SI's Jon Heyman was just on Rome's show and had some interesting comments about ARod.

First, almost every writer that I have heard asked thinks that ARod is going to opt out of his Yankee contract after this season, Heyman agrees with that.

Basically, he's got 3 years at roughly $80 mil left on his current deal, and the thought is that he can probably get a deal better than Soriano got from the Cubs this year (8yr/$136m) if he opts out, plus it gets him out of NY.

If you factor in that he'll most likely be chasing Barry Bonds' home run record during his next contract, you can see where it makes some sense for a team to pay that kind of $ for ARod.

More interesting was Heyman's comments that Rodriguez has slimmed down significantly over the offseason, and he's speculating that a return to SS is a real possibility when ARod gets away from Jeter/NYY.

I think you can see where I am going with this - ARod to SS, Guillen to 1B.

Would Ilitch pony up? Would you want him to?

I'm sure teams like the Giants (especially with Bonds' salary off the books) and the Angels will be hot after him as well, of course.

a 1000 times no. not bondo for arod. not $120 million for arod. dont want him. he's a slow bat, and he seems to have other issues too.

Guillen has stated multiple times that he doesn't like playing 1B. So if we were to sign ARod to play SS, we would still need to find a 1B.

Or ARod could play 3B and Inge could shift to 1B or back to his utility role.

He'll want another big market.

Inge is not a 1st baseman. I'd much rather see him stay at 3rd.

i agree, i cant wait to see his play at 3rd this year. i think hes a great bet for a gg. im hoping he cuts his errors in 1/2.

Gullien Resigned, Death to Stupid Rumor.

Actually, it wouldn't be that surprising if now that Guillen has his $ he might be more open to 1B.

His numbers look a lot better as a SS than they do as a 1B, which could have been the root of his reluctance to play there.

And it wasn't really a rumor, it was pure speculation.

I think A-Rod to Detroit would be a great move. It would give the large Latino poulation of Detroit a real hero to admire, and maybe attract more of Detroits large Hispanic population to Tiger games.

Danny Knobler said that Guillen has stated he would play any position the club wanted if they thought it was best, even outfield.

Question - Why would ARod want another big market? The pressure of playing in the biggest market destroyed his confidence and it had a marked impact on his performance.

The biggest thing that could hurt Detroit's chances would be dimensions of Comerica. Even if parts of the park are fairly standard, the perception is that it's still a huge park.

Now, if Sheffield hits 40+ this year (by the way, A-Rod and Shef now have an arguably better relationship than A-Rod and Jeter), thta would help kill the stigma.

Bottom line: It MAY happen, but at the end of the day it still isn't likely. (Just like it wasn't likely Pudge, Ordonez, Rogers or Sheffield would ever be here and be happy about it)

a 1000 times no. not bondo for arod. not $120 million for arod. dont want him. he's a slow bat, and he seems to have other issues too.

I guess you were right, this guy sucks, especially that slow bat.

I hope to God the Tigers stay away from him.

I'd love to have A rod here, but with Inge and Guillen resigned I'm not sure that could happen. Guillen would have to move to first of course. I think he would be receptive to that if we signed another player to play SS. I think he'd be pissed if we moved him there and played Nefi there though. So would I.

I guess you were right, this guy sucks, especially that slow bat.

I hope to God the Tigers stay away from him.

fair enough. he's off to a great start beating up on some, uh, so so pitching. you can laugh now, but lets see him overpower a flamethrower in the playoffs before we go back to offering bonderman for the right to pay this dude a quarter of a billion dollars.

Remember A-Rod has basically only had one bad season. A bad season where he hit .290, 35 home runs, and 121 RBI's. He's never had less than 100 RBI's since becoming a regular in his 3rd year (one year he had 84 in 141 games) and never less than 35 home runs (except that short year when he hit 23). A life time .306 hitter with 22 stolen bases a year.

I'm confused at why A Rod gets all this critism. He clearly isn't a third baseman and clearly doesn't belong in the media hype of NY. So what?

Jeter had a better batting average (by quite a bit), but otherwise A Rod had better numbers than Jeter, and Jeter was almost the MVP. I don't think A rod deserves the booing myself. If they don't want him, I'll gladly take him.

If Ilitch would spend, I'd gladly have him here. Sign him and worry about where to play guys later, he's that good.

I don't think Guillen would have a problem moving to a different position. They were teammates in Seattle, and he moved to 3B so A-Rod could play SS. I'd welcome him with open arms, but I'm sure he's out of Illitch's price range. Is he THAT rich?

He wouldn't have to pay that long. Maggs' contract is up after next season, so he'd only have one season of A Rod and Maggs. Pudge only signed a 4 year deal and they picked up his option this year. I think he'll be around a few more years, but you never know. Craig Monroe and Thames are on 1 year deals I think. Really, you just have Guillen, Inge and Sheff locked up (for postion players) for bigger money.

He wouldn't have to pay that long. Maggs' contract is up after next season, so he'd only have one season of A Rod and Maggs. Pudge only signed a 4 year deal and they picked up his option this year. I think he'll be around a few more years, but you never know. Craig Monroe and Thames are on 1 year deals I think. Really, you just have Guillen, Inge and Sheff locked up (for postion players) for bigger money.

Maggs is actually locked up through 2009 at 15 and 18 mill a year. Plus there are two option years, 18 mill for 2010 and 15 mill for 2011. Those options become guaranteed if he has either 135 starts or 540 plate appearances the year before. Leaves us in a tough spot, we either have to resign ourselves to overpaying him or hope he gets hurt so the options aren't triggered.

are you sure about that? The article I read said he signed a 5 year deal with options to make it 7 years. This would be his 4th year now.

You know a lot more about baseball than me, so I'm not calling you a liar at all.

You know a lot more about baseball than me, so I'm not calling you a liar at all.

translation: YOU ARE A LIAR!!!

I thought Maggs was only on his third year...

I thought Maggs was only on his third year...
Yep, this is his third. Here's his contract if anyone's interested:

http://www.mlb4u.com/profile.php?id=264



signed 5-year deal worth 75M on 2/7/05- + the deal includes 2 option years that could value the deal at 105M- + he will receive a 6M signing bonus and a 6M salary in 2005, then salaries of 15M in 2006, 12M in 2007, 15M in 2008 and 18M in 2009- + the deal includes a Team Option for 2010 worth 15M or a 3M buyout- + the deal also includes a Team Option for 2011 worth 15M with no buyout- + his options can become guaranteed if he has 135 starts or 540 plate appearances in the previous season, or 270 starts or 1,080 plate appearances in the previous two seasons- + if the 2010 option becomes guaranteed under the above clause, then his salary would be 18M and if the 2011 option becomes guaranteed, the salary would still be 15M- + contract can be voided after the 2005 season if he spends 25 or more days on the DL for a recurrence of osteochondritis condition (a left knee injury)- + the signing bonus, payable in Nov. 2005, does not have to paid if he is on the DL for 25 or more days for the above knee injury- + award bonuses he can earn include: 500K for MVP; 1M for a second MVP award; 200k for finishing second through fifth in the MVP voting; 50k for All-Star selection as a reserve; 100K for winning the Hank Aaron award; 200K if named World Series MVP; and 150K if he's named League Championship Series MVP; and 100K if he's named a postseason All-Star after not making the midseason All-Star team
Agent: Scott Boras

see, thats where i was wrong. I thought it was his 4th year. my bad. thanks vinny

#10 already. it looks like his swing is a little less robotic this year. i still say he's worthless until he does it in october, but he could be off to a very fun season.

What if he GETS you to October, and something strange happens like OTHER people pick up the slack in case he hits a slump? I don't think that the Yanks make the playoffs the last two years without Mr Rodriguez.
Also, A-Rod as a Tiger is about as likely as ME being a Tiger. Not gonna happen. Ever.

freezing up in the playoffs isnt an option when your making $$$$$ imo. he's gotta carry you to the end. bb had that criticism throughout his career, too.

