( CNN ) -- Alex Rodriguez will never be remembered as the greatest slugger in baseball , or as the greatest third-baseman , and -- despite the recent headlines -- probably not even as the biggest cheater . But he will go down in record books for something : Having the worst contract in American professional sports history . This is not a title that we hand out lightly , because teams have handed out some doozies over the years . Michael Vick got $ 135 million over 10 years from the Atlanta Falcons , and for that money , they got a quarterback who completed 54 % of his passes and went to prison for animal cruelty . Jerome James signed with the Knicks for $ 30 million , then averaged a grand total of three points a game . Barry Zito got $ 126 million from the San Francisco Giants and essentially forgot how to pitch . Rick DiPietro signed a $ 67 million contract with the Islanders , but now the goaltender could n't stop a beach ball -- which is an issue because that deal does n't run out until 2021 . And then , there is Bobby Bonilla 's deal with the Mets . The money-strapped baseball team in Queens is still paying the retired outfielder more than 18 players on their active roster and will continue paying him $ 1.2 million through 2035 ( when Bonilla is 72 ) as part of a mind-blowing buyout deal . Still : The Rodriguez deal tops them all for its sheer size and stupidity . On December 13 , 2007 , the Yankees signed him to a 10-year , $ 275 million contract loaded with incentives that , five years later , is an anvil on the payroll for even the richest team in baseball . Why is it the worst ? Let us count the ways : . 1 . The Yankees had a chance to move on . They had moved on , in fact , if you believed the strong words that came out of the team 's Tampa , Florida , offices during a tumultuous two weeks . Scott Boras , who was Rodriguez 's agent at the time , announced in the middle of a World Series game that his client would void the remaining three years and $ 72 million of the massive and ill-fated $ 252 million deal he had signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent . In some corners of the Yankees organization , the news was met with a sigh of relief . Rodriguez was productive in his time with the team , but controversial . And he had , at that point , wilted in the postseason . The idea that the team would bring him back was scoffed at . The Rangers were still paying $ 7 million a year from the original contract as part of the trade terms to the Yankees , and GM Brian Cashman insisted that the team had no intention of losing that subsidy . `` If a player does n't want us , we do n't want them , '' said Hank Steinbrenner , who had assumed control of the team as his father , George , had started to decline . `` That chapter is closed . '' But Rodriguez , who had 54 home runs and 156 RBI in an MVP season in 2007 , was a big star the team wanted for its profitable YES Network and its new $ 1 billion stadium . So that chapter was reopened . 2 . They had no competition . Bringing back Rodriguez , in itself , was n't an awful move . He was still a productive player in his prime . But somehow , the Yankees were given all the cards in the negotiation and still tossed them face-up onto the table . All around baseball , teams were scoffing at the idea of giving A-Rod a reported $ 350 million deal . The White Sox did n't want him . The Angels did n't want him . There were so few landing places , it seemed entirely possible , if not probable , that Rodriguez 's gamble to opt out of the deal would backfire . So what did the Yankees do ? They crawled back to the table and gave him a raise , a deal that would pay him $ 27.5 million a year with a series of $ 6 million bonuses for climbing up the all-time home run list . To quote Newsday at the time : `` ( Hank Steinbrenner ) wanted Rodriguez back so badly that he not only reversed a very loud and public proclamation , he wound up bidding against no one but himself in his mad rush to secure A-Rod 's services . '' All it took was an apology from Rodriguez ( who says it does n't pay to say you 're sorry ? ) , and A-Rod had his 10-year deal . 3 . His production failed to meet the salary from the start . Make no mistake : The numbers were very good . A-Rod earned $ 95 million in the first three years of his deal , and for that he batted .286 with a .537 slugging percentage , 95 home runs , 256 runs and 328 RBI . And the Yankees won the 2009 World Series , with Rodriguez a driving force during an epic postseason run . Some will say that one October justified the entire contract . Still , the decline began quickly . In 2011-12 , Rodriguez missed 103 games to injury and saw his batting average dip to .274 with 34 home runs and just 119 RBI in the two seasons combined . Despite his 647 career home runs , he was so bad in the postseason last October , Yankees manager Joe Girardi dropped him from the lineup entirely , and he has n't played since after offseason hip surgery . Nobody is sure when he 'll be ready again . Which is bad enough . But the Yankees still owe Rodriguez , who turns 38 next month , $ 28 million in 2014 , $ 21 million in 2015 and $ 20 million each in 2016 and 2017 . If he ca n't get on the field now , what can the team possibly expect to get from him in his early 40s ? And that does n't even factor in ... 4 . The cheating scandals . Note that the word scandal is plural here . After insisting for years that his success was not a product of the `` Steroids Era '' in baseball , a Sports Illustrated report reveal that he had , in fact , failed a test for illegal substances in 2003 . Bleacher Report : Rodriguez responds to latest allegations . So more than 200 journalists packed a news conference in Tampa in February 2009 to listen as Rodriguez explained that , from 2001 to 2003 , he had used steroids while with the Texas Rangers . But only with the Rangers . `` My mistake was because I was immature and I was stupid , '' Rodriguez said . `` I blame myself . For a week here , I kept looking for people to blame , and I keep looking at myself . '' He insisted that he was clean during his time with the Yankees . But now , according to an ESPN report , Major League Baseball plans to suspend him 100 games for his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs obtained through a Miami-area anti-aging clinic . The Yankees ? Disappointed is the word managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner used . `` There have no doubt been times when we 've been disappointed in him and we 've conveyed that to him and he understands that , '' he said . `` But look , everybody 's human and everybody makes mistakes . If you 've got a guy over the course of 10 years , there 's going to be times any of us make mistakes . `` It 's a big contract , '' Steinbrenner said . `` We all hope he 's going to act like a Yankee and do the best to live up to it . '' The founder of the clinic , Tony Bosch , is reportedly set to meet with baseball officials Friday . Does he have enough credibility or evidence to support the suspensions of a reported 20 players ? Many people around the sport are n't sure . For the Yankees , the question is something else entirely : If A-Rod actually is suspended , will it be enough to get them out from under the worst contract in professional sports history ? A-Rod denies performance-enhancing drugs reports . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Steve Politi .
Alex Rodriguez 's says Steve Politi contract is the worst in sports history . The Yankees still must pay him $ 72 million over the next four years . Yankees will be 42 when the contract finally runs out . Rodriguez has hit 42 career home runs but has yet to play this season because of injury .