A-Rod In Familiar Territory With Salary Cap Denial

By Rich Mancuso/thenyextra.com

What’s going on here?  The words of late NY sports scribe Dick Young and again used here. So Alex Rodriguez has put in a bid to purchase the Mets.  Thursday, the three-time American League MVP put that foot in his mouth.

 A-Rod, on a ESPN conference call said it was time for players to accept a revenue-sharing system. Did he say salary cap?  So, Friday morning it was Alex Rodriguez in denial. 

Of course, he didn’t say salary cap. That is, if you believe any number of denials that were a part of Alex Rodriquez and his playing career that was torn with a steroid controversy.

Denial and denial  of steroid use were a part of an A-Rod legacy with the New York Yankees and earning a half billion of Steinbernner money and from others. 

So, let’s get back to this denial from A-Rod. 

He took the money and was a cheat. A-Rod, took the money as the players and owners went back-and-forth about a salary cap. A-Rod, then, saw no complaints of taking the money because the MLBPA, fought for him and dozens of other players.

But the complexion has changed. Years later, and with MLB and the players’ union headed to a major labor war, Alex Rodriguez is no longer the player.  

Alex Rodriquez, despite his denials of salary cap and putting a foot in his mouth, is once again all about himself.  He is siding with owners as that potential bid to purchase the Mets is reportedly in motion.

And with players preparing to begin a 2020 season of uncertainty, headed to a spring training lockout in 2022, A-Rod, the ESPN and FOX baseball analyst became the enemy.

Not shocked. This is typical Alex Rodriguez, the knowledge of the game that is respected. His knowledge of baseball economics and attempt to be an owner of the Mets with fiance Jennifer Lopez?

He put that foot in his mouth.

 Two-sides of Alex Rodriquez, nothing new about the persona, and known if you were on the beat with the Yankees and learned how to deal with the controversy that is a part of the A-Rod legacy.

Denials about the use of PEDs. Caught red-handed and suspended for the entire 2014 season, and a union that filed a grievance on his behalf.  The home runs, in the record books? Remember that?  We have to deny that exists because he never played the game on an even scale.

It was cheating. And now, despite denials of saying baseball needs a salary cap, A-Rod, once again is on the defensive side. It’s an insult and going against a union that was on his side that earned him a lot of money as others played fair.

For years, Alex Rodriquez was a part of players and their fight against  salary caps. A revenue-sharing plan was not in the best interests for baseball.  Now, he wants the game to adopt an economic structure that is similar to the NBA, NFL, and NHL.

So, Alex Rodriguez retracted his statement. Sound familiar?

“I was asked about the CBA expiring in 2021,” he said. “I answered honestly, but never mentioned the word salary cap. I suggested on the call that both sides, players and owners, work together to make baseball as big as the NFL, and the NBA.”

This was vintage A-Rod. He is under attack and needs no enemies from a union that made him wealthy. How does $275 million from the Texas Rangers? And how many of those 350 home runs in Arlington were legitimate and prior to the entire steroid scandal?

“Alex benefited as much as anybody from the battles this union fought against owners’ repeated attempts to get a salary cap,” said Tony Clark the head of the players’ union. 

“Now that he is attempting to become an owner himself his perspective appears to be different. And that perspective does not reflect the best interests of the players.”

So, here we are again. A-Rod is the center of controversy and not at the right time. He is one of four that is reportedly in the running to take control of the Mets, and at a time when the union and owners are headed to a labor dispute that will be nasty.

Yet, again,  he put that foot in his mouth. No complaints about $448 million earned as a player,  He said, 1994 was wholly different than today when it comes to standards and economics for players.

And it has changed. This entire economic system of baseball has been out of proportion and owners are at fault for letting it get that way. That entire steroid scandal and the home runs developed more revenue.

Alex Rodriguez was a part of that era. He got caught with all the denials. Now, in 2020, it’s A-Rod, who lost more than one friend in the dugout with his comments on Thursday

But, A-Rod will find a way to retract his mistake. He is a master at that. He knows how to dig out of a hole.

Except this hole is more difficult. His face and voice will be heard in the next week on ESPN and Fox as the analyst. In the balance, a potential to become that new owner of a sports franchise in New York.

But as Dick Young always wrote, “What’s Going On Here?”

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