I'll grant you that point, diddy. When you have more money than most small countries in the world, you should be expected to deliver all the time. But his accomplishments in being a large part of the reason the Yankees aren't watching the playoffs on TV can't be discounted.
Does anyone out there know A-rods post season stats?

See, this is what I've been wanting to post for a week now but keep getting distracted. Be careful how much of the media you listen to.

A-Rod's career postseason line:
.280 Avg/.362 OBP/.485 Slug

Everyone's little darling, Derek Jeter:
.314 Avg, .384 OBP, .479 Slug.

Yeah, Jeter's clearly been better but there's not that big of a difference, certainly not enough for all the crap Arod gets.

I'd take A-rod in a second, just because he's had two bad playoff series doesn't even come close to telling the whole story.

arod made the playoffs with seatle, was excellent.

missed the playoffs for a few years with tex, didnt affect stats.

back in w/ the yankees. he's been brutal. dont discount the media. EVER. jeter was a never out last year, alex was an easy out.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rodrial01.shtml

You're talking about 15 at bats a year each the last two years. That's a seriously small sample size. Throw in one 4-4 game last year, which a-rods capable of doing at any time, and you're looking at a respectable enough line.

In 2004, A-rod hit .320 postseason WITH THE YANKEES while Jeter hit like .240. The point is you can't judge these guys on 15-20 at bat samples, and on a whole, their postseason numbers are very similair. THe media's blown the whole disparity out of proportion. It's not like A-Rod's some kind of historic choker or something. Jeter's had his share of bad playoffs too. This is baseball, everyone has their bad weeks.

in 79 at bats w/ yankees (postseason), arod is hitting 240, has 8 rbi's, and 3 homeruns. but if you add in a 4/4 game, his BA does go up. (sorry for the asshole comment, but it had to be said.)

btw, over the same period dj's going 320 with 15 rbi's and 4 hrs.

b-diddy, -15. He provides way too much value to not sign him if we get the chance (if he takes a bit of a hit in contract). I get it, he's had a couple of bad postseasons, but you never know when he's gong to turn it back around, especially out of NY.

I really don't get this. You're saying you wouldn't want the best hitter of our generation because of a stretch of 29 bad at bats?? I'm sorry, nothing you can say will make me agree with that.

It's not normal for me to get goosebumps from a Sportscenter highlight, but that ARod walk-off HR from yesterday did just that.

Dude is amazing.

arod is thinking 20 before may. wowzers. if you cant beat em, join em i guess. go arod!

This is just sick. A-Rod's 14 HR right now are only 4 fewer than our regular 9 man batting order, which has 18. (Thames has 2 which puts the team total up to 20).
Our top two hitters in terms of RBI right now are Ordonez and Guillen. Combined, they have 33 RBI. A-Rod has 34.
So how in the world are they a half game behind the Devil Rays?

In 2007?

Newsflash: The Yankees are not going to make the playoffs, they just aren't.

Will they firesale? What would it take for us to land ARod? More than most here want to give up, I'm sure, but it's fun to think about.

Putting ARod at SS and moving Guillen to 1B makes us the scariest lineup in baseball.

Would you trade Maybin for ARod straight up?

Yes.

Absolutely, but it would take a pre-approved extension.

Yes but I'd try to keep him at 3rd as I'm not a huge Inge fan.

Getting Guillen over to 1B is part of what makes this pipedream appealing to me (also gets Casey out of there).

Not a deal breaker, though.

There are two reasons why I would do that trade (pending a healthy ARod in Detroit for at least 5 years).
1 - We need infielders with a bat more than we need outfielders.
2 - One has proven it over and over again on this level, while the other is still trying to cut down his strikeouts against minor leaguers.

As much as we all rave about the potnetial of Maybin, do we think he could contend for MVP every single year? Because ARod has done it and will continue to do it.

Continuing to answer the question Glenn posed regarding a firesale. It won't happen. I just can't see it. Cashman's butt is on the line and he wouldn't trade away the proven commodities to rebuild an organization he won't be there for. And Steinbrenner won't get rid of the high profile "sexy" players when he can just blame it all on Cashman and get a free year. He may be dillusional to give Cashman all the blame, but that sounds just about right for George. What they really need to do is rebuild their medical staff.

Agree. Firesale and Yankees don't seem to go together. Instead of rebuilding they just add and add and add.

Well if they buyout/void Giambi's deal because of his comments about "the stuff" then I could see a bloodletting (either before or after Cashman gets the axe).

George could scapegoat Cashman, bring in Bob Watson or Gene Michael (if those guys are even still alive) or one of his other cronies to start over again.

Is it likely? Probably not. Impossible? I'm not so sure.

There's that whole other business with his daughter's husband that was supposed to take over the team that is in limbo now too, now that they are getting divorced.

Well, the thing is that George can have a firesale and still load up. If he can unload guys like Arod to other teams, he can keep Jeter, Matsui and a couple other core guys and simply buy another team full of FA's to put around them. Without a cap you can trade your guys and load up again.

I guess if I'm willing to suspend my assumptions about George I could entertain that.
Along those lines, how far would the firesale go? Let's look at the valuable commodities and see.
We already know Giambi could be gone. Pavano will never pitch in NY again on his current deal, it would seem ridiculous to bring him back in afterward. I would think a guy has to be making at least $10 million to be considered. The rest would be the inexpensive foundation. So guys like Wang and Cano are certainly safe. The exception might be Kyle Farnsworth, whose almost-$6 million is far more than his production.
So you have:
ARod - $27.7m
Jeter - $21.6m
Giambi (already mentioned)
Pettitte - $16m
Abreu - $15.6
Damon - $13m
Matsui - $13m
Posada - $12m
Mussina - $11m
Rivera - $10.5
Pavano (already mentioned)

So minus the two automatic scratches, that leaves 9 guys. The more I think about this (I continue to hold on to the belief it would never happen) the more I realize just how good this would be for the Yankees in the long run.

How many teams would give 2 of their top 3 prospects, plus a mediocre major leaguer, for any of those guys? I'm sure there are more than a few. If George was willing to send some salary relief, I bet even more. Thinking outside the division, I promise the Cubs, Dodgers, Mets and Braves would be VERY interested. Depending on which guy, the Tigers, White Sox, Phillies, Indians, Rangers, Angels, Mariners, and Cardinals would certainly return phone calls. If you open up the division, the Red Sox, Orioles and Blue Jays are listening.
In all likelihood, if they went full scale, they would end up with a lineup that included guys like:
Joe Crede
Ryan Dempster
Juan Encarnacion
Darin Erstad
Cliff Floyd
Mike Lieberthal
Orlando Hernandez
Bob Wickman
Chone Figgins
Frank Catalanotto
Craig Monroe
Henry Blanco
Brett Tomko

That's unimpressive, but given those players and the guys they hang onto, it's a team that could win 65 games. Now, include the fact that they absolutely STOCK their minor leagues and save over $100 million long term, it's certainly worth it.

I think a lot of teams would give up a prospect or two for a vet pitcher that doesn't have a ton left. Then they can just go out and sign some new guys next year. the problem really is that the fans would be pissed that you tanked a year, but at some point they'll be out of the race anyway. I'm no Yankee fan, but if I were I would rather tank a year and build right back up pretty fast than good but never great and just get older.

Either Casey or Inge is appealing

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07022007/photos/news003.jpg

MRS. A-ROD IS A BRONX F-BOMBER
OBSCENE SHIRT SHOCKS STADIUM

http://www.nypost.com/seven/07022007/news/regionalnews/mrs__a_rod_is_a_bronx_f_bomber_regionalnews_dan_ma ngan_and_david_k__li.htm

If the Yanks host a fire sale, what is the cost of Mariano Rivera?

