Your team does have the revenue streams to give A-Rod 35M per year, without crippling it as badly as Texas did to themselves. In the meantime, you have a good team, that should remain competitive for a while. Baltimore can do it, as they show no signs of fielding a competitive team and could use the sideshow that A-Rod would represent to them.
Of course, if Detroit was dumb they could give him the contract Boras wants, but neither of us think they are that stupid.
Jim
Even though Boras and the brass of the Tigers have good relationships and have consummated numerous deals…
…Then again, Boras and Satan have a close relationship, so…shrug
I’m interested with what happened to Zumaya. No, what really happened to Zumaya.
The way I see it:
Talks stretch out for a while because no one wants to pay that kind of money for that kind of time with a player that old (and one with (perceived?) issues).
A-Rod ends up with the Angels for less than his offer from the Yankees*. On the field he does…really good, but nowhere near as good as his contract.
ESPN has been making noise that the Giants are interested. It does make some sort of sense—They could really use someone to replace Bonds and A-Rod is a walk in the park compared to some of the issues Barry brought to the team.
The Winners:
The Rangers, with A-Rod declining they no longer pay part of his Salary (and put what will probably be thought of as the stupidest contract in history behind them).
The Red Sox. With the overhaul of their main rival (especially the departure of the Yankee’s best bat) they get a couple of years to themselves as king of the AL East.
The Yankees. Not big winners but they come out ahead. Short term they have to make up for his bat. Long term they get cut a lot of slack by their fans for finally financially standing up against an unpopular player.
The Losers:
A-Rod, He makes less money than he would have if he had taken the NYY offer. He has even more ‘It’s all about the money’ baggage piled on him. He ends up on a team that isn’t as good.
Boras, with the game four announcement debacle he already looks like a self-serving jerk. By insisting on more money than anyone is going to pay he is going to the well once too often (The original Texas contract was the classic case of ‘fool me once…’) and will come out looking like a bit of an idiot.
The Angels (or whoever pick him up), Unless some team is willing to join the Yankees or Red Sox in payroll, signing anyone to that kind of a contract leaves no money to pay for the rest of a competent lineup. The other downside is they get a guy who has never shown much in the way of team leadership (think Jeeter)—this is where the Giants make sense as even A-Rod is a marked improvement to Bonds.
To answer the OP I doubt anyone will pay 350 million for A-Rod. 5 years at 35 mil I can see. Not 10 years. The only ones that could have done it are the Yankees. I think A-Rod (or Boras) made a big mistake. A-Rod should have taken a page out of Tiger Wood’s playbook if money is what he is interested in. Become popular. The Yankee fans wanted to root for you. You just made it very hard to do so. Take the very generous Yankee offer (or negotiate it during the season like the team wanted to) and make all the noises about how much of an honor it would be to finish your career in New York. Make an effort to be seen as a leader of the team and an ambassador for the organization like Jeter. Then the endorsements would roll in. $$$$
ETA The big winner is going to be Mike Lowell. Yanks need a 3rd baseman and the Sox are going to have to pay to keep him. I don’t see him leaving the Sox but he should get a nice payday.
And they miss the playoffs.
Every team “needs” better hitters. You can’t score enough runs; more runs is always good. Had the Yankees scored 96 fewer runs they likely would not have reached the postseason. It was because of their exceptional offense that they overcame their mediocre pitching.
As usual, the “Rodriguez is a jerk” posts are coming out of the woodwork. It’s all irrelevant; baseball is about how many runs you score and how many runs you allow, and nothing else. Players that are actually SO disruptive that they hurt their teams are extremely rare - most of them don’t make the big leagues to start with - and A-Rod’s not even close to being in that class. He makes his teams a lot better, and that’s what counts. The question is how much someone’s gonna pay him to do it, and I’m guessing someone will be suckered into paying more than any player would be worth.
:smack:
Missed that one. This will be the bidding war to watch this year. He came up thorough the Yankee farm system and reportedly liked his time there. With A-Rod leaving he will draw serious interest from both teams. Personally, I see him staying because the near-term outlook is rosier in Boston.
Either way he will be a much richer man.
And you just climbed on your soap box to make a point that was not what **Cheesesteak ** was saying. He was saying spend A-Rod’s money on **Pitching ** instead. Which I know you will agree with. Damn those stupid Yankee fans anyway. 
Jim
I see him staying too. The Sox would be stupid to let him go. They are the second richest franchise in the American League. They can afford him (he won’t get A-Rod numbers). And the fans will be pissed if they let him get away over money. Especially to the Yankees.
Wilson Betimit will probably be the Yankees third baseman next year. And they will not be in the playoffs.
Except there is not that much good pitching available out there right now. Losing A-Rod’s numbers is going to hurt them much more than gaining the extra payroll. At least in the short term. They need A-Rod. But 35 for 10 is way too much. Any 10 year contract that ends when a player is 43 is too much.
