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In an update to ESPN.com, citing ‘sources,’ Buster Olney reports that in order for the Yankees to retain Alex Rodriguez the team had to present an offer of at least $350 million.
…jeez, this is getting crazy…so, basically, the Yankees rumored offer would have been $100 million short…say that a few times, and see if you don’t get dizzy and sick…
…so, what are we talking about here…if he wants $30 million a year, he must be seeking a 10–year, or 12–year deal…it’s really amazing, actually…i mean, it was only a few years ago that so many of us were lampooning the Rangers for having given him $250 million, thinking that would never happen again…yet, here we are reading reports that he wants more on his second deal…i don’t know if i am impressed or disgusted, frankly…
…by the way, thanks to andrew b for the link…
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why doesn’t he just ask for majority ownership of the team…..that is just stupid.
Geez, I think Rodriguez also wants a couple thousand shares in Standard Oil!
the Hell with Arod, I want Lincecum
Me too! He would be a nice addition.
No way anybody goes for that length at that price. I could see 8 years $225-235 mil.
12 years? So some poor team will have to pay him $30M/year when he’s in his 40s? Fuggedaboutit!
I hope it all blows up in his face.
The thing is, the out of whack contract that Texas gave him hasn’t happened again. There hasn’t been a contract close to ARod’s last. There is no precedent that says his contract should be bigger. This is the time for COLLUSION! Just saying he is the best player, doesn’t mean he should be paid at a vastly different scale. He obviously has more intrinsic value to a team like the Mets–fan appeal, stealing press form the Yankees, network, etc.–than say the Giants, but he is not that vastly better than say Chase Utley or for that matter DWright that he should be paid a ton more than he was making as the far and away highest salaried player. Seven years ago, they didn’t even make an offer. I’d be happy if they made a reasonable offer, pretty much take it or leave it, without getting caught up in Borasland, say 8 years at @ $25.5M a year and see if anyone else gets involved.
I’m guessing it will get complicated. My guess would be 8 years at about 250. He’ll have an opt out after 6, with options on 9 & 10 that kick in based on at-bats. I doubt anyone will give him a straight 10 years.
I wonder if people complained about Babe Ruth when he was making outlandish money. Ruth, in comparison to everyone else, was making a lot of money
Do you have any idea how much better Ruth was than the rest of the players? He hit more HRs a year by himself than most teams. And back then, he was by far the biggest draw in all of sports. Just saying it isn’t a good comparison.
When he made his money he wasn’t hitting more HRs than other teams anymore.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/tsn/babe_ruth_salary.shtml
That’s simply not true. 1927, he hit 60 HRs, had a salary of $70,000. Lou Gehrig made 8,000, which was pretty average that year. 60 Hrs was more than any team in the AL, combined. Not only was Babe’s contract outlandish, but his stats backed it up.
If there ever was a time for ownership collusion, now would be it…
I’d love it if the best ARod gets is 6 years, 150 Million.
Poor baby … 6 years and $25M… that’ll show him!
Lock him up. In 3 or 4 years ARod’s next contract will look like a bargain.
Wow.
Better yet, sign Mota for 7 yrs. $15M. In 4 years, everyone will be talking about what a smart move that was.
Don’t these teams remember how screwed the Texas Rangers were in getting other talent after they signed the initial 10-years $250 million deal? Now you’re telling me someone, some team, might go to $300-350 million? It’s CRAZY! Who knows, perhaps someone will.
But it really would be funny if the owners decided that whoever wants him, max bids would be $140-150 million.
No team is gonna go 300-350 million for A ROD.
And if they do, they can have him.
Guys… Lighten up on poor Arod… He might not get his 340 million and wind up with only 320 from some poor team that will be stuck with his contract and not be in the WS or even the playoffs for the next 10 years (the Arod Curse… yes, you heard it here first… LOL)
There is no way anyone could possibly consider giving him that much money. That’s just absurd.
As Boras says, “it’s an easy easy decision”.
and you guys want this guy on our team? WE ARE NOT THE YANKEES!
I take my vote back. This is nuts. I don’t want him on my team.
Matt, I bet if you posted that A-Rod poll again – right now, after this news – you’d see the pendulum swing yet again…..
