Report: Yankees could release Alex Rodriguez by end of season

The New York Yankees could release slumping slugger Alex Rodriguez before the end of the season.

The New York Yankees could release slumping slugger Alex Rodriguez before the end of the season, a source told Peter Botte and Christian Red of the New York Daily News.

It is more likely the team will wait until this winter to cut Rodriguez, but parting ways with him by season’s end remains a possibility, according to the Daily News.

Rodriguez, 41, is hitting .205 through 61 games this season with nine home runs and 29 RBIs, all of which are far from his career season averages. He is four homers away from reaching the 700 home run milestone, which only Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth achieved during their careers.

Even if the Yankees cut Rodriguez, they would still owe him the remaining $21 million he is set to earn this year and the $21 million he is guaranteed for next year, the final season of the 10-year, $275 million contract he signed in 2007.

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When asked about the prospect of being released, Rodriguez said he was hopeful he could stay in New York.

“I hope not,” Rodriguez said on Monday. “I want to play and think I can make a difference on the field and in the clubhouse.”

The Yankees are in fourth place in the AL East with a 53–52 record, and ceded their chances of a pennant run by trading away veterans Carlos Beltran, Ivan Nova, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller for a variety of prospects before the trade deadline on Monday.

- Erin Flynn