Yankees have not yet placed A-Rod on trade waivers

August 29, 2012 by Mike Axisa 35 Comments

Hundreds of players have already been passed through revocable trade waivers this month, but the Yankees have yet to run Alex Rodriguez though the process according to Ken Davidoff. A-Rod is currently sidelined with a broken hand and given the five years and $114M left on his contract, no team would claim him anyway. We can dream about the Dodgers taking on his contract, but I suspect they’ve already satisfied their quota for nine-figure commitments this month.

mj

i would love to see him and in contract leave:)
- mj
  
  “his” my bad
Samwise Eddard

Cashman said yesterday that the salary relief would be nice but that we need Alex to win this season and that he’s still one of the better 3rd basemen in baseball. I bet the Dodgers would claim him. They’re going to have a $300 million payroll next season after they acquire Cliff Lee, Josh Hamilton, and Ryan Howard to be their backup 1st baseman.
AnthonyFromCalifornia

Come on Dodgers, you know you want him.
blake

You cant put somebody on waivers if they are on thr DL anyway can you?
- Scoot
  
  Sure you can….Boston did….the name Crawford ring a bell!!
  - blake
    
    He was put on and cleared before he went on the DL
http://www.flickr.com/photos/roadgeek/ Roadgeek Adam

I guess I’m one of the few that doesn’t want to see him go. Like or hate his contract, he still earned his pinstripes.

The only Yankee I’d like to not see in pinstripes next year of this years team is Russell Martin. He has no place, and probably rightfully so.

People may and are going to disagree with me, but that’s the way it is.
- Samwise Eddard
  
  I agree. Martin and his sub .200 BA can go. What an idiot not taking that multi-year deal. Andruw Jones and Ibanez are gone. Chavy might retire but I hope he comes back. Ichiro would be good as a 4th OF but he probably won’t want to do that. They need to bring back Swish and Kuroda. Freddy’s gone, Phelps will take his place.
  - Robinson Tilapia
    
    Your next tag should be Nostra-Eddard.
  - Chris
    
    Lets bring back Sal Fasano!
- jjyank
  
  Agreed on A-Rod, I don’t want to see him go either.
- Ted Nelson
  
  I would like an upgrade over Martin, sure. At the same time that’s not that easy to do. Some people like to act like BA is a comprehensive measure of player value… But that is not reality. His overall offense is pretty average for a starting C, and he’s a good defender.
- Deep Thoughts
  
  This isn’t a Martin thread so I won’t harp on how poorly this opinion is rooted in reality.
  
  A fragile Eric Chavez and “.186” McGehee suggest that Cash is right about needing Alex in the lineup. But you never know who might be willing to take on a Vernon Wells, or a Crawford, or a Lester. I don’t see the harm in passing him through revocable waivers, except maybe bruising Alex’s ego.
rogue

Where’s Stu when you need him?
Robinson Tilapia

I don’t “want” him to leave. Alex is one of favorite guys on this team, I appreciate what he’s done, and I love that his WS ring came while in pinstripes.

However, I’m not bullish on his future and, if we’re talking working towards a period of payroll limits, I don’t think what we’re going to see from him moving forward even comes close to money he’s being paid. I don’t see him breaking the records. I don’t see him playing 3B full-time. I don’t even see him hitting 20 HR a year on a regular basis. Even my “victory lap” theory doesn’t seem to measure up much.

If the opportunity presents itself, if I were running the team, I would consider dealing him. I’d hate every second of it, but I’d do so.
- Pasta Stumbling Sojo
  
  Right. I like having him on the team, but I think everyone agrees that if he were a free agent this offseason, you wouldn’t sign him to a 5 year $114m contract, or anything remotely near that. Losing him now would hurt, but the players they could add over the next 5 years with that money would drastically outweigh the near term loss.
- Hardy
  
  “I don’t see him breaking the records.”
  
