Everyone up there wants to blame A-Rod for the Yankees not winning it all since he's been there, even though he's been the best player on the team during that time. You say it's all about A-Rod and there is no "I" in team, yet you forget there are 7 other position players and 12 pitchers in the bullpen. Yet, the guy who's consistently put up the numbers and played as close to being worth that contract as humanly possible, is treated as if he's the only reason the Evil "Empire" (that's like calling Russia an empire at this point) hasn't won since 2000. Like I said, laughable.
God! You sound like my best friend. He LOVES A-Rod. We just had this conversation this morning. No, I'm not blaming A-Rod for all of the Yanks ills. But you can't deny that he disappears during the playoffs. Now granted the whole team pretty much blew their wad trying to make the playoffs this year, so it's not just him. The whole team sucked this year. It's just my opinion, but the feeling I've always got from him is that his stats and his reputation was more important than the good of the team. No denying his stats, I just feel the yanks are a better team chemistry wise without him. And I hope they drop that dead weight Clemens too!
What better way to show you think you're more important than the game itself than to announce during the WS that you're opting out of you're contract. Or to opt out of an already insane contract to get more money. I really hope teams aren't stupid enough to pony up 30million for him...jeez take a lesson from the Rangers...and then take a look at the Yankees as well. The guy's good...I'll give him that...but nobody's worth that much.
Will be interesting to see what A-Rod gets on the open market because it will show he left either for the money or that he truly hates the Yankees.
I think he's just tired of taking the fall from Yankees fans and media while Jeter continues to be held up like a god. I like A-Rod. Despite his crazy contract demands, he's comes across as pretty humble. Not to mention that he is the proto-typical baseball player. He's like the guy everyone creates on their MLB game and puts on the Astros.
ARod is getting out of town while he still can. The Yankees have problem areas and holes all over their roster. Just go to Boston, Alex. When you get a few WS rings on your fingers in Boston, NY will realize that it's them, not you.
A humble player wouldn't think he is above the game and make his "announcement" that he is opting out of his contract during the freaking world series. Humble?? A-Rod?? LMAO
Shame, I like that Andy kid. Wish he would stay. <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/hegI5VVqGbM&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/hegI5VVqGbM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3090231 Toledo Mud Hens offer A-Rod an incentive-laden contract, but states that he'll have to either switch positions or beat out International League MVP Mike Hessman for 3B.
Well the Yankees offer for A-Rod was apparently 100mill short. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3091277 This is why I really don't care for the guy. He's a great player to be sure (though he does need to overcome his postseason shortcomings), but no player in the game deserves as much as he is asking. A perfect example of someone who clearly puts himself ahead of the team. Seriously, is 230 million dollars really not enough for you? I really hope no team buys into this crap, and if they do, they are complete idiots (see Rangers). And I hope that A-Rod ends up having to take a deal that's less than if he had not opted out...but I doubt it happens.
If you break that down, it's really not that much if he plays 162 games plus playoffs. There's players in the NFL, who make close or over a million a game. And no one complains about them. Even with a contract like that, he still wouldn't even be close to making a million a game.
Here is the article from the link. I think he has something already arranged with another team that includes an ownership stake, which is the only way you can get the insane numbers he's asking for. No team will pay him $350MM/10yrs but someone might pay him half of that plus a 25% ownership stake. Whatever happens will certainly push a new frontier for baseball salaries. Sources: Yankees more than $100M short of entertaining A-Rod By Buster Olney ESPN The Magazine Updated: November 2, 2007, 1:40 PM ET Before Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract with the Yankees earlier this week, the team was told that it would not be able to meet with the third baseman unless it presented an offer of at least $350 million, sources say. The Yankees had hoped to meet with Rodriguez this week, and would have presented him with an extension offer close to five years and $150 million, to begin at the conclusion of his 2008-2010 contract, through which he would have earned $81 million. Through the Yankees' proposal, then, Rodriguez would have made about $230 million over eight years, and during the last five years of the contract, sources say, he would have earned the highest annual salary in Major League Baseball history. But team executives were told, sources say, that in order to arrange a meeting with Rodriguez, they would have to be prepared to make an extension offer that would take the third baseman's deal up to a total value of $350 million. That means that the offer the Yankees intended to propose would have been more than $100 million short. Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, sent the documentation of Rodriguez's intention to opt out of the contract to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman during Game 4 of the World Series, Cashman has said, and the GM did not speak with Boras until after news of the decision was published on SI.com. The timing of how this played out, and the fact that Rodriguez did not meet with the Yankees to hear their offer before making his decision, has led some baseball officials to surmise that a deal with another team may already be in the works. In an interview with ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick on Thursday, Boras said, "We have had no economic discussions regarding Alex Rodriguez with any major-league team." The Mets, Dodgers, Angels, Giants and Marlins are among the teams which have not publicly ruled out pursuing Rodriguez. Sources say it is highly unlikely that the Dodgers will seriously entertain the possibility. Buster Olney is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine.
It was my understanding that it was against league rules for a player to have an ownership stake...at least that's what I remember hearing when the rumors started flying back during the season...and what team would even want to do that?!
He's got the talent to justify $30 mil a year. But for that amount of money, I'm in the opinion that it is better to spread the money over several players than put it all in the one basket. It makes Pujols' $103 mil 7 year deal with the Cardinals look like a bargain. Good luck to him and the team that meets the asking price.
