From the Worldwide Leader:
The Yankees have changed their traditional stance and are now willing to negotiate during the season with their star third baseman on a contract extension, MLB sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney.
The key sticking point for the Yankees in the prospective negotiations is that Rodriguez agree not to opt out of his current contract after this season and agree to add any extension to the current contract, which expires after the 2010 season.
So lemme get this straight . . . A-Rod gets in-season contract talks, but these two guys don’t? Wow, how times have changed in Da Bronx.
The guess here is that he ends up inking a monster extension, like a 6-yr/$200M kind of monster.
Update by Ben: I wanted to make a few points here. I doubt the Yanks have said nothing about this to Rivera or Posada. Those two will re-sign with the Yanks too.
As for A-Rod, I’m thinking more along the lines of five years at $150 million or six years at $180 mil. Now, while I know many people expect A-Rod to head west, the truth is that the Angels and Giants just can’t afford that kind of deal. $30 million would be a whopping one-third of the Giants total payroll or slightly less than 30 percent of the Angels’ total payroll. I just don’t see that happening.
My guess, as like Mike, is that A-Rod negotiates with the Yanks, stays and wins one or two rings in the Bronx as Hughes and Chamberlain join a rotation with Wang. A new ballpark will see the Yanks’ finances improve even more, and they can afford this move.