Yankees' A-Rod is one swing away from a $6 million bonus (maybe)

Love him or hate him, Alex Rodriguez is one home run away from tying Willie Mays on Major League Baseball's all-time home run leader list. Mays hit 660 home runs over his 22-year career. Rodriguez is just long ball away from tying Mays for fourth place. He's also one home run away from a big payday.

Rodriguez signed his current contract with the Yankees in 2007 for $275 million over ten years. Also included in the deal: an unprecedented marketing agreement which promises him an additional $30 million on top of that-- if he continues to hit MLB milestones, like climbing the ranks of the home run leaders.

The first $6 million payout of that hinges on Rodriguez catching Willie Mays on the all-time home run list. He'd get another $6 million for tying Babe Ruth at 714 home runs and an additional $6 million to reach #2 Hank Aaron's 755 home runs. He'd get $6 million more to reach all-time home run leader Barry Bonds at 762. Plus an extra $6 million for passing Bonds, according to The New York Times.

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It's a pretty big deal.  But his team--one that never shies away from celebrating milestones-- isn't saying much about it. That's because sources say the deal hinges on whether or not the Yankees celebrate the achievement as a milestone and therefore market it as such. Language in the contract reportedly ties the bonuses to marketability. And with his admission of using performance-enhancing drugs, the Yankees will claim he is no longer marketable. A-Rod sat out all of last season, suspended for steroid use

In 1993, the Seattle Mariners drafted Alex Rodriguez, signing him to a three-year rookie contract with an annual salary of $442,333. He made his first All-Star team at the age of 20 and was second in MVP voting in 1996. Rodriguez remained with the Mariners on a $10 million, 4-year deal, where he established himself as one of the top players in the game.

In 2000, Rodriguez became a free agent, and the Texas Rangers signed Rodriguez to the largest contract in sports history. Then the mammoth ten-year, $252 million contract was the highest amount ever paid to an athlete in any sport, and more than $63 million more than any other baseball contract at the time. Despite posting some of the best numbers of his career with the Rangers, the lack of championships and the immense cost involved for the team led to a mutual split in 2004. Rodriguez waived his no-trade clause and joined the New York Yankees, who agreed to pay $112 million of the remaining $179 million on his Texas-sized salary.

In 2007, he exercised a clause in his contract that allowed him to opt out of the first mega-deal - and seek an even greater reward. The big-spending Yankees eventually worked out a new deal, this time for a whopping $275 million dollars over ten years, plus the $30 million in marketing bonuses tied to the star reaching or passing some of the all time great hitters in the league. The plan was to squeeze every possible dollar out of the record setting player's career, but his role in the PED scandal two years ago has the Yankees reconsidering how closely they want to tie their name to the player's.

So until Rodriguez’s next home run, the money stays with the Yankees, and Willie Mays remains #4 in home runs.

Oh and just to put this all in perspective, Willie Mays’ career baseball earnings were $1.95 million according to BaseballReference.com or the equivalent of about $13 million in today’s money.

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