[Karak567]

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very strong rumors from a couple different sources that a-rod will sign for 280 10 years with incentives to make it 325

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what sources? team? league? agents?

yes, the numbers are a bit higher than i expected. i also think the market even for $250M/10yr is just not there. why would the yankees offer more than that?

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si.com had the 280/10 yrs with 300+ incentive figure

another board who apparently has an "inside source" (i always doubt those) said the same thing hours before the si.com story broke though

from rotoworld:

According to SI.com's Jon Heyman, Alex Rodriguez will likely be guaranteed about $280 million over 10 years from the Yankees, with the chance to go over $300 million through incentives.

Heyman says agent Scott Boras is in intense negotiations with the Yankees to complete the deal. We suppose anything is possible with these two parties involved, but it seems highly unlikely that a deal will fall through at this stage.

also, via newsday... the "third party" was hitting coach kevin long:

Steinbrenner said the Yankees recently received a message from Rodriguez "from a third party" that he wanted to speak with them directly, a distinct change in his strategy from just a few weeks ago.

The Yankees, however, have known for a while that A-Rod still hoped to be in pinstripes. Hitting coach Kevin Long, who is tight with Rodriguez, said Wednesday night that he told general manager Brian Cashman during his own contract negotiations two weeks ago that Rodriguez wanted to return.

Here's how the conversation went, according to Long:

Cashman: "Kev, we made our offer and they shut us down."

Long: "I still think Alex would love to be a Yankee."

Cashman: "I don't get it."

Long: "Well, I just know how much he wants to be a Yankee and I know how much that you have expressed that you want him back. If that's the case, then certainly you should both still be talking about it."

Cashman didn't return a message Wednesday.

When Long heard the news Wednesday, he said he sent Rodriguez a text message saying, "If this is true, you're going to have an awfully happy hitting coach if this happens. He replied, 'Well, we're working on it.' "