664. As of this writing, that’s the number of home runs Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees has. It’s enough to put him into fourth place all time, behind Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Barry Bonds. And it’s enough to earn him $6 million in bonuses from his contract with the Yankees. But the Yankees have made it clear they won’t pay.

This state of affairs has made for some awkward soul searching for both the media and the general baseball fan. On the one hand, Rodriguez is almost universally loathed for his perceived arrogance and greed. On the other, everyone understands that he’s being railroaded.

It’s more than plausible that the swing in public opinion on Rodriguez comes from the public’s real feelings about the team owners and league commissioner’s office. Everyone knows- or should know- that the men at the top were cognizant about the spread of PEDs in professional baseball. The use of these drugs and their effect on the game saved baseball.

If this were only about Alex Rodriguez, it wouldn’t be as much of an issue for the players and fans. Rodriguez is hardly a sympathetic character, both on and off the field. He has almost zero charisma. But this is not just about Alex Rodriguez.

It’s about the ever present labor struggle in Major League Baseball. It’s about the victory the players won in achieving free agency and the desire of the owners to roll that achievement back. And it’s about the gross hypocrisy of the owners and Commissioner of MLB in prosecuting players for using PEDs after the use of the drugs arguably saved the industry.