Alex Rodriguez to the Cubs? (ESPN article)

[Glennron]

Hopefully this isn't true.

[TooLiveBrew]

No link? No more info than just an ESPN writer speculating?

[Brewer Fever]

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. Hopefully Steinbrenner cuts a big check to keep him.

[PeaveyFury]

TooLive, there's a link in the post- click on the word 'this.'

[brewmann04]

hearing in ny if the yanks don"t win it all Arod will go to the highest bidder.

[TooLiveBrew]

oops, my madness & frustration blind(ed) me. Thanks PF.

 

EDIT: According to the magazine, Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, has already identified the leading candidate to buy the Cubs and has begun negotiations on a mega-deal.

 

This is simply regular stuff from Boras. He leverages teams & markets against one another all the time, merely to drive up the signing price. All this tells us is that the Cubs have money to spend, which we already know. NYY are really unlikely to let A-Rod go, as it's not like they have money problems. Suer, Ca$hman made the 'We won't re-negotiate with him if he opts out' comment but that too is simply him trying to play hardball. Plus then when A-Rod opts out, if he heads elsewhere, Ca$hman can claim he went above and beyond the call of duty - and further than he was at first willing to go - in order to save face (and perhaps his job).

 

He made the comment about 'not being willing to renegotiate' around the same time he finally got his way on the build-from-within strategy (which is the correct way, imho). If the Yankees can't match the highest bid, then something is rotten in the state of New York. There is such a slim chance that they will let A-Rod get away, and that's what it would have to be - a conscious choice by NYY to actually let him walk. And who says the "sources" cited couldn't just be Boras himself? This reeks of too many all-to familiar tactics by Boras for me to really get up-in-arms just yet.

[jeffy]

Isn't it against MLB rules for him or his agent to be negotiating with the Cubs while he still has a contract with the Yankees?

[jason21nl]

man oh man would that be a monster hitting team. One of their huge holes is at short. Filling that hole with Arod would be a pretty good upgrade

[pretendastronaut]

I don't know for sure if I buy the story or not. The part about Arod having ownership of the team is ludicrious, and makes it seem fake, but at the same time Boras is a madman, who probably needs to dream up some scheme like this to get Arod the kind of money they think they'll get.

 

Personally, as much as I'd hate seeing Arod in our division, I have little doubt that a mega deal for him would cripple the Cubs. We've seen that already. Even NY isn't paying his full salary this year, and because of a loop and the new stadium, they're not getting penalized for being over the "salary cap" this year. You take away those two things and I don't even think the Yankees would be paying Arod 30 mil.

[brettac1]

Wasn't Canning considered the be the front-runner for the Cubs? That would be a pretty huge splash as your first move as the owner. Whatever the Great One does, I just hope he sticks it to the Yankee fans that have treated him like trash since day one.

 

I have major doubts about the validity of this story, though.

[TooLiveBrew]

The real incentive here is for the Yanks to try to re-sign Alex to an extension before he can opt for Free Agency, which retains for them the remaining deferred money to the Rangers. Imho, knowing this, Boras has tried to ensure his client will get that $30/yr. number - which has been merely invented out of the clear blue sky by Boras as well - whether it comes on the open market or by forcing Ca$hman's hand prior to that.

 

5 years / $150 mil., with perhaps a mutual option for a 6th year could be enough to retain Rodriguez (which would take him through his year 36 / 37 seasons), but I suppose it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could get a 7-year deal, or even more (either of which would take him well into his declining years)

[Principessa21]

hearing in ny if the yanks don"t win it all Arod will go to the highest bidder.

Where did you hear that?

 

[brettac1]

My guess is that that's something from Mike & The Mad Dog or something similar. There's no way anyone with knowledge of the situation would say that, who knows if A-Rod even knows what he'll do.

 

And he'll definitely go the highest bidder. That's a union thing more than anything. If it weren't for them stepping in and not allowing him to take a pay cut, he'd be with the Red Sox right now and probably for the rest of his career.

[pitchleague]

and, see, this is the type of thing that gets me excited about next year but also scares the crap out of me. If this does in fact happen, the Cubs are going to be stacked and the only way they aren't a 90-win team is if their pitching collapses. Sound familiar? It's the exact same scenario for the Brewers.

 

So much for "breezing" (notice the quotation marks) to the playoffs next year.

[strawbossisevil]

This is exactly what I hate about baseball. The Cubs can just go out and buy the best free agent in the league two years in a row, and without any effort make their lineup a murder's row. (I imagine they could do the same thing with pitching too). While teams like the Brewers have to scrape together to afford middle of the road FA, and have to hope for their young players to contribute.

 

A top of the lineup consisting of:

Soriano

DeRosa

A-Rod

Lee

Ramierez

 

Would easily be the best in baseball (and be absolutely brutal). But what did they do to actually get those players other than shoving large dollar signs under their eyes? What accomplishment is it if the team does well? That's why I can't stand the Yankees, they go to the playoffs nearly every year because they have more money than they know what to do with, it's nothing to them. If they want a player, they go get him.

 

The truth with all five of the above players, is they ended up/could possible end up on the Cubs because other less financially capable organizations couldn't afford them, because they were too good. It's funny how all the "too good" players can gravitate to a small number of teams, while other teams spend their time hoping to develop these "too good" players so they can have a year or two of their services before they have to start over.

[ILuvDaBush]

Isn't it against MLB rules for a player to have partial ownership of a team? According to the story at yahoo, unlike the NHL (and Lemieux), you cannot have an interest in the team you play for. Then again, for a mercenary like A-Rod, I doubt he has any interest in the TEAM he plays for.

[brettac1]

The ownership stock would be deferred until he retired, I imagine.

[afeter]

if they cubs sign A-rod, something drastic will have to be done. I may have to stop watching my favorite sport. It will be a sad sad day.

[MoneyballMan]

The ownership stock would be deferred until he retired, I imagine.

My understanding is a player can not be an owner (or partial owner) or can even have any sort of promise of ownership (which deferred comp or stock would be). Unfortunately, I just can't source this understanding. Maybe someone else can confirm with a source? I think Boras may have even been quoted as saying as much after this rumor came out.

[TooLiveBrew]

Rosenthal's latest on this topic

[billyhallfan]

The Cubs are not getting Alex Rodriguez.

 

excellent.

[Team Canada]

Also in that article:

 

"Brewers right fielder Corey Hart has emerged as one of the more underrated players in the game. Hart is seventh in the NL with a .352 batting average with runners in scoring position, and his overall batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage are remarkably similar to Alfonso Soriano's. Hart: .297-.355-.536. Soriano: .296-.334-.550."

[endaround]

If by remarkably similar they mean superior, yes thats true. 21 poinst of OBP crushes 14 points of slugging.

[homer]

Soriano

DeRosa

A-Rod

Lee

Ramierez

 

Would easily be the best in baseball (and be absolutely brutal).

 

 

Weeks

Hardy

Braun

Fielder

Hart

 

Is potentially lethal.....I still think the Cubs would have them by a nose due to ARod but it's not by a landslide or anything.

[BrewCrewRising]

Soriano

DeRosa

A-Rod

Lee

Ramierez

 

Would easily be the best in baseball (and be absolutely brutal).

 

 

Weeks

Hardy

Braun

Fielder

Hart

 

Is potentially lethal.....I still think the Cubs would have them by a nose due to ARod but it's not by a landslide or anything.

The Cubs definitely have the advantage in that scenario. Their lineup would be better (though ours would be competitive) but the defense of the Cubs players puts them in the indisputable best in show category there.