Isn't he a pending FA?

Anything in the minors not named "Maybin" or "Miller" (not in the monors, I know) might be worth it, IMO.

Nothing in the minors not named Maybin or Miller will get him.

I'm not so sure.

If he walks after the season, they get nothing.

What about sending them the kid we just drafted as a "PTBNL"?

Ehhh... I don't know if we should give up Porcello, as he is a Maybin/Miller/Verlander type talent from what I've been hearing...

If true, that would be great 4 years from now.

I'm in "win now" mode, as usual.

We are not winning the World Series with our current bullpen situation.

Agreed--but what about with a healthy Zumaya and refound (not sure that's a word) Rodney?

First, Porcello hasn't even signed yet, I don't think.

Also, PTBNL deals must be completed within 6 months of being made, while recent draftees are not eligible to be traded untill 12 months after being signed. We couldn't deal him even if he were signed.

THANKS VINNY!!!!!111one one one

Thanks, didn't know that.

How about Tata and/or Jurrjens?

Gorkys Hernandez?

Thanks, didn't know that.

How about Tata and/or Jurrjens?

Gorkys Hernandez?

That I think I'd have to do. I like Hernandez alot, too, but for Mariano I'd do it.

I think the Yankees would be able to get more for him. If not here, somewhere else for sure.

Perhaps, but they aren't going to trade him to the Red Sox. They many not want to send him across town to the Mets, either. Of course, neither of those teams really has the need for him, so it's possible they could get more for him, but name the team willing to spend that much for a closer and in need of one.

The Angels and Dodgers have Rodriguez and Saito. The Cubs aren't likely to go for it unless they move Dempster to 8th inning, a real possiblity, but I'm not sure what they have to offer. The Cubs may actually be in buy mode soon even though they're at .500. The only team above them in the division is the Brewers and they may not expect the Brewers can sustain it and truly be this years Tigers. The Cubs don't have a chance in the Wild Card, so it will have to happen in the division. The Braves and the Phillies are the only other teams that could go after it.

The Braves always have young talent to throw around. That's how they've always managed to stay just above mediocre. Good enough to make the playoffs, not good enough to win it all.

Boras won't negotiate with Yankees before season ends


After the New York Yankees (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=nyy) on Wednesday indicated they would break from tradition and negotiate during the season with Alex Rodriguez (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=5275) on a contract extension, his agent moved in quickly to define what it would take to keep the superstar third baseman playing in New York.
And that would be unprecedented millions per season. In a telephone interview with the New York Post, Scott Boras said Rodriguez assuredly will become Major League Baseball's first $30 million-a-year player. However, Boras said he will not take up the Yankees' offer to negotiate before the season ends. "We are not going to be negotiating during the season," Boras said. Boras insisted he could see no way that strategy will change, saying "This is Alex's decision. This has been his policy, and I fully expect this to continue to be his policy." MLB sources told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney that the Yankees were willing to negotiate with Rodriguez -- under the condition that he agrees not to opt out of his current contract after this season and that he agrees to tack on any extension to that deal, which expires after the 2010 season. Even if his client doesn't go the opt-out route, Boras told the Post that there are existing stipulations in the current deal that all but guarantee Rodriguez would earn a minimum of $32 million in both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. "The way the provision operates, he either gets that or he can become a free agent after any of those seasons again," Boras told the newspaper. Approximately one-third of the remaining $81 million of the current contract is being paid by the Texas Rangers (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/clubhouse?team=tex), which was part of the trade that brought Rodriguez to New York. Though the Yankees are underperforming so far this season, it's not Rodriguez's fault. He led the major leagues at the All-Star break with 30 home runs and 86 RBIs and has a .317 average.

Like anyone is gonna outbid the Yankees. Boston....?

arod's agent will ask for 35 to 40 million a year.

Citing an anonymous source, the New York Daily News reported Friday that the Yankees have "made it clear" to Rodriguez and his agent, Scott Boras, that if the player opts out, his days as a Yankee will be over. The newspaper said the Yankees have no intention of being part of a bidding war if Rodriguez hits the open market.

I'm really getting the feeling that the Yankees are going to try and move ARod before the trade deadline.

I'm not seeing this aspect reported anywhere, but they are getting $30m from Texas if they can keep him on his current deal or extend him, if he opts out, that $30m goes away. So if they are at an impasse on an extension, which it seems like they are, then if the Yanks don't move him, they'll lose him for nothing.

That's the reason, IMO, that they "broke policy" about extending him during the season, that $30m.

I think the quote above is a sign that they are laying a foundation for dealing him (providing justification).

Now onto the fun part.

Since other teams know that he's going to opt out, and he's going to get a monster deal, he will strictly be considered a rental player. The Yankees will need to take less than many would think in a trade.

Who will want to rent him for the stretch run?

I don't see us as a renter. I see us more like the Bert situation with the Red Wings. If we think he might stay then we'd be in the running. But, we've got enough hitters to not mortgage anything for a rental.

Who is going to pay him that much anyway? Yes, he's an MVP type player, but not many teams can afford that no matter how good he is.

I agree, I think we'd (Tigers) only make sense if we could negotiate an extension first, and he's not going to do that.

The rumored top destinations for 2008 are the Angels and the Dodgers, maybe the Giants.

But there are a lot of teams that might be willing to rent him if they sense a window for a WS run this year, many of them teams that normally can't afford a player of his calibre.

I just hope that Cleveland isn't one of them.

The Giants make a lot of sense because Bonds will be leaving and they'll need a new star attraction.

Only thing is, that wind might rob him of a lot of HRs (I wonder how many Bonds has lost?). The recent HR derby was a good illustration of that.

I guess it depends how important the record is to him.

That park that the Angels play in is a launching pad.

Only thing is, that wind might rob him of a lot of HRs (I wonder how many Bonds has lost?). The recent HR derby was a good illustration of that.

I guess it depends how important the record is to him.

That park that the Angels play in is a launching pad.

The wind helped the right handed batters though in the home run derby. The announcers in the derby said it would, and sure enough all the big lefty hitters were gone.

I'm really getting the feeling that the Yankees are going to try and move ARod before the trade deadline.

I'm not seeing this aspect reported anywhere, but they are getting $30m from Texas if they can keep him on his current deal or extend him, if he opts out, that $30m goes away. So if they are at an impasse on an extension, which it seems like they are, then if the Yanks don't move him, they'll lose him for nothing.

That's the reason, IMO, that they "broke policy" about extending him during the season, that $30m.

I think the quote above is a sign that they are laying a foundation for dealing him (providing justification).

Now onto the fun part.

Since other teams know that he's going to opt out, and he's going to get a monster deal, he will strictly be considered a rental player. The Yankees will need to take less than many would think in a trade.

Who will want to rent him for the stretch run?

i disagree. both sides are talking tough for leverage. the yankees wouldnt need to explain to their fans why they didnt resign him. besides, 1/2 yankee fans hate him anyway.

What are you disagreeing with exactly? It's hard to tell for sure.

If it's the premise that the Yanks are providing justification for trading him, that is just a minor point that I was trying to make.

The fact that they are going to possibly trade him because of the $30m and his unwillingness to negotiate before opting out is the central point.

Do you disagree with that?

no. probably not. but i think he'll stay a yankee. but if they get cold feet, they gotta trade. its not like the yankees to trade away an AROD, though. my guess is they pony up.

If Cuban buys the Cubs, ARod is a Cub.

Newsflash: The Yankees are not going to make the playoffs, they just aren't.

Don't look now folks, but the Yanks are just 4.5 games out of the wild card.

[smilie=blaha.gif]

Good call, me!

I think they could easily pass an overrated Indians team with a shitty bullpen (and less offense/starting pitching than us).

