The ‘greatest thing that’s happened to baseball,’ third baseman Alex Rodriguez, has opted-out of his contract with the New York Yankees, forfeiting a guaranteed $72 million over the next three years.
The announcement should be a red flag as A-Rod and his agent Scott Boras show they have no respect for the game of baseball as Boras was trying to upstage the World Series finale through the announcement. Obviously, Rodriguez only cares about money and his individual assault on the record books.
Boras let the Yankees organization know of his client’s decision by leaving a voice mail for general manager Brian Cashman. The excuse given for that spineless act was Boras happened to be traveling. Boras said during a telephone interview with the AP that Rodriguez made his choice because he was uncertain whether other Yankee free agents would return to play for New York, including pitchers Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte and catcher Jorge Posada. Boras said it became clear that the others wouldn't make a decision by Rodriguez's deadline to opt out – 10 days after the World Series.
That’s a bogus claim and you’d have to stupid to believe it, sorry Scott. The other unknown Yankee contracts probably didn't have any impact, because A-Rod would not have left $70 million plus on the table unless he thought he could get more.
Everything that has transpired amounts to a few more reasons to hate both A-Fraud and his greedy agent, Boras.
UPDATE: As for where Rodriguez will land, the speculation has begun (see Not worth it). But one thing is certain, the Yankees are out.
New York, which failed to make it to the World Series in all of Rodriguez’s seasons, maintained Monday they will not attempt to re-sign A-Rod. Hank Steinbrenner, son of owner George, said there was “no chance.”
The Detroit Free Press reported Wednesday the Toledo Mud Hens, the Triple-A affiliate of the Tigers, would make an offer to Rodriguez after Hank Steinbrenner told the NY Times “Does [A-Rod] want to go into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee, or a Toledo Mud Hen?” The Mud Hens reportedly prepared a letter they plan to mail to Boras including a contract offer with incentives if Rodriguez hits 75 home runs per season and leads Toledo to 10 consecutive Governors’ Cup titles.
Justin Rogers reported on his MLive blog that ESPN radio analyst Jayson Stark keeps coming back to the Mets and Tigers as potential suitors for Rodriguez. Stark says there are major obstacles that could prevent A-Rod from signing with the Angels, Dodgers, Cubs, White Sox or World Champion Red Sox.
The Mercury News reported that Giants GM Brian Sabean said he plans to "kick the tires" on mega free-agent Alex Rodriguez but reiterated that next year's club would be built around pitching and defense.
(Updated 11/03/07)
Blogger's Note: Buyer beware...Alex Rodriguez's great regular season numbers tail off during the playoffs. A-Rod is batting .279 in the playoffs with 7 home runs, 17 RBIs and 38 strikeouts in 39 playoff games. Photo courtesy of AP Photo - Chris O'Meara.
1 comment:
I love how a Triple A team mocked A-rod. Major league teams should do the same thing. For example, offer him the league minimum with incentives for every at bat against pitchers with a sub-3 e.r.a. or subtract $100k for every grounder he boots. Or even better, offer him the big bucks if he's willing to make the transition to left field (a la Soriano).
I'm tired of Boras tooling around the MLB. It's time for the owners to fight back. (I never thought I would say that).
The other thing the owners have to do this offseason is NOT sign Barry Bonds. He needs to be forced to retire (Or go play for Toledo!) through exclusion. If all 32 owners team up and not offer him a contract (or mock him with a league minimum deal like the one I described above for A-Rod) he might not play next season and no one would have to worry about Barry any more.
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