Since he is all we talk about; is anyone else bothered by the use of “ARod”?
Could we just call him Alex or (crazy me) Alex Rodriguez?
A-Rod sounds like something from a “toy” catalog for alternative lifestyles….
There are 2 reasons to play MLB: 1) To win and 2) to make money. Usually, these 2 reasons are at odds with each other, i.e. if one player sucks up too much of the payroll there won’t be enough talent around him to win.
It’s fairly obvious that A-Rod plays for money, he could care less about winning a World Series, he just wants to be the highest paid player in baseball. If A-Rod cared about winning then he would have stayed with Seattle or signed with the Mets back in 2000 and he would have not opted out of his contract with the Yankees this year.
This is how A-Rod keeps score in life, not titles or rings, but dollars in the bank.
Now having said all that, do I want A-Rod on the Mets…I’d have to say yes, but I don’t say it lightly, his very presence could be poisonous to a franchise. I don’t think A-Rod is a bad guy, but we all know he’s in it for the money, so deep down every player in the club house knows A-Rod is a hired assassin and doesn’t concern himself with winning.
I don’t understand how you are coming to these sweeping conclusions about the guy. How in God’s name do you know that he is not concerned with winning?
Is it not possible to cash in professionally for as much as you can, and at the same time love what you do? Why can ARod only do one or the other?
A-Rod is the best player in the game. He has an opportunity to be paid as such. Why is that such an issue? I don’t think the guy will get $350 mil, but whatever it is that he does get, you can be sure that everyone will have their panties in a tussle because they think it’s too much.
Relax. If the Mets want to get in on ARod, there is a certain financial neighborhood they are going to have to be in. Someone is going to give him his money.
And for all of you who don’t want the Mets to be interested in the best player in baseball because he “costs too much”, fear not, because history is on your side.
The last time a player of this caliber came up the pike that was of this magnitude, it was Vladdimir Guerrero. Many of you thought he cost too much, too, and look how we handled that one.
It’s only money, and it isn’t yours. Let the fat cat owners worry about what they can and can’t afford. ARod is probably the best player of our generation, and he is in his prime. I’d love to have him on my team.
I think the previous post said quite clearly why he thinks that Rodriguez doesn’t care about winning, or at least winning is secondary while making mucho dollars is his primary interest. He was on a team oozing with talent in Seattle and he bolted to a team in Texas which 1)had no talent and 2)had no chance of affording additional talent after being saddled with his salary. And now he’s doing the same thing all over again.
The Mariners team he bolted had primo talent in three players. By the time he bolted Seattle, he was the only one left and understood that the M’s weren’t going to compete regardless of weather he signed or not. He wanted to go to a place where he felt that a team could pay him what he was worth as well as field a competitive team.
Didn’t work out for him, but not because the Rangers couldn’t afford more players. The Rangers were, and still are, a lost franchise. They lack direction in what they are looking to accomplish and may have done better if they had a plan in place to become competitive. Outside of A-Rod, they didn’t have any good players.
hindsight is 20/20 here. He left a Seattle team that had gotten rid of Randy Johnson and Griffey in the previous 2 seasons and looked like they were in rebuilding mode to join a Texas team that had made the playoffs 3 out of the previous 5 seasons and still had Pudge Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and a few other pieces of those teams. Basically, they thought ARod was gonna be a better replacement for Juan Gone and take them back to the playoffs. Nobody then knew that Texas would bottom out and the Mariners would sign a slap-hitting Japanese outfielder and a journeyman second basemen and somehow get MVP seasons out of both of them and win 116 games.
Warrior.
ARod is arguably the best player in the game, and there are around 10 other players in his ballpark and 20 more reasonably close.
He is not going to get paid 50% more than the next highest-paid position player simply because he is not 50% better than the next highest position player.
Warrior…How much is too much? At what point do you say “enough?” ARod can go lose in the first round with someone else! At what point do you see past the hype? At wht point do you not get lured by the siren’s call of the sexy name free agent? $40M/yr? $50M/yr?
I wish Scott Boras and Tom Glavine would get on a rocket ship to Mars and never be seen again.
room for Par Burrell?
There are seats for Pat Burrell, Chipper Jones, Armando Benitez, and Timo Perez (I still can believe he stopped running).