Yanks now 2 games behind Cleveland for WC.

Look out now.

Yep, it's looking just like last year. Everyone thought the Yanks would be done, and here they are, knocking the ball out of the park at an incredible rate. We better get our act together, or we might be fighting for the WC in the last week.

This is no time for the Tigers to play like total dog shit in the 2nd half and settle for the Wild Card again, with the Red Sox acquiring Gagne and the Yankees playing like the Evil Empire we all love to hate...get on the ball!

But no one needed my dumb ass to state the obvious.

The ChiSox just put 8 runs on Rogah in 1.2 innings.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/boxscore?gid=270802110

From 8-1 to 8-6 in just 15 minutes.

Yanks still batting in the 2nd inning with two more men on base.

Wild game.

Garland has given up 9 hits in 1.1 innings.

The teams have combined for 18 hits already and all 14 runs have scored in the 2nd inning.

Wow, 8-8, still in the 2nd.


Top 2nd: Chi White Sox
- P. Konerko singled to left
- A.J. Pierzynski singled to center, P. Konerko to second
- J. Dye doubled to deep center, P. Konerko scored, A.J. Pierzynski to third
- D. Erstad singled to first, A.J. Pierzynski scored, J. Dye to third
- J. Uribe singled to left center, J. Dye scored, D. Erstad to second
- D. Richar flied out to center
- J. Owens reached on fielder's choice, D. Erstad to third, J. Uribe to second on second baseman R. Cano's fielding error
- A. Cintron grounded into fielder's choice, D. Erstad out at home, J. Uribe to third, J. Owens to second
- J. Thome singled to left, J. Uribe and J. Owens scored, A. Cintron to second
- P. Konerko doubled to left, A. Cintron scored, J. Thome to third
- A.J. Pierzynski singled to center, J. Thome and P. Konerko scored
- J. Dye doubled to right, A.J. Pierzynski to third
- M. Myers relieved R. Clemens
- D. Erstad walked
- J. Karstens relieved M. Myers
- J. Uribe flied out to center

8 runs, 9 hits, 1 errors
Chi White Sox 8, NY Yankees 0

Bottom 2nd: NY Yankees
- H. Matsui singled to right
- J. Posada doubled to right, H. Matsui to third
- R. Cano singled to right, H. Matsui scored, J. Posada to third
- W. Betemit homered to deep center, J. Posada and R. Cano scored
- A. Phillips singled to shortstop
- J. Damon struck out swinging
- M. Cabrera singled to left, A. Phillips to second
- B. Abreu singled to center, A. Phillips scored, M. Cabrera to third
- A. Rodriguez singled to left, M. Cabrera scored, B. Abreu to second
- B. Logan relieved J. Garland
- H. Matsui struck out swinging, B. Abreu stole third, A. Rodriguez stole second
- J. Posada ground rule double to right, A. Rodriguez and B. Abreu scored
- R. Cano grounded into fielder's choice, J. Posada out at third

8 runs, 9 hits, 0 errors
Chi White Sox 8, NY Yankees 8

Yankees have tied it, unbelievable...Cleveland/Detroit have to get their asses in gear.


...Well, just Detroit.

Didn't this happen to us in like '03 or '04 before vs. the Astros/Rangers (can't remember)? We scored like 10 in one half of the inning then they scored 10 in the other half.

The Yanks are 6 outs from being in a virtual tie with the Tigers for the Wilcard lead (one up in the win column, one down in the loss column).

This is how it is done.


Bottom 9th: Toronto
- M. Rivera relieved L. Vizcaino
- A. Rios struck out swinging
- V. Wells struck out swinging
- F. Thomas struck out looking

We're now tied with the Yankees.

I don't care how much you hate the Yankees, you have to love Rivera.

:emo kid: We need a closer like that.

The Yankees almost traded him to Detroit for David Wells.

NYY now only 4 games behind the Red Sox in the AL East.

From today's Jayson Stark chat.


Jim (Detroit): Jason, love your work. Could you see the Tigers making a run at Edgar Renteria this offseason? The Braves have a talented young shortstop to take over and the Tigers would like to move Guillen to 1st to reduce the wear and tear on his knees. What would the Tigers have to give up to possibly acquire him?

Jayson Stark: (1:27 PM ET ) I think you'll hear a lot of Renteria trade rumors. The Cardinals is one team I've heard. The Tigers could also be a possibility, for the reason you just cited and because Dave Dombrowski and John Schuerholz have made quite a few deals together. But the other possibility to watch in Detroit, I think, is ARod. He'd love to go back to short, and the Tigers have done more business with Scott Boras lately than just about any team.

Man, I would cut both my thumbs off and have a one-night stand w/ a Cheldean for A-Rod to sign the dotted line to come play in the D...

He would never want to come here though. He's a media whore. Plus it would be awfully tough to resign guys like Verlander, Granderson and Zumaya when they all hit arbitration together while having A-Rod eat 2/5ths of the teams payroll.

I'd love it, and we have a spot for him with Guillen at 1B. But, he'd have to come at a discount. We can't spend 30 mil on him, that is for sure. If we could defer some money for a year or two we'd have Pudge's 13 mil off the books though. I don't think he can draw 30 mil outside NY anyway though.

CF- Granderson
2B- Polanco
DH- Sheffield
SS- Rodriguez
RF- Ordonez (God can only imagine the type of pitches he'd see w/ A-Rod in front of him, he could get 160 RBI's LOL)
1B- Guillen
LF- Thames or Raburn or Timo Perez
C- Vance Wilson
3B- Inge


I left off Pudge, b/c if we were to sign A-Rod, Pudge would almost certainly be gone unless he were willing to take a 1 or 2 million dollar deal

He's got a slow bat.

He's got a slow bat.

LMAO.

He's got a slow bat.


so he should have 104 HR's instead of 52 then right...?

Rodriguez says he hasn't decided if he'll leave Yankees; agent has plan in mind

By Andrew Marchand
Special to ESPN.com
Updated: October 9, 2007, 1:25 PM ET

If Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract with the Yankees -- and as of Monday night's loss to Cleveland, it's still a big if because Rodriguez wasn't giving any hints and said he hasn't even thought about it -- his agent Scott Boras will prepare one of his trademark free agent books based on the premise that Rodriguez is the most valuable player in baseball history.

After the World Series, Rodriguez has 10 days to opt out of the final three years and $81 million of his contract. The Yankees would like to extend him before he hits the market because Texas is still paying more than $20 million of Rodriguez's contract.

Rodriguez deflected discussions of his contract in the Yankees' clubhouse Monday night.

"I don't want to talk about that right now," he told reporters. "I'm trying to digest what just happened. There will be a time and a place for that."

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman would not speculate on if the Yankees would pursue Rodriguez if he opts out of his contract. Owner George Steinbrenner told the Bergen Record he thinks that the Yankees will re-sign Rodriguez.

Rodriguez again professed his admiration for New York after the Yankees were eliminated on Monday.

"I love New York," Rodriguez, his eyes bloodshot, said. "Again, for me, as a player, to come full circle in New York, it's the most comfortable I've felt and hopefully things work out."

Boras did not say what he would advise Rodriguez to do.

"The rite of free agency has probably never been more valuable to a single player than it would be to someone like Alex Rodriguez," Boras said during a phone interview with 1050 ESPN New York conducted prior to the Yankees ALDS loss to the Indians. "The reason being is that he is a stature player, a durable player, an iconic player and he has had a historic season. Again, these are decisions that Alex has to make. He is certainly happy in New York and has enjoyed playing there."

Boras, known as one of baseball's shrewdest and most hard-nosed negotiators, tipped his hand Monday as to what negotiations would be like if Rodriguez opts out. He said he will tell prospective bidders that Rodriguez could play until he is 45, which will allow him to not only become baseball's all-time home run king, but also the all-time hits leader. If those accomplishments are within reach, Boras said he will argue that Rodriguez will be worth somewhere between a half-billion and a billion dollars over a decade to a team's regional sports network.

