Alex Rodriguez to opt out of Yankees Contract

[garfieldsnose 0]

Hey, as long as it keeps the Yanks out of the World Series.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Hey, as long as it keeps the Yanks out of the World Series.

Sometime you'll have to explain how acquiring good players hurts your team.

[garfieldsnose 0]

Merely poking fun at the fact that since 2000, no matter how many great players the Yankees land, they haven't been able to win the World Series. And they haven't even been there since they've had A-Rod. Is he the new Jason Giambi curse?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The Yankees not reaching/winning the World Series is more an indication that baseball is highly competitive. It's not like playing a video game or something where you accumulate enough points and you advance to the next level. There are 13 other teams in the American League, each doing what they can to improve their own teams. A team that keeps its entire 25 man roster will ALWAYS decline the next season. (I don't think there's ever been a team that has had zero roster turnover). As far as the current Yankees, their finishes would logically indicate that they're the 2-4th best team in the league over the last four seasons. To say not reaching first is failure is shortsighted, and the idea that your players are worthless because they only finished so high is laughable. (Not directing this at anyone in the board in particular.) The Yankees scored 968 runs last season. Using runs created, Rodriguez was responsible for about 160 of them. That is quite a bit of production to replace. And then you figure that every Yankees starter is likely to decline with the exceptions of Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera.

 

Of course it makes me wonder how much good it will do the Yankees to pay over $50 million a season JUST to keep their current team intact. Think about that for a moment. Any rational team would say, "this is ridiculous, we need to restock with younger and cheaper players." Posada is one thing because the catching market is weak. But how much have they needed Rivera the last few seasons? They go weeks without save situations. I really get the feeling this team is going to crash and burn one of these years. Especially if one or more of their pitching prospect trinity goes down.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

Merely poking fun at the fact that since 2000, no matter how many great players the Yankees land, they haven't been able to win the World Series. And they haven't even been there since they've had A-Rod. Is he the new Jason Giambi curse?

 

 

It's not a curse. It's the lack of pitching. The four championship teams had great starting pitching and a good bullpen. The team of the past four of five has not. The players they've acquired have mostly all performed to expectations, which has been reflected in the their regular season record. However, there isn't quite enough to differentiate them in the postseason.

 

World Series win or not, the Yankees have probably had one of three best teams in baseball since they acquired A-Rod (with the Red Sox and Cardinals). The fact that they haven't won might just be bad luck associated with the random nature of the baseball postseason tournament.

[Boxer 0]

All but done:

 

Report: A-Rod, Yankees agree on outline of $275 million, 10-year contract

 

NEW YORK -- Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees have agreed to the outline of a

$275 million, 10-year contract, a deal that potentially would allow him to earn millions more if he sets the career home run record.

 

 

 

The amount of the guaranteed money was revealed by a person familiar with the negotiations who spoke Thursday on condition of anonymity because the deal hasn't been finalized. A-Rod met Wednesday in Tampa, Fla., with the Steinbrenner brothers but the parameters of the deal were set in place last weekend.

 

 

 

"Yeah, I could say that," Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner said. "The meeting was a final get-together. He wanted to make sure myself and my brother knew that he was sincere and serious."

 

 

 

The Yankees still must draft the agreement with Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3112799

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

A-Rod turns down 8 years and $220 million from the Yankees, takes a huge public backlash from the fans and media, gets no firm offers from the market and ends up with $275-$300 million from the team he just left.

 

I've said it before, but Boras is an absolute genius. He misread the free agent market for his client's services, saw the opportunity to land a contract for his prize client going up in smoke and somehow turned it into the largest contract in MLB history.

 

I want this man to negotiate my next pay raise.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

The only thing that doesn't fit is why Boras is settling a free agent case VERY early in the game. This is a guy who waits until the 11th hour on his draft holdouts.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

The only thing that doesn't fit is why Boras is settling a free agent case VERY early in the game. This is a guy who waits until the 11th hour on his draft holdouts.

 

Boras spent most of the season clamoring for $35-$40 million a year and anywhere from 10 to 12 years. General buzz from the two week negotiation period indicated that the teams that were interested were balking at a 7th and 8th year and were only offering $20-$25 million per. I think he went for the best deal possible before the market participants caught up to the fact that he could be had for a lot less money than most expected.

 

This contract has the largest gross dollar amount and highest AAV of any contract in baseball history. There is no reason to continue to play the market like Boras usually does when his client just set the upper limit for all baseball contracts.

[Brett Favre 0]

So you think he's nice because A-Rod got the same money he was going to get from in the beginning? He got A-Rod nothing. A-Rod was getting this money regardless.

[Smartly Pretty 0]

So what happens first: A-rod wins a world series, or A-rod breaks the home run record?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

So what happens first: A-rod wins a world series, or A-rod breaks the home run record?

Home run record. Rodriguez is the most likely player active to break the record. The Yankees meanwhile are perhaps the third best team in the league going forward.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

So what happens first: A-rod wins a world series, or A-rod breaks the home run record?

 

 

A-Rod is only 244 homeruns away from the record right now. He could break that in 5 years (unlikely, but still very possible). I have no idea if the Yankees will win the World Series before then. Theoretically, if they continue to make the playoffs every year, you'd figure they'd win at least one every 8 years (assuming every playoff team has an equal shot, which is not necessarily the case).