  He looks good to break at least one major career record. While it is a long way to the big HR record (119 left), he is pretty close to the RBI record (261 left) and has also a chance for the RS record (418 left).
Dave the Ox

Given his newfound maturity, can we let ourselves dream about a restructured contract, say, with an ownership stake attached? Is that even allowed?
Steve (different one)

No trade clause. And 10-5 rights.
SamVa

Hypothetical question—-

If a team were to take on all of A-Rod’s contract in a trade, but asked for a package deal with Cano is that something you would pull the trigger on?
Let’s say we get a low-cost mlb-average 2nd baseman back (a la Beckham) and maybe a fringe prospect?

Is it worth it/what do you think we would get back?
- JohnnyC
  
  Why would the other team want Cano included? He’s a FA after 2013 at beaucoups dollars.
  - SamVa
    
    A team attempting to make a playoff run may.. Just a question. You can insert Granderson in there if it make syou feel better (yes I know he is also almost at the end of his deal too)
- blake
  
  No because that makes the Yanks cheaper….but a lot worse on the field.
  - Chris
    
    No way. Boston had to clear those guys because of the clubhouse dynamic, not to just clear payroll. The Yanks would want major parts back for Cano. I’d also assume that if a team asked for him in an trade it would require a multi year deal to be in place before he goes. The Yanks and Sox reason for moving those big contracts were very different.
- RetroRob
  
  The Yankees are in the business of winning. They don’t give away their players.
  
  The Red Sox were a poorly constructed team with a bad club house dynamic and a losing record, including one of the greatest collapses ever last September. This is not the Yankees.
Jonathan

Might be trying to also keep him from getting 3000 as a Yankee
Jonathan

Might be trying to also keep him from getting 3000 as a Yankee.
http://riveraveblues Dennis v

To coin a phrase from the iron horse if A-Rod was put on waivers I would consider myself the luckiest fan on the face of the earth
Darren

Like an old doggie
Good to have A-Rod around
Blame your farts on him
Dale Mohorcic

I don’t see the harm in at least having the option open. Perhaps someone provides you with a serviceable 3B for the rest of the season in such a deal (though I cant think of an example).
RetroRob

For whatever it’s worth, I heard Joel Sherman (who broke the Sabathia/Teixeira Dodgers story yesterday) being interviewed, and he speculated that it wouldn’t be surprising if the Dodgers approached the Yankees in the offseason regarding A-Rod depending on what other moves they do or don’t make, including keeping Hanley Ramirez at SS. They are a team that has cash to spend and is interested in bringing in star players as they work on details of their next TV contract, be it with one of the existing players, or starting up their own RSN. Remember, A-Rod was able to negotiated his return to the Yankees by going through Goldman Sachs, part owners of YES. He’s not the player he once was, but he’s still one of the biggest names in the game and 100+ HRs of the all-time HR record.

A-Rod is greatly diminished from his peak skills, but he still rates as a plus player at third, a position that is not overly deep. The Dodgers gave the Red Sox a do-over on contracts they wanted to move, and we shouldn’t assume they’ve ended their spending.

The Yankees wouldn’t move him now during the season, but trading him in the offseason would allow the Yankees to plan accordingly.
oldmanalex

so what does this 10-5 rights thing actually mean? to me it means that a player with those rights can veto a trade. But does any player actually want to be on a team that wants to trade him? Is Arod really going to say no I don’t want to go to the dodgers..
- RetroRob
  
  That’s right. A-Rod can certainly reject any trade, and he probably would to some teams. The Yankees can still put him on waivers. Not sure he would reject one to Los Angeles. Or to put it another way, it’s one of the markets that I could see him being okay with. He seems to be trying to integrate himself into that whole scene.
  
  It’s not going to happen, but it’s not impossible either.
oldmanalex

I just think this team is not the same without him. He’s worked hard to integrate himself into this organization and surprisingly become a leader. I think, A-Rod also really cares about his legacy and getting closer to the HR milestones (even from an organizational standpoint) means more money for both parties. I don’t see the point of unloading his contract and then putting up another $150 mill 5 yrs for another impact bat/pitcher, and whichever is replaced would make the other department weaker. The only way they unload him is if the yankees are committed to being in some form of mediocrity for a few years and not thinking Championships year in and year out. Not saying AROD is the key to a ws title at all, but he is an integral part of lengthening the lineup and on occasion fucking other peoples shit up. Why not just play out the remainder of his contract and start fresh, by then a few contracts will be up or towards the end.