***yankees official offseason thread*****

[DesertCat]

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http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...p;sportCat=mlb

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He makes great points but ignores the central question, what will A-Rod be worth? And people are so results oriented.

Giambi was a great hitter who used steriods but got hurt, so he must not be a great hitter without them and must have got hurt because of them.

A-rod never got hurt from ages 19-31 so he won't get hurt from ages 32-41.

He never declined from ages 19-31 (except for his defense) so he won't decline much during ages 31-42.

We have never seen A-Rod use steriods so he must be all natural.

Baseball history is full of superstar players who suddenly fell off the map in their early thirties, both pre and post steriods eras.

I don't object to paying A-Rod even $30m per year. I object to the ten year contract, I think he'd be the best possible signing on a seven year deal.

Remember the Yankees have to pay luxury tax on this contract so he will actually cost 40% more. If luxury tax changes in the next ten years and goes dollar for dollar, A-rod could end up costing $60m per year and force the Yankees to deal more valuable players because he could be immovable at that age. Its a small risk in any one year, but when the yankees guarantee a deal for that long those risks become significant. If they do it Cashman would need to negotiate out clauses to minimize these risks.