"One of the other things that Alex has that some of the other things that Alex has that few players have is he has network value," Boras said. "That means for a regional sports network he has an impact on in that may allow that regional sports network to increase by a half-a-billion to a billion dollars over a 10-year period because of the ratings increase that he will bring. His fan base will subscribe to that network to watch him play and they will sell more advertising. This has certainly been evidenced in New York."

It's nearly impossible to quantify the relationship an individual player has to a regional sports network. The ratings for YES -- the Yankees-owned regional sports network in the greater New York area -- have climbed with Rodriguez on the team.

According to numbers provided by YES, ratings in 2003, the year prior to Rodriguez's arrival, were 3.2 for the season. In 2004 and 2005 -- Rodriguez' first two seasons -- the ratings jumped to 4.6 and 4.5 respectively.

In 2006, YES ratings dipped to 4.3, but this season the numbers peaked at 4.7. There are countless factors for these ratings, including having marquee players. Rodriguez, of course, is not the only star on the Yankees.

Most estimates say that if YES were sold it would be worth more than a billion dollars.

Boras thinks that Rodriguez's pursuit of the home run record will make him even more valuable on TV. He also says that by playing until he's 45, Rodriguez would also end up passing Pete Rose, who has baseball's all-time hits record of 4,256.

Rodriguez currently has 518 home runs and 2,250 hits.

"The thing about Alex is he has a chance to play 12 more years and break the all-time hit record," Boras said. "It is a record that he could break. You only have to go and map out that if Alex Rodriguez were to play until he is 45 and he averaged 35 home runs he would have over 1,000 homers. It is a unique platform where he is at at such a young age. The projections are rather mind-boggling when you consider the fact even if he performed at a level that is 15 percent below what he is performing at now, he still would lift many of these records just by the mere fact that he has played this long."

In the free agent book that Boras has planned, he will detail what Rodriguez has accomplished at 32.

"You don't talk about projections," Boras said. "You really talk about what he has done. The key point to what Alex has done is that over the last 10 years is that when you are talking about home runs, RBIs and runs scored, no one in baseball history has ever done what he has done over the last 10 years. The consistency of having the 35 home runs, having the number of RBIs and runs scored."

slow bat

I want to see ticket prices for the team that signs him.

lol, maybe not a slow bat, but he did change his swing this year. take a look, hes much more free swinging than last year when he tried to be a robot. plus he didnt exactly light the world onfire in the playoffs (again).

funny, i just came here to post that article. thats exactly the kind of argument i'd make if i were a sports agent. and yet scott boras has tens of millions of dollars and i dont. booh scott boras!

Question: assuming A-Rod opts out, the chance of him going to the Angels...is it still as good as it was a few months ago? Because if so then I think I'd find myself a bandwagon to jump on in case the Tigers don't do well.

Sources: Yankees expected to make record-setting offer to A-Rod

By Buster Olney
ESPN The Magazine
Updated: October 27, 2007, 1:32 PM ET

The New York Yankees have asked to meet with third baseman Alex Rodriguez, and if and when they get that meeting, league sources indicate the team is prepared to make him an offer that will exceed, in average salary, the $27 million per year that he is scheduled to make over the next three seasons -- and A-Rod would be in line to set yet another salary benchmark.

The offer could be for something in the range of five years -- beyond the three years Rodriguez is already under contract for, from 2008-10 -- and perhaps $30 million a year. The highest per-workday salary earned to date is the $28 million Roger Clemens received, in prorated salary, for a little less than four months of work this season.

If the Yankees' extension offer is for something in the range of $150 million, over five years, then Rodriguez would be owed about $230 million over the next eight seasons.

It is unclear if the Yankees will get the meeting with the All-Star third baseman that they've requested. Rodriguez, 32, must inform the Yankees within 10 days of the conclusion of the World Series whether he will opt out of the last three years of his current contract. Yankees executives, from Hank Steinbrenner to team president Randy Levine to general manager Brian Cashman, have stated repeatedly that if Rodriguez opts out of the contract, they will not participate in any more bidding for the third baseman. If Rodriguez opts out of his current contract, the Yankees would lose $21.3 million in subsidy from the Texas Rangers, the team that signed Rodriguez to his current $252 million deal after the 2000 season.

Some executives are convinced that no other team will come close to the enormous extension offer the Yankees intend to make, and rival agents and executives are reading the steady stream of public negotiation rhetoric from agent Scott Boras as a bluff. But some officials cite Boras's history of taking his clients into free agency, and say they think Rodriguez will leave the Yankees.

Either way, it is the Yankees' intention to pay Rodriguez well, with a record-setting salary.

AROD OPTS OUT! AROD OPTS OUT!

even though im a yankee fan, im pretty happy to see this. the yankees have been 'low rent' for the last few years, and what they did to JT sealed the deal to me. lets see if the yankees were bluffing about not talking if he opted out (im guessing it was indeed a bluff, but ego might prevent them from doing whats smart).

my money says florida marlins get him. it makes a ton of sense.

I say Lou brings him to the Cubs. It seems his decision to opt out is based on him probably not having his friends in NY next year, and he really likes Lou. Unfortunately it won't do them any good in the playoffs. Pretty good lineup batting 1-6 though... Soriano, Theriot, Lee, Rod, Ramirez, Floyd.

I say Lou brings him to the Cubs. It seems his decision to opt out is based on him probably not having his friends in NY next year, and he really likes Lou. Unfortunately it won't do them any good in the playoffs. Pretty good lineup batting 1-6 though... Soriano, Theriot, Lee, Rod, Ramirez, Floyd.


I think the Cubs are a long shot, especially after overpaying Zambrano to a monster deal...who cares what Lou want's, since when has Hendry proved he can build a winner???

Torre is rumored to be Dodger-bound, will ARod follow?

I don't think they got along that well.

It would be kind of funny if he re-signed with Texas, after just saving them a bazillion dollars by opting out.

He can go to Boston and be a ring chaser, to Chicago and become a hero (would have to take a paycut) or Detroit and become the piece that puts them over the top.

or Detroit and become the piece that puts them over the top.


I'd rather have Renteria and a bullpen piece than sign A-Rod and not be able to afford Verlander, Zumaya, and Granderson when they all hit arbitration collectively...

even just Edgar would make this team the unanimous favorite in the central...

SS- Renteria
2B- Polanco
DH- Sheff
RF- Maggs
1B- Guillen
CF- Granderson (if he got 70+ RBI in the 1 spot knocking in Pudge & Inge, think how many RBI's he will have when there are guys who ACTUALLY get on base in front of him)
C- Pudge
LF- Thames/Raburn/Perez
3B- Inge


swap Nate Robertson, Dallas Trahern and PTBNL to ATL, and get a gold glove SS who will hit .315 and make this lineup the best in baseball (regardless of who is in LF)

Early line on A-Rod

Angels: Owner Arte Moreno said in the past that devoting a huge share of his payroll to one player -- and with A-Rod, it would be about 25 percent -- is bad business. Maybe he will change his mind.

Tigers: A big-time sleeper in this, perhaps. Owner Mike Ilitch is loaded, the team has a longstanding relationship with Scott Boras (who represents Magglio Ordonez, Pudge Rodriguez, Kenny Rogers and No. 1 pick Rick Porcello), and the team has demonstrated the willingness to ignore the salary suggestions of the commissioner's office. And it just so happens that Detroit is looking for a shortstop.

Giants: No other team understands better than San Francisco what it means to build around a prolific home run hitter. A-Rod would put rear ends in the seats of the Giants' park, especially as he draws closer to Barry Bonds's home run record.

