According to the Yanks’ $275-million man, his negotiations with the Bombers are “in the bottom of the fifth.” I have no idea what that means. The starting pitcher is beginning to tire? The bullpen is getting ready? The game is rushing to a conclusion? The two parties are a little bit more than halfway there? Strange metaphor there, Alex.
Hack writer: A-Rod = Bonds
Meet Tim Kawakami, writer for the San Jose Mercury News. He had nothing better to write today, so he compared A-Rod and Bonds.
It was already obvious, but last Thursday sealed the deal. Bonds and Rodriguez are fused in the sports mentality – what you love about one of them, you love about the other; what you hate about one, you hate about the other (aside from the Bonds/Balco mess).
Yeah, because the Bonds/BALCO thing is just a footnote on Bonds’s career. Not like he’s being indicted for it or anything.
The column, as you can probably figure, is an enormous waste of the newspaper’s budget.
“I have some unfinished business in New York.”
So says Alex Rodriguez. The line strikes me as Eastwood-eque, though I don’t think he’s ever uttered those exact words (minus the “in New York” part) on screen.
Our $275 million dollar man says he’ll reveal all…”when the time is right and I have a proper forum….It’s important for my fans, for the New York Yankee fans, to realize exactly what happened from A to Z.”
Did the Yanks really get a $275-million deal?
Earlier this evening, my dad and I were discussing the A-Rod contract, and just a short while ago in the comments here, Eli voiced what we had all been thinking: Did the Yankees really get a good deal for A-Rod? Does a 10-year, $275-million contract really represent a bargain?
Here’s Eli’s full question:
How badly did we overpay? What was our pre opt out offer? 5 year extension at $30 less the Texas discount on the remaining 3 for $81? Total $230 over 8, $28.75 per?
Now were paying $275 over 10. $27.5 per. How are we getting a discount?!?! Seems like were rewarding him for this nonsense. Giving him two extra years I doubt he could get anywhere else for what? A 40 + year old DH at $27.5 per??
To answer this question, we’re going to have rely a little bit on conjecture and a little bit on the confusing terms of A-Rod’s old contract. First up, A-Rod’s old contract. According to the indispensable Cot’s Baseball Contracts, A-Rod was due at least $27 million a year over the next three season for a base total of $81 million.
But he could void the deal after 2008 or 2009 if his club didn’t increase his 2009-2010 salary by $5 million a year. He could have made up to $91 million over those three years, and it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t have held the Yankees up for that money had he kept the terms of his old contract. The Rangers were on the hook for $21 million of that total. So that leaves the Yanks’ contribution at a potential $70 million.
Now, the conjecture. When the Yankees threw out an offer to A-Rod and Boras in October, the numbers included five years and $150 million. Remember though that this was simply their initial offer. It’s my belief that the Yanks were willing to go seven and $210 million. At that point, their total contributions would have been at about $280 million over ten years.
So they saved a whopping $5 million.
Considering the stratospheric numbers we’re talking about here, it doesn’t sound like those $5 million will make a huge difference in the grand scheme of the Yankees. But I don’t think that’s the point.
Rather, the Yankees, by maintaining a hard line in the negotiations, proved that, while the Boss’ days may be numbered, Hank and Hal are just as much a force behind this team as George was. They broke the Scott Borus stranglehold over baseball, and welcomed back A-Rod on their terms instead of on his.
After A-Rod opted out, I told my friends that I would still be more surprised if A-Rod weren’t the Opening Day third baseman come 2008 than if he were simply because, when push came to shove, no other team was going to shell out the money the Yanks had available to them for A-Rod. I realized that well before the season ended; it took a colossal mistake on the part of Boras and A-Rod for them to realize it.
In the end, in all honesty, the Yankees aren’t getting a great deal. They’re not overpaying, but they’re not underpaying either. They’re simply paying A-Rod what they would have given him in the first place. But they’re doing it on their terms, and that edge makes all the difference.
Yanks, A-Rod agree on contract outline
This should silence a few more of the doubters out there, but I won’t breathe easy until A-Rod and the Yanks are holding the requisite press conference.
From ESPN:
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.
