First of all, I have removed the ARod in the 
clutch tracker on the upper right hand corner of the blog, because I think almost all of us can agree that he has been outstanding this year, and is not the reason the Yankees are 10 or so games behind the Red Sox coming out of the All-Star break. Arod has blasted 31 home runs and driven in almost 90 runs as of last night.
He has been hitting the cover year, in what essentially is a contract year as he has the ability to opt out of his 10 year $252 Million dollar contract he signed in 2001 with Texas Rangers. His agent, Scott Boras, very intelligently negotiated an opt-out option after 7 years, which is the same clause that allowed J.D. Drew to stiff the Dodgers last year to walk away for more money with the Red Sox this year.
Second, for anyone who has read my stuff knows that I have a long-standing dislike of Alex Rodriguez and by association Boras. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that maybe the best player of our generation is now playing the hot corner for the Bombers, but he is all about the money, always has been and always will be. Do not believe for one minute that he values winning more than the almighty dollar. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I just wish he would admit it once and for all.
Also, I am very concerned that if he does leave that we have no potential 3b in the pipeline and there is no decent ones coming available as free agents in the off-season. If I had my way, regardless of money (it is not my money after all, and I don't have to pay the luxury tax) I would rather have Alex Rodriguez on the Yankees, than not having him here.
I also understand that ARod can't win no matter what he does or says with the Yankee fan base, or with the overall baseball community. For months he has said (what else could he do) that he loves playing in New York, and he wants to finish his career in pinstripes. Though in his other statements that he won't talk about his option to opt-out in order to negotiate a presumably new 8 year, $300 million contract with another team waiting in the wings (Cubs, Angels, Red Sox, Dodger). So what is the purpose of this post?
Because in spite of his talk about wanting to stay a Yankee for the rest of his career and his reluctance to discuss his end of the year option, the Yankees have breached the subject of negotiating with ARod during the season to prevent him from testing the free agent waters and Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Boras have taken a hard line approach saying they won't negotiate during the season.
For better or worse the Yankee policy has also been no in-season contract negotiations, but they made an exception for the best player in the game. One of the reasons the Yankees want to
open negotiations now, before he opt-out is that Texas is still paying a significant portion of the current contract and are on the line for $16-20 million over the next 3 years. If the Yankees can renegotiate before that contract is voided, they can still hold the Rangers accountable for that money. However if he becomes a free agent, then if they Yankees get into the bidding then they will be on the hook for the whole amount and with the luxury tax, it is actually close to $1.50 on the $1.00, so affording him in November is much more expensive. The other down side to this ploy is that the Yankees now have to open mid-season negotiations with Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, two crucial members of the Yankee Dynasty who I think the fan has much more allegiance too than ARod.
What irritates me is that Arod and Boras could have begun the negotiation at least for PR purposes with the Yankees to at least show that he means what he says. Do I seriously think a deal will be reached before he declares himself a free agent in November? Not on your life, but again for a guy who's image means everything, he is continually shooting himself in the foot. Either he should shut up and just play ball, ala Mr. Steroid Barry Bonds or he should put his money where his mouth is and start negotiating. Just because you are negotiating does not mean you have to come to an agreement. Perhaps the Yankees are willing to offer him enough money and enough years to justify keeping Arod off of the market in the fall. If you don't negotiate we will never know.
clutch tracker on the upper right hand corner of the blog, because I think almost all of us can agree that he has been outstanding this year, and is not the reason the Yankees are 10 or so games behind the Red Sox coming out of the All-Star break. Arod has blasted 31 home runs and driven in almost 90 runs as of last night.He has been hitting the cover year, in what essentially is a contract year as he has the ability to opt out of his 10 year $252 Million dollar contract he signed in 2001 with Texas Rangers. His agent, Scott Boras, very intelligently negotiated an opt-out option after 7 years, which is the same clause that allowed J.D. Drew to stiff the Dodgers last year to walk away for more money with the Red Sox this year.
Second, for anyone who has read my stuff knows that I have a long-standing dislike of Alex Rodriguez and by association Boras. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that maybe the best player of our generation is now playing the hot corner for the Bombers, but he is all about the money, always has been and always will be. Do not believe for one minute that he values winning more than the almighty dollar. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I just wish he would admit it once and for all.Also, I am very concerned that if he does leave that we have no potential 3b in the pipeline and there is no decent ones coming available as free agents in the off-season. If I had my way, regardless of money (it is not my money after all, and I don't have to pay the luxury tax) I would rather have Alex Rodriguez on the Yankees, than not having him here.
I also understand that ARod can't win no matter what he does or says with the Yankee fan base, or with the overall baseball community. For months he has said (what else could he do) that he loves playing in New York, and he wants to finish his career in pinstripes. Though in his other statements that he won't talk about his option to opt-out in order to negotiate a presumably new 8 year, $300 million contract with another team waiting in the wings (Cubs, Angels, Red Sox, Dodger). So what is the purpose of this post?
Because in spite of his talk about wanting to stay a Yankee for the rest of his career and his reluctance to discuss his end of the year option, the Yankees have breached the subject of negotiating with ARod during the season to prevent him from testing the free agent waters and Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. Boras have taken a hard line approach saying they won't negotiate during the season.
For better or worse the Yankee policy has also been no in-season contract negotiations, but they made an exception for the best player in the game. One of the reasons the Yankees want to
open negotiations now, before he opt-out is that Texas is still paying a significant portion of the current contract and are on the line for $16-20 million over the next 3 years. If the Yankees can renegotiate before that contract is voided, they can still hold the Rangers accountable for that money. However if he becomes a free agent, then if they Yankees get into the bidding then they will be on the hook for the whole amount and with the luxury tax, it is actually close to $1.50 on the $1.00, so affording him in November is much more expensive. The other down side to this ploy is that the Yankees now have to open mid-season negotiations with Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera, two crucial members of the Yankee Dynasty who I think the fan has much more allegiance too than ARod.What irritates me is that Arod and Boras could have begun the negotiation at least for PR purposes with the Yankees to at least show that he means what he says. Do I seriously think a deal will be reached before he declares himself a free agent in November? Not on your life, but again for a guy who's image means everything, he is continually shooting himself in the foot. Either he should shut up and just play ball, ala Mr. Steroid Barry Bonds or he should put his money where his mouth is and start negotiating. Just because you are negotiating does not mean you have to come to an agreement. Perhaps the Yankees are willing to offer him enough money and enough years to justify keeping Arod off of the market in the fall. If you don't negotiate we will never know.
2 comments:
I'm not a fan of A-Rod, but as you say, I would rather have him on the team than not.
I can't figure out what the hell is going on this year, on paper they are untouchable.
i think one of the Yankees largest problems is indifference. They have become so accustomed to winning that the fire is gone in everyone but Jeter and Posada
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