Why would you want to send our good friend Benitez away? As long as he continues to pitch against us, only good things can happen!
He’d be the first man to balk on the moon…
Has anyone thought that maybe the Yankee PR machine is using its boy Buster to report this to make A-Rod look even worse than he does? Maybe he didn’t want to play for the Yankees no matter what they offered, so he opted out before they could meet. And Boras doesn’t ever want to look like he took the 2nd best offer, so he opted out before the Yankees could even make an offer, knowing that it would be higher than any other offer he got. This protects Boras’ rep, for getting top dollar, although at the expense of A=Rod’s
Also possible Boras wants this story out so the baffoon who signs him for $300mil — which is what they wanted all along but everyone thought it was a reach — thinks he is getting a bargain.
Time to collude…
There is a poll on SNY website; Who will Alex play for in2008;
Mets, Skanks, Angels, Giants or Sox?
Gotta tell ya; my heart of hearts says he’ll be right back with the Bronx Bombs…
If I were to pay a position player 350 million, He better be available to pitch once every two days, help build ciitfield, sub in as a pinch hitter, while waiting on deck and in the hole. He better play that hole field by himself. Crazy, Just Crazy
Yeah, you’re right.
We’d be much better with Luis Castillo, anyway…
Christian Warrior…tell me your first name is Christian and you are not some type of Catholic extremist.
InsaneMetsFan, please tell me your first name is insane and you’re not actually a lunatic?
just kidding, but seriously, who cares? As long as he/she/it’s a Mets fan, that’s all that matters on this website.
Let’s be realistic here, he can’t be more than 1 place at a time, but he’d better hit .423 with 87 HR’s and 216 RBI. He should also be available to switch between 3B and the mound for righty-righty matchups.
Lol yeah mine was a little too surreal for sure
……………..and, he’s 7 year’s older! no way he gets 10-12 years. any team that does that is stupid.
the mets should just offer arod 7-8 years at 25 mil. per.
if we get him, great and we will have alot of loving for arod for accepting less but if not let him be someone elses problem.
next years free agent class might possible include peavy sabathia santana and tiexeira among others.
save the money for next year.
As for this year, i would trade milledge and maybe someone else to texas for saltamachia.
then trade for a number 3 starter who is an innings eater, –> garland or blanton — trade pelfrey and gomez.
resign catillo
then we fill the catcher spot for the future.
If there was ever an argument for collusion, this is it. Someone needs to slap this guy. And oh yea, STOP WRITING 10 POSTS ABOUT HIM A DAY. This blog is falling apart.
I think I just threw up a bit in my mouth reading those numbers. This is where my teetering interest starts to wane….
Hmm, for some reason, some of my long rambling (but clean and PC!) posts aren’t getting posted. And some darned good material too!
short version, this kind of deal screams for a NFL type contract (huge $$ value, but will never likely get paid).
Maybe 6 years guaranteed (at 30mill say). After that, a combo of vesting options and opt outs.
If Boras thinks he is a freak of nature that will be a stud at 39-40, let him put up his money too.
And how many wins would he really be worth? Would he really single-handedly guarantee a playoff appearance each year (which the contract would demand to even begin to pay off)? Forget it. This isn’t basketball. With all of the adjustments required to accommodate him, I’m not convinced he’d give us ANY extra wins.
I am in law school working to become Scott Boras. He knows how much teams REALLY pull in and what Arod’s talent and name can generate for them.
There is no way A-Rod’s name and talent is worth an extra $30M a year for the Mets unless he wins them multiple championships, which he will not do.
O yea? List all of your reasons why he is not worth $30m.
Do you work in the business of sports? If not, then stop assuming and trying to base facts on your own opinion
Nice burden shifting. How is he worth $30M a year? You tell me. You’re in law school — you do not work in sports, and you have a better shot at being the next A-Rod than the next Boras.
I would venture a guess that ticket sales would not see much of a boost — they’re already moving into a new, smaller stadium. Ad revenue might go up marginally initially, but if the team doesn’t win, they end up in the same place in year five with or without A-Rod. The real payoff would be for additional postseason appearances. There are better ways to spend $30M to improve chances of getting to the postseason and winning there than displacing your best hitter for another position player who costs 60% more than the next highest paid position player.
