A-Rod opts out of contract

[Triumph36]

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As a Rangers fan, this makes me happy. Now they have more money with which to overpay some underproducing middle-aged pitcher!

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are we talking chan ho park or kevin millwood?

i have no idea how millwood is doing, but c'mon now.

[vhawk01]

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Buster Olney from insider

Alex Rodriguez couldn't be at the World Series to receive an award from Hank Aaron -- a family commitment was the stated reason -- but he managed to upstage Game 4, with the help of agent Scott Boras, who announced in the early innings that his client is opting out of his contract.

The way this played out could not have been more apropos, because A-Rod needs to be bigger than the game; he needs to be more important than the Red Sox or the Rockies or any other team, or any other player. He is one of the greatest players in history at compiling statistics, the greatest ever at compiling wealth, and his next employer will have to buy into that. The World Series can't matter as much as A-Rod.

Maybe that will work for the Angels, or the Giants, or the Dodgers, or the Red Sox. It is not going to be the case for the Yankees, who were prepared to pay Rodriguez the highest salary in history and couldn't even get him to the negotiating table, after his four tumultuous seasons with the team.

There were some within the Yankees' organization who thought that Boras was bluffing, that there was no way he'd walk away from the Yankee dollars, but there were others who have been convinced for the better part of a year that Rodriguez would sprint away from the team at year's end.

Rodriguez talked intermittently about loving New York and loving his place with the Yankees, but some of his peers within the team thought this was the real bluff. In the end, this meant so little to him that his time with the Yankees didn't end with the requested face-to-face meeting, but with Boras sending a text message withbein a document attachment to general manager Brian Cashman.

It's his prerogative to move on, of course. He has the right to make as much money as he can. But buyers beware: If you buy into A-Rod, well, he has to effectively own your team. He has to dominate your clubhouse. He has to be the story. His salary demands virtually require all of that, because no matter where he goes, A-Rod will likely account for 20-35 percent of his next team's payroll. He must be bigger than the manager, bigger than his teammates.

His pursuit of Barry Bonds' record will be the focal point of your organization, the way that Bonds' chase of Aaron possessed the Giants the last five years.

The Yankees have insisted that they won't chase Rodriguez, and assuming they stick to their word, maybe it's for the best. A-Rod never seemed particularly comfortable playing under the pressure of the Steinbrenner Doctrine, which renders all regular-season statistics meaningless without the validation of a championship.

And some of Rodriguez's teammates were constantly perplexed by him, wondering why he had a knack for melodrama; they were awed by his talent and by his seeming insecurity, which they thought was at the root of his postseason struggles. He has played four seasons in New York and will almost certainly leave after two MVP awards, 173 homers and 513 RBIs, and yet somehow he never seemed to fit in entirely.

Somebody will buy into A-Rod, of course. He's an extraordinary player. The cost will be hundreds of millions, and the heart and soul, of his next franchise.

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Wow is Buster Olney a complete moron. Did everyone already know this? Is this new, this Olney being an idiot thing?

[dmisfh1]

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1. how can you possibly think the FO would make the mistake of going after santana? absolutely nothing points to that.

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I'm not a huge fan of how hands-on Hank Steinbrenner has been over the last two weeks, and how in the background Cashman seems to be. I know this sounds like WFAN overreaction, but I don't get a warm, fuzzy feeling from the direction of the organization.



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In the sports illustrated article that says Girardi will likely get offered the job tomorrow, it says that the Steinbrenners gave Cashman complete control. They wanted Mattingly and but they let Cashman pick Girardi. If this is true it gives me great hope for the future.

Cashman in control = +EV

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considering how brutal girardi was at managing young pitchers, i'm not sure i approve of this. plus on yankee broadcasts he definitely showed he has a ton of -EV strategies.

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That's the beauty of it. If Girardi doesn't work out, they can always fire him and bring in Donnie Baseball. No one can live up to Torre right now. Whoever the next manager is will be seen as a failure if he doesnt at least make the playoffs. This is especially true because of the way things ended for Joe and the Yankees. And apparently Steinbrenner doesnt like Girardi that much anyways. If he doesnt do well, he gets fired. If he makes the World Series - brilliant!

[rwperu34]

A 5% payroll increase leaves the Yankees roughly $84.2MM to spend this offseason plus whatever they save going from Torre to Giradi.

Key free agents;
C-Jorge Posada, Jose Molina
1b-Doug Meinagdsoaiweoitwich
3b-Alex Rodriguez
sp-Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite
rp-Mariano Rivera, Luis Vizcaino, Ron Villone

[stakman1011]

Arod decides to take less money and come play third at Philly?

Howard, Chase, Jroll, Arod...Best infield in the history of baseball?

one time?

[kevstreet]

Olney and Gammons sticking it to A-Rod is beautiful because he deserves it! See ya A-Rod.

[bottomset]

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Olney and Gammons sticking it to A-Rod is beautiful because he deserves it! See ya A-Rod.

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he's won 2 of the last 4MVPs and you want him to leave?

[Pudge714]

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Wow is Buster Olney a complete moron. Did everyone already know this? Is this new, this Olney being an idiot thing?


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Ya I was wondering this as well. I love when people say about A-Rod and Kobe
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If you buy into A-Rod, well, he has to effectively own your team. He has to dominate your clubhouse. He has to be the story. His salary demands virtually require all of that, because no matter where he goes, A-Rod will likely account for 20-35 percent of his next team's payroll. He must be bigger than the manager, bigger than his teammates.

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You're best player is also you're most expensive and most important. ORLY?

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I will say I cannot wait to read FJM tomorrow


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[DesertCat]

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Horrible decision. He may make a little more, but that deal will cripple who ever signs him. It will be Texas all over again

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Texas signed Chan Ho Park and Juan Gonzalez the year after they signed A-Rod.

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Yea, but the next team doesn't have to make these mistakes, signing A-Rod will be enough. An 8 year contract for at least a quarter of your available payroll is tremendously foolish when he'll be declining through out those 8 years. His range factor at third has been below league average every year, he hasn't had an above average range factor since he was 26 or 27.

Even if range factor is a poor defensive metric, it sure seems to point to A-Rod's ongoing decline defensively. It's going to be very hard for his new team to win if they lock up 20-25% of their long term payroll in a guy they'll be forced to move to first base, corner outfield or DH for half the deal, esp. if he is only a top 20 or 30 offensive player at that point.

[owsley]

as someone who lives in philly right now, wow, him coming to philly would be a perfect storm of disaster. That would be like jumping straight down one level deeper into hell. Philly fans are the angriest people alive, if the booing got to him in new york these people will rip him apart. They had so many good 76ers teams with AI and then so many good Eagles teams with Mcnabb and never won it, and believe me they are pissed. It would be so funny to see arod go to another crappy situation where he was the no contest mvp, led the team to the NLCS, then suffers for 10 games and gets stuff thrown at him. And be locked up for 10 years. Boston just won another WS and the patriots are sending everyone to the hospital, if arod went to philly they would just [censored] up so bad and hate him so much, it would really make philly the new boston.