All that’s left is for the Yanks to draft the agreement, and, yes, Scott Boras will be involved there. I guess I’ll have to move A-Rod back into the “Current Yankees” category.
Yanks to rename new stadium A-Rod Park
Just kidding. It’s going to be A-Rod Field.
In all seriousness, the Yanks are prepared to bend some of their internal contract rules for A-Rod. According to Tyler Kepner, the Yanks and A-Rod are working out some incentives that would kick in if and when the slugger passes the all-time home run mark. Kepner reports:
The sides are discussing a marketing plan in which Rodriguez, 32, would benefit financially as he passes hallowed home run benchmarks in the coming seasons. The Yankees typically do not offer bonuses to players who make the All-Star team or win postseason awards. But Rodriguez’s pursuit of the career home run record would bring increased revenue to the Yankees, and the team is willing to share some of it with Rodriguez who has 518 home runs and is already 17th on the career list.
Considering that baseball is very much a business, this is fair practice on behalf of the Yankees and a move of which Scott Boras probably approves.
When all is said and done, if A-Rod actually does return to the Yanks and signs a ten-year deal, they won’t name the new stadium after him. But it will be known, for better or worse, as the House That A-Rod Built.
The A-Rod Plot thickens
The A-Rod news is coming fast and furious right now. So let’s get to it.
First up is your and my favorite man in the stands, FoxSports’ own Kenny Rosenthal. In a recent piece, he writes that A-Rod supposedly cannot negotiate with the Yanks without agent Scott Boras because of the Collective Bargaining Agreement:
The Yankees will be in violation of baseball’s collective-bargaining agreement if they exclude agent Scott Boras from their negotiations with his client, Alex Rodriguez. “That clearly is a violation of the Basic Agreement,” Michael Weiner, the general counsel of the players’ union, told FOXSports.com on Wednesday.
“Once a player designates an agent, a club cannot refuse to meet with that agent.”
Well, that’s all well and good, except that I disagree. The CBA, available here as a PDF, reads as follows in Article IV:
If the Association has notified the Office of the Commissioner that a Player has designated a certified Player Agent or Agents to act on his behalf for the purposes described in this Article IV, no Club may negotiate or attempt to negotiate an individual salary and/or Special Covenants to be included in a Uniform Player’s Contract with any Player Agent(s) other than such Player Agent(s).
A team may not negotiate with another agent for the services of the player in question, but no where in the CBA does it say that the player is barred from cutting out the middle man and negotiating with the team himself. While I’m not the general counsel of the players’ union, my educating reading of the CBA tells me that what the Yankees want to do and what A-Rod wants to do is perfectly legal.
And yes, A-Rod wants to do it. In a rather shocking turn of events noted to me by loyal reader Patrick, A-Rod has issued a statement on his official site. It’s the first we’ve heard A-Rod talk since the whole opt-out debacle. And what does the soon-to-be MVP have to say?
After spending time with Cynthia and my family over these last few weeks, it became clear to me that I needed to make an attempt to engage the Yankees regarding my future with the organization.
Prior to entering into serious negotiations with other clubs, I wanted the opportunity to share my thoughts directly with Yankees’ ownership. We know there are other opportunities for us, but Cynthia and I have a foundation with the club that has brought us comfort, stability and happiness.
As a result, I reached out to the Yankees through mutual friends and conveyed that message. I also understand that I had to respond to certain Yankees concerns, and I was receptive and understanding of that situation.
Cynthia and I have since spoken directly with the Steinbrenner family. During these healthy discussions, both sides were able to share honest feelings and hopes with one another, and we expect to continue this dialogue with the Yankees over the next few days.
So maybe A-Rod isn’t quite ready to go away yet. Stay tuned, folks. This ride just got interesting.
Update: A few of you have mentioned a recent John Sterling report on the WFAN. Let’s hold off on that one for now. We don’t want to get too carried away with the anonymous sources. It is, after all, John Sterling.
Update Again: Mark Feinsand at Blogging the Bombers reports that a deal is nearly done. We’re looking at 10 years and $275 million for A-Rod. This is all still based on anonymous sources.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 97
- 98
- 99
- 100
- 101
- …
- 108
- Next Page »