ARod/Yankees close to agreeing on a 10 year deal

[Glenn]

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.

[b-diddy]

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.

[H1Man]

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.

[Glenn]

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

[Hermy]

He'll want another big market.

[Zekyl]

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

[b-diddy]

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.

[BubblesTheLion]

Gullien Resigned, Death to Stupid Rumor.

[Glenn]

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.

[Zip Goshboots]

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.