New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez faces criticism from the team's front office as he recovers from hip surgery and fends off accusations of using performance-enhancing drugs. While the Yankees front office has been critical of his capacity to fulfill the mega-contract, they are optimistic he can at least be an "above-average player," NESN reports.
A 10-year, $275 million contract is a lot to live up to. It doesn't help that Rodriguez is expected to be out until late summer as he rehabs from hip surgery. Still, the team's front office made clear their lofty expectations of the 37-year-old and some feel he is not meeting them.
"It's something I think even Alex would tell you, he couldn't live up to that [contract]," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told ESPN. "It's an enormous contract, and I think that, I would say probably, he couldn't live up to it. But he's doing everything he can to try to do so."
Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner agreed with Cashman's assessment.
"It's a big contract to live up to," Steinbrenner told reporters. "We all hope he's going to act like a Yankee and do the best he can to live up to it."
He added: "There have no doubt been times that we've been disappointed in him, and we've conveyed that to him. He understands that. Look, everybody is human. Everybody makes mistakes. If you've got a guy over the course of 10 years, there are going to be times any of us makes mistakes in that period."
The team still thinks Rodriguez has some value, even if he'll never live up to his contract.
"Hopefully he can return to being at the very least an above-average player at [third base], because that's what he's been for the last few years," Cashman said. "Once his injuries came into play with him, they may have taken away his ability to be a superstar. But he's still an above-average player at that position and hopefully that's what we're going to get."
Piling onto Rodriguez's troubles is the recent accusation linking him to a South Florida clinic associated with performance-enhancing drugs. The Yankees are giving him the benefit of the doubt until more concrete evidence suggests otherwise.
"We haven't been told anything, so it hasn't complicated things at all," Steinbrenner said. "Innocent until proven guilty, right?"
