Yankees Let A-Rod Retire Gracefully ... or Else
Traces of the old Bronx Bombers dynasty still exist.
Like tossing $21million in the dumpster, which accounts for Alex Rodriguez's last non-year as a player under contract.
But Hal Steinbrenner is running his old man's baseball monolith in a different way.
It's almost -- dare we say? -- human.
First, George's kid signs off on a genuine -- and necessary -- rebuilding of a team that doesn't involve a bombs-away checkbook.
And now, he's actually allowing the club's very own Lightning-Rod to fade gracefully into a front office job. It just had to be immediate.
It's an interesting end to a complicated career.
Rodriguez is as confounding as Barry Bonds. Neither really needed a PED boost, but each was egocentric -- and ironically, insecure -- enough to seek it out.
Dude tried to snitch his way out of punishment once the jig was up, turned against his fellow players in his own self-interests -- well and truly short-sighted, by the way -- and if nothing else, A-Rod was all about self-interest, anywhere and all the time.
Perhaps his time away from the game actually did change his attitude. Rodriguez seemed to mellow and actually do nice things since then.
What coulda been.