Yankees Editorials: Will Alex Rodriguez receive the Barry Bonds treatment?

By Caleb Gebrewold | May 20, 2015

While New York Yankees DH Alex Rodriguez and Barry Bonds have been linked plenty over the course of the spectacular, yet controversial, careers of the two sluggers. Both were amazing talents before being linked to performance enhancing drugs, but became the two most hated stars of their generation due to their usage of chemicals to fill personal insecurities.

The two currently rank first (Bonds, 762), and fourth (Rodriguez, 664) all-time in home runs, something that surely influences much of the hate against them. Rodriguez, who has said in the past that he would like to take Bonds’ record, is under contract through 2017. Upon the conclusion of his contract, could the two develop another connection?

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For some time now, Bonds has felt that the MLB played a role in preventing him from acquiring a job following the 2007 season. Now, Bonds has went through with a grievance lawsuit against the MLB, per Jon Heyman of CBS Sports:

"All-time home run king Barry Bonds is going ahead with a case against MLB regarding his claim of collusion by teams that prevented him from obtaining a playing job following the 2007 season, people with knowledge of the case said. Bonds has long contended that a collusion of MLB owners effectively ended his career following the ’07 season, when he set the career home run record with 762 homers."

If Rodriguez wants to catch Bonds, he likely will have to play beyond 2017. At the quarter mark of the season, Rodriguez is currently on pace for over 40 home runs, so assuming he will hit 30-35 is not far-fetched. For arguments sake, let us assume he finishes 2015 with 35 home runs. That will leave Rodriguez with 689 home runs, and 73 behind Bonds.

Duplicating that production in 2016 and 2017 will be a difficult task, so let’s say he hits a combined 50 home runs in those two years, ending his contract with 739, or 24 behind Bonds. Could we see a similar situation where the MLB collectively agrees to block Rodriguez out, ten years after they did so with Bonds?

Rodriguez is highly disliked by the majority of baseball, so this wouldn’t be odd. After all, Bonds did hit 28 home runs in his final season, and he also led the league with a .480 OBP and a 1.045 OPS, and even offered to play for the league minimum. Without the PED suspicions, any team in the league surely would have jumped at the chance to sign Bonds.

If Bonds’ case proves that there was an effort on Major League Baseball’s part to keep Bonds away from the game, then it’s hard to envision Rodriguez suffering a similar fate. If Bonds’ case proves inconclusive, then we could see a similar fate with Rodriguez, unless one owner wants to reap potential benefits from having their player break the home run record.

Unless he is cut, something that seems more unlikely everyday, Rodriguez won’t be a free agent until the conclusion of the 2017 season, and he could even rebuild his image by then. This may a little premature, but Bonds’ case is definitely something to keep an eye on.

Next: Yankees News: Will Alex Rodriguez Play First Base in D.C.?

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