It sounds nice in theory, but I'd like for the media to leave our Tigers alone. With A-Rod this team would be hyped as one of the greatest offenses ever (at least on paper) and it's just not as good as going under the radar!

It sounds nice in theory, but I'd like for the media to leave our Tigers alone. With A-Rod this team would be hyped as one of the greatest offenses ever (at least on paper) and it's just not as good as going under the radar!


I don't know, ESPN will never blow the Tigers out of proportion...can you believe they ran an hour long "SportsCenter Special" on Joe Girardi and A-Rod???

I mean it's not like the Red Sox just won a WS or anything, or that the Pats & Colts meet next week...

the national media will ALWAYS be a "New York First" production...


plus if A-Rod were to be a Tiger, I'd guarantee you can take all the PR and attention he's gotten the last year and cut it in half when the seasons here...

I don't know, ESPN will never blow the Tigers out of proportion..

Have to say I disagree now that we got your man Renteria.

"We were very disappointed that Scott Boras would try to upstage our premier baseball event of the season with his announcement," Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, said Monday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "There was no reason to make an announcement last night other than to try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game," DuPuy said. "Last night and today belong to the Boston Red Sox (http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/teams/bos/;_ylt=ArvokhQGSGuB.gxJ1ySaUl6pu7YF), who should be celebrated for their achievement, and to the Colorado Rockies, who made such an unbelievable run to the World Series."


Oh fuck off. If your premier baseball event can't handle someone becoming a fa, your premier baseball event must suck.

Well if the Tiger's did get A-rod now (which I seriously doubt) after the trade they just pulled off at least we have one of the few managers in all of baseball who could actually work that line-up well.

gary says a-rod would look real good in our lineup batting 8th.

No A-Rod now. I didn't think it would happen anyway. My bet is on the Angels.

Some chump on the radio said this morning (even after Renteria) that it would come down to the Mets and the Tigers. May have been Detroit Homerism Radio, though, I am just the messenger (my father told me that he heard it).

If he goes to the Mets, where in the hell would he play? Would you move Reyes to 2B so A-Rod could play SS?

David Wright would shift to 1B, ARod would play 3B

Wright has already said he's game

Where would Delgado play then?

Nevermind.....I need time to wake up.

Some chump on the radio said this morning (even after Renteria) that it would come down to the Mets and the Tigers. May have been Detroit Homerism Radio, though, I am just the messenger (my father told me that he heard it).

Saw Jason Stark on a Mike and Mike recap on ESPN (the tv channel) say that he thought it was between the Mets and the Tigers even after Rentaria.

Vegas has the Tigers as one of the top likely destinations, too.

David Wright would shift to 1B, ARod would play 3B

Wright has already said he's game

Wright said he would move to 2B.

I don't see the Mets. They hated him in NY, I can't imagine that would get any better after this stunt and going to the cross town rivals.

I think he ends up in LA myself, unless he's willing to take less money elsewhere.

Saw Jason Stark on a Mike and Mike recap on ESPN (the tv channel) say that he thought it was between the Mets and the Tigers even after Rentaria.

I hope so. Inge can play utility backup. Man, that lineup would be amazing with ARod in it:

CF Granderson
2B Polanco
3B A Rod
RF Maggs
DH Sheff
1B Guillen
SS Renteria
C Pudge
LF Thames


Yikes.

Dumbrowski has said that they will not pursue A-Rod. Take that for what it's worth.

I would switch the lineup a bit...

Granderson
Polanco
Sheffield
ARod
Maggs
Guillen
Thames
Pudge
Renteria

Having Sheff and Maggs protect AROD..sick

Add another suitor for A-Rod. This one looks pretty likely, IMO.


Triple-A Toledo makes playful contract offer to A-Rod
Associated Press

Updated: November 1, 2007, 5:11 PM ET

TOLEDO, Ohio -- Alex Rodriguez a Mud Hen?

Spurred by an offhand remark from George Steinbrenner's son, the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens want in on the A-Rod sweepstakes.

The Mud Hens playfully offered the prize free agent a deal Thursday -- a contract proposal that includes a bonus for hitting 75 home runs next year and leading them to 10 straight International League titles.

Rodriguez recently opted out of his $252 million, 10-year contract with the New York Yankees. That prompted Hank Steinbrenner, son of the Yankees owner, to tell the New York Times: "Does he want to go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee, or a Toledo Mud Hen?"

The Mud Hens conjured up an offer to find out, said Jason Griffin, a spokesman for the Detroit Tigers' top farm team.

Toledo created a Hall of Fame plaque of Rodriguez wearing a Mud Hens hat and sent a letter to his agent, Scott Boras.

The deal stipulates that Rodriguez will have to compete for a spot with Toledo third basemen Mike Hessman, the league's most valuable player last season.

"Would your client be willing to play a different position?" the letter asked.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press

I just cannot see it happening.

I just cannot see it happening.

It shouldn't even be discussed as a possibility.

He asked NYY for $350 million??? My God, I'll be shocked if he gets more than $250 mil....

What a pig...I hope he goes unsigned and misses a year, hopefully the GM's don't give in to Boras's plan...

translation: I don't want to play for the Yankees

I heard on sportscenter this morning that the Yanks might be persuing Tejada (I guess to play 3B).

He asked NYY for $350 million??? My God, I'll be shocked if he gets more than $250 mil....

What a pig...I hope he goes unsigned and misses a year, hopefully the GM's don't give in to Boras's plan...

Didn't that story come from George's Son? It might just be dirt. So the fans will hate ARod and feel the Yanks did the right thing.

Report: Yanks willing to talk to A-Rod, but without Boras
ESPN.com news services

Updated: November 14, 2007, 11:54 AM ET

The New York Yankees have been discussing a deal with their former All-Star third baseman Alex Rodriguez -- but the team says a deal can only move forward if his agent, Scott Boras, is not part of the talks, the New York Daily News reported Wednesday.

According to the report, a high-ranking Yankees source said the team is willing to bring back A-Rod on a below-market contract that would make up for the $21 million subsidy from the Texas Rangers that the Yankees lost when A-Rod opted out of the final three years of his contract -- despite team comments indicating he had burned his bridges by opting out.

But any such deal can't take place with Boras at the table, a Yankee source said, according to the report.

"We will not negotiate with Scott Boras," the source told the Daily News. "He cannot be in the room."

Boras, regarded in some circles as the most powerful man in baseball, has been A-Rod's agent since he was a teenager.

The Daily News also reported that Rodriguez recently approached the Yankees about a return through a third party, and that the team wanted person-to-person talks between A-Rod and Hal and Hank Steinbrenner.

The New York Post said Hal Steinbrenner was non-committal when asked Tuesday if A-Rod's return was possible.

"Whether something did happen or not, I am not going to comment on that situation," he said, according to the Post.

Rodriguez opted out of the final three years and $81 million of his contract on Oct. 28. The Yankees, had earlier pledged they would not deal with him as a free agent if he opted out and made good on their word, with Hal Steinbrenner saying "I don't want anybody on my team that doesn't want to be a Yankee."

Later, it was reported Boras had set a minimum salary floor of $350 million for the team to start talking with its former All-Star third baseman.

A-Rod spins into action

posted: Thursday, November 15, 2007 | Feedback | Print Entry

Imagine that Alex Rodriguez was running for president against Hillary Clinton and John McCain and Barack Obama, and then ask yourself this: How much would they have paid for the negative publicity he got over the last 18 days?

Ten million dollars? Twenty? Fifty million? Because for 18 days Rodriguez got hammered by everyone, everywhere. By our respected colleague Peter Gammons, who wondered forcefully if this sort of gauche hubris explained why Rodriguez hadn't yet played in the World Series. A-Rod got hammered by print columnists, by Mike and Mike, by Mike and the Mad Dog, by Michael Kay in New York and Mike Felger in Boston and the Mad Dog in Lansing and Softy in Seattle. A-Rod got hammered from sea to shining sea, after word of his decision to opt out of his record-setting contract leaked out in the middle of Game 4 of the World Series -- an act for which his agent Scott Boras first blamed on the Yankees; then blamed on a mistake; and then, probably cajoled by his All-Star client, finally blamed on himself, acknowledging what everybody in the game thought anyway.