Meanwhile, continuing to play in NY would make A-Rod a lot of money, though probably no more than LA.
robmenna, Harvard or Hofstra? Difference between you being the next Borris or late night slip and fall ad.
Bugs Bunny — who played all nine positions at one time — wouldn’t even get that much.
Seriously, this is just ridiculous to even talk about. NO one will give him that kind of deal this time. Boras is just posturing. It’s funny, I think this is actually going to blow up in his face a bit. Think about it: already they Yanks and Sox (assuming they resign Lowell as they seem to be leaing towards) are out. That’s the two teams with the highest payrolls and the ones that always try to one-up each other. Toss in the fact the knucklhead Hicks won’t go down this road again, and teams with the really deep pockets are drying up rather quickly. The deal never would have gotten as large as it did last time if Hicks had any clue.
Alex will get his money, it’s just not going to be this kind of insane deal. My guess it 7 years at about 27 or 28 mil.
at this rate a-rod + bora$ are just gonna end up owning an island (or country) somewhere that no one will be allowed to visit or fly over…i just wish it would happen sooner rather than later so we wouldnt have to hear about either of them ever again. i so wish i had the power to ship them both off to “imaginationland” to suck eric theodore cartman’s balls…
Thats a lot of money and a lot of years for a guy
who still SUCKS in the playoffs year after year after year.
I keep hearing all these numbers, but is anyone really going to be stupid enough to give A-ROD $300M dollars? I mean REALLY? So he’s going to get twice as much as any one single contract EVER signed(except A-ROD’s previous)? I just can’t imagine anyone doing that. As was mentioned above, the rangers got burned so badly last time by assuming they had any competition, what’s to stop a smart GM from making an offer he thinks is fair and right for his team and then just sticking by it. I would go 6 years 200M for A-Rod and then call it a day. I don’t see anyone spending any more than that. But then again there are way too many stupid GM’s out there (see Brian Sabean). A-rod is going to want more opt out clauses too isn’t he? The guy is good but he’s not as good as 2 top players together. To pay that much would be like saying he’s better than having Manny and Big Papi. That just isn’t true.
Thats over 1/3 of a……BILLION……DOLLARS……..!!!!
Boras and AROD punk’d the Yankees with that $350M figure. He wanted out. Not hard to figure. He had enough of being Jeter’s shadow. He came to them as the reigning AL SS Gold Glove winner and he had to change position for the overrated Jeter D. He came over as the reigning AL MVP and gives the Yankees 2 more AL MVP Awards in 4 seasons and he gets booed by Yankees fans the way Mickey Mantle used to get booed before Roger Maris came to town to get the brunt of abuse. He wasn’t sticking around waiting for the next whipping boy to show up and take heat off him.
Don’t get hung up on $350M. That’s the number thrown out to stick it to the Yanks. Good for him. We’re Mets fans, right? C’mon, the line of suitors to give AROD $350M is non-existent and Boras knows it. You know it. I know it. Why get your panties in a bunch about it like he suckerpunched the Mets? Relax. Enjoy AROD’s joke… and GET HIM!
Let’s not call him A-Rod, or Alex, or Jimmy boy or whatever it is that FOX tells us to call him. Let’s call him A-Roid, since we all know that he needs the millions to buy that horse juice he’s using. A-Roid is using far better things than steroids. It’s a special juice that Bud Selig brews in one of his many bath tubs. MLB is a bad joke sort of like the WWE.
forget Arod. as it is the mets fell apart last year and had the heart of the team was questioned. you think Arod will help that. hes about the cash and has no heart for winning . hes selfish and his ego tears clubhouses apart. we dont need that. what we do need is pitch, as said a million times before. pass on Arod and watch him put up numbers with no championships. i want rings, not Arod!
Here is what doesn’t make sense to me. Arod at age 32 walked away from from $91 million over 3 years.
There are many people who believe he never would have gotten $25mil/yr for 10 years if Tom Hicks hadn’t been bidding against himself for Arod’s services.
He is abandoning an unprecedented contract being paid by the Yankees, the team with the highest payroll in baseball. The team that acts like money is irrelevant.
