Alex Rodriguez apparently apologized this week to his team.
Whether the Yankees want or need A-Rod back in the fold is the $60 million question.
$60 million is what A-Rod is owed on his deal. It may be more with home run bonus clauses. The Yankees have tried to find a way out of the contract, claiming A-Rod breached it, but MLB and the players union would probably not allow it.
Rodriguez is 39. He played in only 44 games last season. He hit .244.
He is the poster child for cheating, PED use. He apologized once before, and kept on using by all accounts in the Biogenesis scandal.
So why would the Yankees want an old, drug broken cancer in their clubhouse?
Rodriguez wants to play and he will probably fight his way through the door.
But the team does not have to allow it. They can pay him off and cast him aside like many other aged, dead money ball players.
The Yankees are all about pride and winning. The team has finished second and third in the AL East the last two seasons, with win totals around 84.5.
Most people in NY believe A-Rod can't field well anymore. He is a defensive liability. At best, he would be a DH. But a DH with probable limited power. But the team already has Garrett Jones and Chris Young to platoon at DH.
It is how much of a media circus the Yankees are willing to take in 2015.
If baseball really wants to send a message about the steroid era, A-Rod should never play another game. But in essence, A-Rod still wins by cheating: he gets paid for his past enhanced performance.