A-Rod continued to get hammered last week, after word came out that Boras had demanded an initial offer of $350 million from the Yankees, and as the Players Association -- in a you-can't-make-this-up moment -- raised the question of whether there was collusion against a player who the Yankees had been prepared to offer the highest salary in the history of sports. If Rodriguez had taken their call.

We know now for certain that none of it was necessary, because in the end, Rodriguez is going to sign for precisely the contract offer he would've gotten from the Yankees had he sat down to negotiate with them during the World Series.

Well, not exactly the same offer. The Yankees have insisted on deducting, in their face-to-face negotiations with Rodriguez, about $21.3 million from the final amount -- the number of dollars in subsidy that the Yankees lost from the Texas Rangers when Rodriguez opted out of his current contract. Call it the Boras Tax, if you will.

Rodriguez is going to get the largest contract ever in sports, when the I's are dotted and the T's crossed. He'll survive. But Boras' reputation as a savvy negotiator will not. He somehow managed to badly overplay the perfect hand.

Boras represented the best player coming off one of the greatest seasons ever, in the midst of a Hall of Fame career, a 54-homer, 156-RBI monster season played out in sports' biggest market, for the richest team. Boras held four aces, in a sense, and yet his client's contract will be somewhat lighter, by about 7 or 8 percent, and his client's reputation -- which had just begun to heal, through his remarkable 2007 season -- was trashed.

Nobody should ever doubt that Boras was largely responsible for Rodriguez's $252 million contract in the winter of 2000-2001, a deal twice as large as any contract in professional sports, at that time. Boras pushed the buttons of Texas owner Tom Hicks and wound up with a landmark agreement.

But if Rodriguez finishes a new deal with the Yankees, of about $270 million, it will be a record-setting contract concluded in spite of his agent's missteps -- a deal built on Rodriguez's talent, his hard work, and his willingness to step forward and go around Boras, with humility in hand, to reach out to the Yankees.

If Rodriguez hadn't done that, there's every indication from rival executives that he would've been forced to go door to door, to the Angels or the Dodgers or the Mets or the Red Sox, to ask for a deal even within $100 million of what the Yankees offered. "That was the thing that was so strange about this," an agent mused on Wednesday evening. "There was nobody, in this market, who could pay close to what the Yankees could pay -- because of the market, and because of how important A-Rod is to them."

Alex Rodriguez has 173 homers and 513 RBIs in four seasons with the Yankees, and very soon he will win his second Most Valuable Player Award with them. He plays hard, prepares diligently, is a much better teammate than anyone realizes, and is in the midst of an incredible career. For all that, you would think that he would be embraced, and yet, he is not. In fact, several agents agreed on Wednesday night, that the damage done to Rodriguez's image over the last 18 days may take years to repair. "The only way he comes back from this," said one agent, "is if he plays a big role in the Yankees winning a World Series, or when he actually starts getting closer to Barry Bonds' record. Then the focus will be on his accomplishments."

Finally.

But in the years ahead, A-Rod will have to live with the consequences of his own decisions and his own actions, and will continue to get booed. Meanwhile, if Boras draws the industry's standard rate of 5 percent, he will get about $14 million of Rodriguez's new contract.

Sometime in the last 18 days, you can bet that A-Rod -- as he came to grips with the reality that he had to accept a $21 million cut in his offer from the Yankees, and as he absorbed the kind of negative publicity that can jar politicians awake at night in a cold sweat -- has wondered what, exactly, he is paying for.

Rodriguez continued to get hammered in today's papers: George Vecsey writes that the Yankees should just say no. Hank Steinbrenner's stance caught A-Rod off guard, writes John Harper, and A-Rod was so mad that he considered suing Boras. A-Rod felt the wrath of fans, writes Mike Vaccaro.

Many in baseball are thrilled that Boras blew this negotiation, writes Bill Shaikin.

A-Rod has repudiated Boras, writes Murray Chass. A-Rod realized Boras had turned him into the most reviled figure in sports, writes Bob Klapisch. The Steinbrenner sons got the best of Boras, writes Mike Lupica. All sides fumbled this, writes Ken Davidoff.

• Wallace Matthews thinks this is a negotiating ploy. Things are moving along in the negotiations, Hank Steinbrenner tells Tyler Kepner.

• Was told Wednesday night that the base salary part of the contract talks were the easiest -- the Yankees laid out the parameters of their offer, and A-Rod agreed, in general, before the conversation turned to other parts of the contract.

• The A-Rod signing does seem to clear one potential suitor from the Mike Lowell bidding, and perhaps increase the likelihood that Lowell goes back to Boston -- although the suggestion has been raised, within the Yankees' organization, to sign Lowell to play first base. The Yankees are still talking with Lowell, writes George King.

A-Rod's a pig...

at least he didn't go to the Cubs, I don't think I could take the media attention that would get...

lol, this is even sadder than Stephon/Isiah.

I love how this makes Boros look.

Love it!

Honestly, if you're A-Rod in this situation, why don't you just fire the guy? He's not allowed in on your negotiations with the team, so you're basically doing all your negotiating alone. Why keep him around to take that big fat chunk of your paycheck?

Rumored to be an agreement at 10 years, 275mil.

Dear Gosh Damn, that's a lot of freaking money.


Wait, how old is A-Rod?

I believe he is 22.

Per Rotoworld, the Yanks also offered a 4 year deal to Mike Lowell too worth 60 mil...what a joke...

Lowell's numbers are going to take a major hit next year...

I wasn't great with my gazintas, but thats 27 5 a year, which is about 2 mil a month, which is about 500k a week, which is about 100k a day, which is about 5 thousand dollars an hour, every hour of every day.

Survival techniques: I would never want that kind of money. Its only trouble.

I'm all for it. Yanks with A-Rod = one less obstacle for the Tigers.

Good point

Per Rotoworld, the Yanks also offered a 4 year deal to Mike Lowell too worth 60 mil...what a joke...

Lowell's numbers are going to take a major hit next year...


Lowell was a product of the Yankees system back in the day IIRC

How much of a chump does Boras look like if both A-Rod and Rogers end up signing with their former teams for either the money the teams originally offered or even a bit less?

A report in WS Journal said Warren Buffett advised ARod to go around Boras

Bigger tool: A-Rod or Kobe?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/03/07/heyman.arod/index.html


Inside A-Rod's decision to return to the Yankees

TAMPA, Fla. -- A sextet of big-market teams were quietly lining up to bid for Alex Rodriguez in early November. Meetings were scheduled with both Los Angeles teams, the Dodgers and Angels, and according to people close to Rodriguez, the Mets, Red Sox, Giants and Tigers all were showing interest, as well. But A-Rod desperately wanted to remain a Yankee.

"Mentally, I never did see myself going anywhere else,'' Rodriguez said in a recent interview with SI.com.

While the six would-be big spenders were said to be demonstrating strong attention -- if not yet big-bucks deals -- for the slugger after his MVP season of 54 home runs, 156 RBIs and a .314 batting average, Rodriguez's heart wasn't in it. Based on the early interest, he believes he could have received more money elsewhere, surely somewhere north of $300 million guaranteed.

As it turns out, Rodriguez did get close to $300 million, but did it to stay where he was -- and where he wanted to be all along.