This is a huge gamble for Arod. There is a chance he won’t get the $25 mil/yr matched by anyone with the Yankees and Hicks out of the bidding. Everyone else that thought about him last time knows that they could have had him for way less money.
Knowing that, why didn’t Arod just finish his last 3 years with the Yankees. He most likely would continue putting up monster numbers and be in line for a big 5-7 year deal at age 35.
For Boras to force him to walk away from his deal makes me think that Boras has spoken with another team out there and knows that the team will meet the price he wants.
MLB has made record profits, and the new trend is for teams to create regional sports networks. So Boras is right, there is more revenue and revenue streams than ever before. But I think these guys, unless Boras tampered with another team and knows he is OK, are risking Arod making less than $25mil/year.
You’re exactly right. It is a huge financial risk for AROD. Everyone callling him greedy is assuming he’s going to get his raise to $30M/season, which in a way is just giving credence to 1) the money is definitely out there, and 2) AROD is the player to get that kind of money.
AROD simply wanted off the Yankees. He walked away from his remaining monster deal with no guarantee of making that kind of money again. Plus, he and Boras threw up a preposterous $350M sum so that the Yanks wouldn’t even have an opportunity to present their offer or do any sort of negotiations. AROD wanted out of The Bronx.
Everyone was wondering about A-Rod’s changed attitude and relaxed demeanor this year where he appeared to allow everything to roll off his back like water off of a duck’s back. Even that incident with the strip club seemed to have no effect. At the time I wondered if he had already made up his mind to opt out and no longer gave a sh*t about what the Yankees fans and/or teammates (Jeter?) thought of him. His salary demand from the Yankees is just totally out of line and the Yankees were right to tell him to take a hike, but that is probably what he wanted.
… as to the tampering issue you bring up… Boras isn’t stupid. A new AROD deal, whether $200M or $250M or $300M or $350M fattens his pocketsm too. He wouldn’t jeorpardize his livelihood by making a prearranged “tampering” deal with an owner. And neither would any owner out there.
Honestly, even if AROD and Boras “goof” and free agency lands him a smaller per season deal, they won’t be kicking themselves. It’s not like their mortgage ARMs are resetting next spring and they’re banking on a raise to ward off foreclosure. The biggest thing is AROD wanted out of The Bronx. He’ll have a choice of more preferable places for him to play in what may be his final contract. That’s a bigger factor for him than the necessity of breaking the bank.
Everyone callling him greedy is assuming he’s going to get his raise to $30M/season,
I’m calling him greedy. And I’m assuming he’s NOT going to get his raise to $30 mill because I think he and Boras acted rashly and miscalculated.
AROD simply wanted off the Yankees.
I don’t think you can say that. It’s not clear. And if he really did, why is Boras now calling for the Yankees to enter the bidding? I know you’re going to say just to jack the price up, but I don’t buy it. I think they naively think the Yankees are going to jump back in. They think the Yankees need A-Rod more than A-Rod needs them.
He wouldn’t jeorpardize his livelihood by making a prearranged “tampering” deal with an owner. And neither would any owner out there.
How would that jeopardize Boras’ livelihood? I can’t see it. And no owner is going to admit to it anyway. If none of the parties ever speak of it, no one will ever know. No one can prove it, but many believe Boras had a prearranged deal with Theo on Drew. In A-Rod’s case, I have doubts there is a prearranged deal because I don’t believe anyone is going to top the Yankees’ total package.
Honestly, even if AROD and Boras “goof” and free agency lands him a smaller per season deal, they won’t be kicking themselves.
I disagree. I think Boras and A-Rod will deeply regret it.
The biggest thing is AROD wanted out of The Bronx. He’ll have a choice of more preferable places for him to play in what may be his final contract. That’s a bigger factor for him than the necessity of breaking the bank.
Again, no proof that escape from the Bronx was the main reason. And I disagree he’ll have a choice of “more preferable places.” Where? Who? It seems many teams have already taken themselves out of the running. And if they haven’t done so publicly already, I bet privately they have (ie, the Mets).
I think breaking the bank was his #1 reason for opting out. It’s been reported that he wanted to see what his value was on the open market and that’s why he did it. IOW, he believes he’ll get a lot more than what the Yankees offered.
A-ROID!! I’M COMING TO GET YOU HANK AARON AND BARRY BONDS!