A-Rod just pawn in game of life (Agrees to new deal with Yanks)

[splitterpfj]

I'll be surprised if the Cubs get this done, because I don't think the sale of the franchise will be completed in time, which would force the Tribune Company to take on an absolutely enormous contract at a time when their revenues have been falling.

 

Possible, but I think not at all likely.

 

Wouldn't it be ironic if he wound up back in Seattle?

[TheBrewer]

Boston, Angels in the AL I think will be contenders, and in the NL it's more of question marks. Cubs MAYBE. San Fran MAYBE, I say this because if they paid Bonds up to what 18 million every season or around that block, why not spend 30 million and get a better fresher younger player instead.. that would doom the Giants for years and their vet presence would extend.

 

 

Hey, guess who is the BEST third-basemen in major league baseball whos employed.. lol braun haha jk

[AdvantageSchneider]

I have to imagine Boras wouldn't let Arod out unless he knew for sure he'd get a contract worth close to what the Yankees were offering.

I honestly think (or rather, hope) that this is a case of Boras' hubris finally catching up to him.

 

 

 

I'd love it too, but Boras is too smart IMO to let th at happen. He might screw up the negotiations for some first round draft pick nobody's ever heard of, but he wouldn't leave the highest profile FA ever to chance. I'm sure he's already got a solid offer in his pocket under the table.

[Oldcity]

Breaking news:

 

A-Rod Opts Out, According to Boras

 

Hilarious. My guess is that he's offered nowhere near what the Yankees were willing to pay him.

I'm pretty darn sure he'll get more than what the Yankees offered him. Plus I'm also not convinced that the Yankees will stop pursuing him once he opts out. I just saw that as posturing and A-Rod calling their bluff.

 

[hawing]

While A-Rod leads the Sox, Angels, or someone else deep into the postseason... I'll be loving it.

 

Yeah, as long as that someone else isn't the Cubs (other comments in this thread notwithstanding).

[adamb100]

It's offical...

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071028&content_id=2286027&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy

[Invader3K]

Wow, the Yankees brass sure doesn't hold back when something happens they don't like, do they?

[don1481]

I'm pretty darn sure he'll get more than what the Yankees offered him. Plus I'm also not convinced that the Yankees will stop pursuing him once he opts out. I just saw that as posturing and A-Rod calling their bluff.

 

Unless this turns into a wild and crazy bidding war (which, yes, it might), I don't necessarily think that he'll get more than $30 million/year.

 

I'm still seeing this as the "perfect storm" of hubris; the Yankees are too arrogant to go back on the words that were reported in Adam's linked story and keep their offer on the table; and Boras is too arrogant to see that unless he can orchestrate another faux "bidding war" then Rodriguez is not going to get $30 million/year.

 

Of course, this could be also the ultimate "crybaby" performance by A-Rod - "wah, the NY media is too tough on me.... wah, the NY fans are too tough on me. I want OUT!"

[pretendastronaut]

Personally I think Arod needs to start treading lightly if he cares at all about how his image goes down in history. As a culture we don't really tend to like people/companies that make to much money. Its not always right or fair, but its generally true.

 

Arod is on the cusp of going down as a baseball hero when he breaks the home run record, but Bonds is about to be gone, and the media/fan hate will have to be focused elsewhere. I don't believe its a far leap before Arod can become a lightning rod for all fans because of his salaries. Right now its easy to put any anger about what these insane salaries do to the game, directed firmly at Boras, but more of it should really trickle down to Arod too.

 

This of course doesn't excuse any owner who is foolish enough to pay Arod 30mil a year either.

[splitterpfj]

I heard a clip on the radio this morning from Peter Gammons. It was from last night, when reporters asked him about A-Rod, he really blasted them for announcing this during the World Series, and said a lot of teams would read this as a selfish move, by a player who....has never appeared in a World Series game.

 

The disgust in his voice was unmistakable.

[colbyjack]

I mentioned Gammons response in the lackluster series thread. I did remind myself after posting that that Gammons is a huge Red Sox fan, and was obviously ticked that Boras/Arod were trying to steal some of the Red Sox thunder. The spotlight quickly changed during the broadcast, as the Red Sox sweeping the Rockies clearly didn't create enough interest for the FOX production team.

 

When the dust settles I don't think teams are going to care if Arod is going to look selfish. I think teams already know that. They will remind themselves just how good this guy is and the pocketbooks will once again open up. I think Boras needs the Yankees to remain in the bidding to keep the price up, but he worked the Rangers before with Arod and phantom bids.

[WV Brew]

2006 30 NYY AL 154 572 113 166 26 1 35 121 15 4 90 139 .290 .392 .523 134 299 0 4 8 8 22

I don't think an owner would be too happy if he paid $30 million and got that. Whoever gets him will be overpaying. Again.

[sgtcluels]

Braun to left field ARod to 3rd please!

 

Quick Mark A.. make a few billion dollars over night to make this happen. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[don1481]

I think Boras needs the Yankees to remain in the bidding to keep the price up, but he worked the Rangers before with Arod and phantom bids.