Rodriguez himself believes the bidding on the open market would have gotten "crazy" had he let it. While teams were not announcing their intentions, some of them have anonymously acknowledged they were in it to win it. One other club owner said he believed Tiger owner Mike Ilitch, bolstered by new casino riches, looked like a major threat to outbid anyone (although the Tigers' superb GM Dave Dombrowski's plan was to go for Miguel Cabrera instead, a plan that was realized with the Marlins blockbuster), and Ilitch's history of making big deals with agent Scott Boras made the Yankees fear the Tigers most.

While A-Rod was only envisioning himself as a Yankee, if he had to, he would have met with all six teams, more enthusiastically with some than others. A person close to A-Rod said he was concerned about San Francisco's chance to contend and his own chance to be happy in Detroit, and that person speculated that the most likely landing spot was Los Angeles, probably the Dodgers.

There are many who believed Rodriguez would be reluctant to rejoin Joe Torre, who publicly questioned A-Rod during a sometimes frustrating 2006 season and also criticized him for disrupting a Blue Jays fielder early in '07. However, Rodriguez said he and Torre have made their peace and he would have had no trouble reuniting with his former manager in L.A.

As is clear now, the real holdup was that A-Rod couldn't see himself anywhere but the Bronx. He went through some very rough times in New York, between fans booing and tabloids reporting on his persona life, and apparently he didn't see any of that as a deterrent. Just the opposite, it turns out.

"New York brings out the best in you. And the worst,'' Rodriguez said the other day. "You have to be able to look in the mirror and be honest with yourself I didn't want to go to a place and hide and have my weaknesses be swept away. New York has made me a better man. And it's made me a better baseball player.

"I love New York. My family loves New York. I love the Yankee family,'' he added. "I finally had gotten to a situation where I was feeling comfortable with everything there is to New York -- from the players to the coaches to the fans. My relationship with the fans has come full circle.''

That relationship is intact now that he has returned. But for a couple short weeks this winter, he worried that it was over - his Yankees career, his image and all that came with it.

After A-Rod opted out of his original record $252-million contract, he still wasn't thinking much about the six teams that were chasing him. He mostly worried that his chance to remain a Yankee was gone, and that he was again being portrayed as a money-hungry mercenary. "I'm getting buried in the press. Everybody's saying I'm greedy. The MVP will mean nothing,'' A-Rod would tell friends at that time. To the surprise of some, he didn't have the unyielding gut it would take to carry out the entire opt-out strategy.

"Proving my loyalty to the Yankees was very important to me,'' Rodriguez said to SI.com.

A-Rod took the biggest hits for the timing of his opt out (which occurred during Game 4 of the World Series), although Boras accepted responsibility for it. The thinking was that by doing it well before his Nov. 10 deadline, it allowed other teams to consider him first (and gave the Yankees extra early incentive to get something done). Had he waited, other big-market teams may have assumed he was staying and quickly snapped up other available stars, such as Cabrera.

Boras felt the Yankees needed to be shocked. And while the opt-out did that, it apparently also shocked A-Rod. Rodriguez understood he'd be opting out, but he didn't plan on the quick negative reaction by fans, media, and especially by the Yankees, including new boss Hank Steinbrenner, who publicly said the Yankees were done with A-Rod. "Good-bye,'' Steinbrenner announced on opt-out night.

Perhaps unwittingly, that comment may have lined the path for a surprise return, because several days after Hank blew up, A-Rod reversed course.

Rodriguez and Boras had believed that the Yankees needed to see, 1) that A-Rod was willing to leave, a serious concern since Boras thought A-Rod tipped his hand too much throughout his glorious 2007 season, and, 2) that others were willing to pay much more. Boras always believed the Yankees would get back in and pay the market rate, which he felt was 10 years for at least $300 million, for the three-time MVP with as much marquee power as home-run power -- but only after he opted out and gave them a reason to.

A-Rod and his close coterie of mostly Miami confidants apparently agreed that he shouldn't jump at the eight-year, $220-$230 million deal that Yankees GM Brian Cashman had told A-Rod and Boras was the team's ceiling.

Rodriguez couldn't take the lonely waiting game for more than a few days, and he called his own audible, going back to the Yankees without Boras. The real story of how he got back with the Yankees is probably only known for sure by him. But it's been told a few different ways, depending upon the teller.

One story has A-Rod starting the ball rolling by telling John Mallory, a Goldman Sachs bigwig A-Rod knew from Miami, that he wanted back (Goldman Sachs owns a significant portion of YES Network). Another has A-Rod's wife, Cynthia, in contact with Yankees-connected people she knew.

In any case, Rodriguez and Yankees president Randy Levine went to work on a deal soon after A-Rod made it clear to someone who counted that he wanted to go back. Levine always realized the value A-Rod brought to the franchise and the YES Network and quickly told A-Rod, who pressed immediately for the 10-year deal Boras always sought, "I'll give you the two (extra) years."

A-Rod was assisted in the negotiations by the business savvy Cynthia and her brother Constantine Scurtis, a business partner of A-Rod in some real estate ventures. Within two days, they had a tentative agreement that made sense: $275 million over 10 years. A-Rod took well less than he wanted per year but got the length they targeted all along. A meeting was then set up with A-Rod and both Steinbrenner boys -- Hank and Hal -- at which time A-Rod professed his love of the pinstripes.

This time, it was no negotiating strategy. He meant every word of it.

"I really think God put me here for a reason,'' he said to SI.com. "And I've been through a lot. My family loves New York. My daughter loves it. She loves her apartment, loves Central Park. That's the family side, which is very important to me. The other side is professionally. I just don't think there's anything more special than putting the uniform on and playing for the Yankees."

A-Rod was so thrilled to be back, he seemed to barely care about the money anymore. Faced with the thought of having to move on, he lost interested in the loot.

Rodriguez triumphantly called Boras from the meeting with the Steinbrenners. He mentioned some hope for incentives but didn't seem to care too much about them. Boras nonetheless pressed for $30 million in very attainable home-run milestones and finalized the contract language. So with the $10 million Texas was obligated to pay after the opt out, that could bring the total haul to $315 million -- which is not too bad for a guy who was portrayed as crawling back. Yet, it probably still fell short of what he could have gotten elsewhere (or maybe even from the Yankees, had he waited it out).

Rodriguez declined to discuss why he ran back to the Yankees on his own or detail his current relationship with Boras. There is also no explanation for what A-Rod meant when he said on 60 Minutes that Boras told him the Yankees weren't interested in him when it was known the Yankees were offering $230 million before he opted out. While it appears he is still not back to calling Boras almost daily (or perhaps even at all), Rodriguez still employs Boras as his agent, and he does acknowledge that the opt-out clause was the key ingredient for his new deal.

Now, he only wants to talk about how thrilled he is to be back.

"The history of the pinstripes .... There's nothing like it,'' Rodriguez said. "I respect this uniform more than I can say.

"I also thought that the opportunity to play fourteen years with organization is very exciting to me, as opposed to being a guy who jumps around.''

It's hard to say now where he might have jumped had the Yankees stuck with their public stance that he was gone. But to A-Rod's delight, he never had to find out.

Umm... thank God!

Yeah. A Rod is certainly an elite ball player but I like Edgar, Willis and Miguel over A Rod and Inge.

Worried about his chance to be happy in Detroit? What does that mean?

It's Detroit.

We don't have the big city flair and the abundance of things to do that NY, Chicago, LA and several others have.
We're not as lame as certain Florida-based media would have you believe, but we're not one of "those" cities.

Yanks release Crystal. If Millen were running the Tigers, I'd be worried he would sign him.

Can Crystal work out of the bullpen?

Hmm...

Don't worry, Crystal hasn't sustained enough injuries for Millen to sign him.

Did you see that post on Scout regarding the Jones being cut, Chris?

Someone said something like..."Millen should have to run behind that line and see how healthy he would be after a couple of years"

It doesn't really make that much sense but it struck me as funny as hell for some reason.

Crystal for Minor?

rofl. How do they do it?