A-Rod released by Yankees, who owe him $27 million more

NEW YORK – Alex Rodriguez was unconditionally released by the New York Yankees on Saturday, ending his 12 years in pinstripes and perhaps his big league career after 22 seasons.

New York’s move leaves the team responsible for $27,103,825 remaining in his $275 million, 10-year contract. He is owed $7,103,825 of his $20 million salary for the final 65 days of this season and $20 million next year.

The 41-year-old designated hitter went 1-for-4 with an RBI double in his finale Friday night, a 6-3 win over Tampa Bay. He hit .200 with nine homers and 31 RBIs this season. He has 696 home runs, fourth on the career list behind Barry Bonds (762), Hank Aaron (755) and Babe Ruth (714).

Rodriguez’s career batting average is at .295. A 14-time All-Star and three-time AL MVP, A-Rod has 3,115 hits and his 2,086 RBIs are second to Aaron’s 2,297 since RBIs became an official statistic. He was suspended for the 2014 season for violations of baseball’s drug agreement and labour contract.

Rodriguez’s finale was seen by a season-high 368,000 viewers on the Yankees’ YES Network, opposite the Olympics, a Mets-Padres game and the New York Giants’ NFL preseason game. In addition, the game also was televised nationally on Fox, and YES is no longer available on Comcast.

Mariano Rivera’s farewell in 2013 was seen by an average of 258,000 viewers on YES and Derek Jeter’s in 2014 by an average of 1.25 million on YES, the most-viewed program ever on a regional sports network.