 

And this is precisely why I think that this tactic won't work this time around. Teams know Boras will most likely employ such tactics again and be hesitant to "up the ante," so to speak, without better evidence than Boras saying "so and so is willing to pay XXX million over Y years."

 

Is it considered tampering for teams to publicly disclose their offers? If not, wouldn't it make more sense for teams to put their offers out in the open so to avoid the "phantom bid" tactic?

[colbyjack]

I know what you're saying don, but I remember when people last offseason thought JD Drew was stupid for opting out of his deal with the Dodgers, only to land a better deal with the Red Sox. It may be easy to hate Boras, but the guy doesn't lead his clients to make bad decisions. Arod will break the bank, again.

 

I really hope he doesn't, but there's always that one team out there that crumbles and caves.

[MoneyballMan]

Boras has a deal done - or very close to done - with a team. Saw the same in a national article earlier today. Boras isn't dumb - tampering or no tampering, a) MLB will never find evidence of it and b) there's no way he lets him walk away from $72m plus whatever NY was willing to pay on extension (conceivably more than $200 million in total) unless he has a deal in principle with someone. My money says the Angels.

[AdvantageSchneider]

This article almost makes it seem like Boras is begging the Yankees to get in a bidding war over Arod.

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/10/31/boras.arod.ap/index.html

 

I thought this quote was interesting too,

 

Detroit general manager Dave Dombrowski said it would not be accurate to say the Tigers were in the mix for A-Rod.

 

"He turned down about $28 million a year from the Yankees, and we got a player we like a lot to fill our need for a shortstop," Dombrowski said after acquiring Edgar Renteria from Atlanta. "We made the deal that we think makes the most sense for us."

 

Perhaps this time teams will announce whether they are in or not on Arod. it would be nice if the market shrinks on him, but I still think Boras has a $30million a year bid in his back pocket.

[danzig6767]

I don't really care how much an athlete gets paid, it's the owners money.With that said, it's still hard to fathom that we are now at the point where 28 million a year doesn't cut it.

 

The thing that interest me is what if Arod signs some mega deal and the team he signs with misses the playoffs in back to back years.Will he push to get traded again?If that happened and he got traded,then he'd be on his 5th team.Now plenty of players end up playing for multiple teams,but generally,big stars don't go from team to team every 3-4 years like some middle of the road vagabond player.

 

Usually really big stars play in one city long enough that the city has some affinity for that player and after they retire,things like retiring their number and having that player back for event is quite common.If Alex does much more jumping from team to team,he may never have a city/team calls him sorta their own.He goes into the Hall of Fame and has to think hard about what cap to wear because he never really connected with any city or team.

 

Who knows,maybe he doesn't care about things like that.I'm just thinking if i was in his shoes,these things would matter to me,to what degree though i'm not exactly sure given i'm not in his shoes.

[biedergb]

I don't really care how much an athlete gets paid, it's the owners money.With that said, it's still hard to fathom that we are now at the point where 28 million a year doesn't cut it.

As a fan of the Brewers I obviously have no sympathy for high priced superstars and their multi-million dollar agents, so therefore I am not an A-Rod apologist. But on the other hand, this is a billion dollar industry, and many owners are making (on the books, which probably underestimates the true value) about 10-20 million a year (wasn't it published that Loria of the Marlins made $43 million). Plus you factor the number of CEO's who make upwards of 5-10 million a year (plus bonuses and buyouts), and movie stars who make several million per film, and A-Rod as the most marketable, best pure athlete in the field is on par with these folks. Sure, I'd love to see him have to take an offer less than he anticipates (just for pure Schadenfreude), but his demands can be rationale from a pure economics sense.

 

The part that is killing baseball is the 3rd tier guys (regular starters, not all-stars) who then go to their agents and say "Hey I hit 25 home runs last year, so I deserve half of what A-Rod gets", and we have $15 million dollar average OF, or #4 starters.

[splitterpfj]

Boras says A-Rod's been a superstar in the post-season, the perception is all Mariano Rivera's fault.

 

Rivera did it

 

Mike Lupica calls A-Rod a "Gold-Plated Phony."

 

Lupica

[PeaveyFury]

The Toledo Mud Hens sent a letter to Boras today to gauge A-ROD's interest in playing for them:

 

The deal stipulates that Rodriguez will have to compete for a spot with Toledo third basemen Mike Hessman, the league's most valuable player last season.

 

"Would your client be willing to play a different position?" the letter asked.

 

That's pretty good stuff.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3090231

[Team Canada]

Good grief: A-Rod was seeking $350MM from Yankees

[sgtcluels]

Well played by the Mud Hens. Pretty funny that they can take it in stride.

 

But wow, I wonder what fueled the requirement for 350 mill. Is it because he hated NY so much, or does he think someone else is going to pay 350?

[brewers19]

Good lord, A-Rod could buy his own baseball team with that much.

[Team Canada]

In the spirit of this thread's title, I really should have said "Boras was seeking $350MM from Yankees".