211-game suspension for his connection to Anthony Bosch and the Biogenesis clinic linked to selling performance enhancing drugs to 14 players, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman insists that the team doesn't prefer to have A-Rod's $25 million salary off its books because he is "irreplaceable."
According to ESPN, Cashman recently dismissed the theory that the general manager and the Yankees would rather see Rodriguez's 2014 salary come off the books than to actually have A-Rod win his hearing against the MLB, despite the fact that having Rodriguez return to the field for the Yankees in 2014 will complicate the team's efforts of trying to stay under the $189 million luxury tax threshold.
"If it comes down to, would we want the player we signed to be playing that position without any problems? Absolutely, no question about that," Cashman said, according to ESPN. "I think if people think there's some sort of benefit by losing that talent, I mean, you can't replace it. It's not like, all right, well, Alex is gone. If he winds up getting suspended and it's upheld, how do you replace that? It's not easy."
Rodriguez was suspended in August for his connection to Bosch and the clinic, and while 13 other players were suspended without argument--13 of the players banned for 50 games while Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun accepted and agreed to a 65-game ban--A-Rod was the only player to protest and thus was able to finish out the regular season without serving the suspension. The ban was dubbed to last through the remaining 2013 games at the time of the suspension and extend through the 2013 postseason and all of the 2014 regular season.
Since A-Rod chose to appeal and his grievance couldn't be heard until October, he finished out the season with the Yankees.
Cashman stood by his stance that he doesn't want the perception to be that the Yankees are hoping for A-Rod to lose so they have some money freed up.
"It's not like, all right, we'll take that money and go in this direction," he told ESPN. "I think ... our fan base saw when we lost significant players at various positions, it was not easy to plug holes because the talent just doesn't exist."
A-Rod, who signed a 10-year $305 million deal with the Yankees in 2007, was hindered by injuries for most of the season but made his season debut in August and went .244 with seven homers and 19 RBIs through 44 games in 2013 as the impending grievance hearing with the league and arbitrator Frederic Horowitz hung over his head.
A-Rod has 654 career homers and is just six shy of tying Willie Mayes' all-time total which would give him a $6 million bonus based on the terms and conditions of the 10-year pact he signed with the Yankees in 2007.
With Rodriguez's future with the club for 2014 in question, Cashman hasn't wavered on the fact that he'll hope to keep Rodriguez at the hot corner and that it's his best option.
"Ultimately from a baseball operations standpoint, taking out all the areas of controversy, having Alex Rodriguez man third base is obviously by far the best option for the Yankees than what the alternatives would be in theory," Cashman said per ESPN.
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