Hample will present the ball to Rodriguez at a 5 p.m. ET press conference Friday before the Yankees take on the Rays at Yankee Stadium. Surely the league knows Rodriguez can’t speak out against donating to charity, but he’d definitely rather have the $6 million.
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Rodriguez is batting. 280 with 15 home runs and 45 RBI in his comeback season. Hal Steinbrenner, the Yankees’ principal owner, directed team president Randy Levine to try to work out an agreement. Rodriguez in turn sued Major League Baseball, the players’ union and the Yankees’ team physician. The Yankees (42-37) are tied with the Baltimore Orioles (42-37) atop the division while the Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays follow closely behind with identical 42-39 records, putting them each a game back. While hitting a home run to achieve the feat is magical, it can sometimes come with a price, which Rodriguez found out. “I was just being snarky and trying to be amusing and didn’t think the eyes of the world would be on me”.
The relationship between the famous designated hitter and Yankees’ brass deteriorated after Rodriguez was targeted by the MLB’s Biogenesis drug investigation and was suspended for the entire 2014 season.
A-Rod recently hit the first of those milestones with career home run No. 660, tying Willie Mays.
At the time Rodriguez and the Yankees signed their $275 million, 10-year contract in December 2007, they reached a separate marketing agreement.
While Hample will ultimately benefit from the exchange, the fact that a charity is involved makes it a much more meaningful and fulfilling transaction than most probably expected.
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It originally looked like the New York Yankees and Alex Rodriguez were going to go to war over a $6 million home run bonus. The agreement said that $1 million will go to charities long-supported by either the player or franchise, naming the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, the Boys & Girls Club of Tampa (where the Yankees hold spring training) and Pitch In For Baseball. Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. will determine the initiatives to be supported by the $2.5 million contribution after consulting with Mr. Rodriguez, and taking into consideration the focus of Mr. Rodriguez’s past charitable contributions.
