Alex Rodriguez has been working out with Barry Bonds - MLB

To prepare for his return to the Yankees after missing the entire 2014 season while serving out a 162-game PED suspension, Alex Rodriguez has enlisted the help of baseball’s home run king (and central figure of the “steroid era”) — Barry Bonds.

John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the two have been spotted working together at a Bay Area baseball facility called Future Prospects, owned by Bonds’ friend and former Arizona State teammate Charles Scott. Bonds has trained other major league hitters, like Dexter Fowler and Michael Morse, so this isn’t all that weird on a pure instructional level. Who knows more about late-career productivity — whatever you think of PEDs — than Bonds?

A-Rod, who will turn 40 years old in July, said last week that he expects to win the Yankees’ starting third base job this spring. It’s far more likely that he’ll DH, given that Chase Headley was retained.

Rodriguez is due a total of $64 million from the Yankees over the next three seasons. He also carries some marketing bonuses for career home run benchmarks.

Bonds and A-Rod have 1,416 career home runs between them.

Follow @drewsilv

SAN DIEGO — The scuffling San Diego Padres claimed catcher Gary Sánchez off waivers from the New York Mets.

The two-time All-Star was designated for assignment after playing in three games for the Mets. He went 1 for 6 with three strikeouts and an RBI, looking shaky at times behind the plate.

With the disappointing Padres (24-29) getting meager offensive production at catcher, they hope Sánchez can provide a boost. Austin Nola is batting .131 with three extra-base hits and a paltry .434 OPS in 39 games. His part-time platoon partner, second-stringer Brett Sullivan, is hitting .170 with four extra-base hits and a .482 OPS in 21 games since getting called up from the minors April 16.

Luis Campusano has been on the injured list since April 17 and is expected to be sidelined until around the All-Star break following left thumb surgery.

San Diego is responsible for just over $1 million in salary for Sánchez after assuming his $1.5 million, one-year contract.

The star-studded Padres have lost seven of 11 and are 3-3 on a nine-game East Coast trip. They open a three-game series at Miami.

San Diego becomes the third National League team to take a close look at the 30-year-old Sánchez this season. He spent time in the minors with San Francisco before getting released May 2 and signing a minor league contract a week later with the Mets, who were minus a couple of injured catchers at the time.

After hitting well in a short stint at Triple-A Syracuse, he was promoted to the big leagues May 19. When the Mets reinstated catcher Tomás Nido from the injured list last week, Sánchez was cut.

Sánchez’s best seasons came early in his career with the New York Yankees, where he was runner-up in 2016 AL Rookie of the Year voting and made the AL All-Star team in 2017 and 2019.

He was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season and batted .205 with 16 homers and 61 RBIs in 128 games last year.

With the Padres, Sánchez could also be a candidate for at-bats at designated hitter, where 42-year-old Nelson Cruz is batting .245 with three homers, 16 RBIs and a .670 OPS, and 37-year-old Matt Carpenter is hitting .174 with four homers, 21 RBIs and a .652 OPS.