Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson has been a "special adviser" to Yankees management and ownership for a number of years. In a recent issue of Sports Illustrated, Reggie had some pointed comments to make about other Hall of Fame players regarding PED use, singling out current Yankee star Alex Rodriguez.

Oops. Not a smart thing to do. The Yankees are apparently punishing Reggie. Christian Red:

... the Yankees have told Jackson to "stay away" from the Bronx and the Yankee players, according to two sources familiar with the team.

"Reggie is under punishment," said one of the sources. "He's upset."

A-Rod was apparently upset, too. He and Reggie had a talk, but no one's talking about it:

A-Rod said Jackson had called him to discuss the remarks and that they had spoken, but he did not want to reveal the contents of their conversation. "We’ll keep that very private," he said.

The two had become close friends since Rodriguez joined the Yankees, but clearly Jackson’s opinion of him has been colored by the 2009 admission that he used PEDs between 2001-03.

Asked if Jackson’s remarks had changed things, A-Rod answered: "Yeah . . . again what we said is we’re going to keep it private. . . . Anything that comes in the way of us winning games is white noise."

There always seems to be a lot of "white noise" surrounding the Yankees, but that didn't seem to get in the way of New York's winning three of four from their arch-rivals, the Red Sox, at Fenway Park over the weekend. The Yankees enter the All-Star break with the best record in baseball. Maybe they need more controversy, not less.

For more on the Yankees, please visit Pinstripe Alley and SB Nation New York.