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The New York Yankees have announced that they won’t be paying controversial star Alex Rodriguez any bonus money after he hit his 660th home run on May 1 to tie Willie Mays for fourth place overall. The Yankees had originally agreed to pay a marketing bonus of $6 million to Rodriguez when he tied Mays on the all-time Major League Baseball home run list. It appears the players’ union may now step in on the slugger’s behalf. If the union files a grievance it will likely be heard during the upcoming winter by an independent arbitrator.

The Yankees reportedly let Rodriguez know they wouldn’t be paying him any bonus money this season and now general manager Brian Cashman has stated the team will only be honouring A-Rod’s contract and nothing else. Rodriguez could possibly make up to $30 million in future bonuses. He was supposed to receive $6 million for when he tied Mays at 660 homers and also for hitting number 714 to tie Babe Ruth and another bonus for tying Hank Aaron with 755 and a further $6 million each for equaling Barry Bonds’ all-time record of 762 and then breaking the record if he hits number 763.

With Rodriguez serving a season-long suspension last year for performance-enhancing drugs, the Yankees say his home run feats can no longer be marketed and that means his bonuses have been voided. The bonuses were added to Rodriguez’s 2007 contract which pays him $275 million over 10 years. The ball club had the “right to designate” specific home runs as historical milestones and the wording said, “It’s the sole discretion of the New York Yankees to determine whether each of these milestones is commercially marketable as the home-run chase. The Yankees have the right, but not the obligation, to determine whether it’s a commercially marketable milestone.”

Cashman reiterated that it’s up to the Yankees organization if they want to pay any bonuses since they’re not under any legal obligation to do so. The ball club sais it’s hard to market the 600th home run since most fans see the feat as being tainted due to Rodriguez’s use of performance-enhancing substances. Therefore the team isn’t marketing the occasion in any way such as marketing any type of memorabilia for the homer.

However, the final word will likely come from the independent arbitrator later this year. Cashman said the wording of the contract is pretty straightforward though and it’s an open and shut case as far as he’s concerned. Cashman said there are n hard feelings between him and Rodriguez and he went to the clubhouse to congratulate him after belting the home run. The 39-year-old Rodriguez was batting .243 at the time of the milestone home run, which was his sixth homer and 14th RBI of the season.