I disagree, I think the Yanks will trade for Crede or Cabrera for third base. If they re-sign Rivera and Posada and Pettitte does not retire, they will be ready for another run at the division or wildcard.
That is a lot of money for a Trade and Sign deal with Santana.
Jim
Agreed, except for this: from what I’ve heard, Lowell wants a multi-year deal and the Sawx are not likely to give him one given his age. The Yankees, OTOH, will be only too glad to extend him a deal like that. They’d get a real 3rd baseman and one of the better clutch hitters in baseball.
Several posters have opined that A-Rod isn’t likely to go to Boston because “the fans hate him”. You’d be surprised how forgiving fans can be–remember, Yankee fans despised Roger Clemens until he put on the stripes.
As far as the contract, I think Boras and A-Rod will settle for 7 years at 30 mil per. If he stays at close to his current HR pace, he’ll break Bonds’ record before that, and how sweet would it be for the fans to have him do that in a Boston uniform? I doubt that possibility will be lost on Henry and Lucchino. They almost had him once–I doubt they’ll let him get away again.
Glad to see I’m not the only one who sees this as a possibility. Remote, but still a possibility, even if only to keep him from the Angels.
But in the end, I believe A-Rod will be playing in Fenway.
Two things:
I don’t think A-Rod will go to Boston for a 10x35M contract, if it comes down in years and money, I can see him tattoo the green monster for a long time to come.
Actually many Yankee fans still don’t really like Clemens and he will never have the love that a Jeter or O’Neill get. I will admit to going from hatred to apathy and some respect about him.
Jim
The value of a player comes from two things.
He puts butts in the seats and eyeballs in front of TV sets. It’s the most important part. Can he give you enough butts and eyeballs to pay for himself? If yes, sign him.
Is he a great player, and inspiring to a team? This is for a team owner who is not driven by profit. If the owner is willing to sacrifice his own money for the glory of thrilling sport, he’ll sign the expensive star. Good sense be damned, he’ll sign him.
Good point- has anyone tried to quantify if a contract like this is worth it solely from the increased income from ticket sales and jerserys, etc?
I recall several years ago when soccer player David Beckham signed a huge contract for Real Madrid, it was said (perhaps an exaggeration) that jersey sales alone all over the globe paid for the conract.
Supposedly Boras was claiming that A-Rod was worth $500,000,000 based primarily on TV revenue.
Indeed! When Randy Johnson has come back to Seattle with a different team, he’s received a standing ovation. When Ken Griffey, Jr. came back to Seattle with the Reds this summer, he was welcomed back with a standing ovation.
When A-Rod has visited, he’s been showered with Monopoly money.
On the first point: You’re wrong.
Being a Mariners fan, I remember the bullshit game he played by registering for college for a week to try and hold them hostage with the “I don’t want to play for you” attitude. Everytime he gets a chance to move, he does because it’s only about the $ and it’s all about him. Hey - I’d be like that in negotiations too; but he brings it into the clubhouse and that can wreck a team.
On the second point: You’re wrong.
Watching Nomar strike out (to bad pitches no less) in key situations the last two weeks of his Red Sox career or Adrian Beltre tank his whole career EXCEPT the contract year (curse you Mariners for signing him! :mad: ) or any number of “star” baseball players, I do admire ARod for his consistant regular season play. But that consistancy never translates into post-season play. You have to step it up a notch and ARod caves in to the pressure like an overripe honeydew.
I think Boras and ARod are doing what Scott Adams recommended in The Dilbert Principle (or maybe The Joy of Work) when asking for money.
Paraphrased:
“Some people make the mistake of asking for twice the amount they need. The higher-ups will see right through that and give you half of the amount you asked for. So the only solution is to ask for an astronomical amount of money for every task. You need two new PC’s? Ask for 50 billion dollars. That way, even if you only get 1/100th of one percent of what you asked for, you’ll still get a cool 5 million bucks.”
Smart bargaining, in my opinion.
Also, I don’t know anything about baseball.
As opposed, for example, to Johnny Damon, who signed for a $5 million pay raise with the Yankees because he was a team player, and not about the money. :rolleyes:
All these guys consider money when they sign. They’d be crazy if they didn’t. Also, it’s you who are wrong if you think that the sort of negotiating tactics you describe here alienate players from their teammates. Baseball players—unlike some baseball fans, apparently—understand that you do what you have to do in order to get the best deal. If you really think that A-Rod’s teammates don’t want him on their team because of the way he negotiates his contracts, you’re delusional.
Sigh. Here we go again. A-Rod’s postseason batting stats:
AVG/OBP/SLG/OPS
.279/.361/.483/.844
Admittedly not as good as his unbelievably awesome career numbers, but pretty damn good nonetheless.
Also, you brought up Seattle before. And yet, as a “Mariners fan” you apparently forget A-Rod’s performances during the postseason for Seattle. In 1995 he only had 2 at-bats in 2 games, but in the 1997 and 2000 postseasons, his line was:
.353/.389/.588/.977
And in the 2000 LCS he hit:
.409/.480/.773/1.253 !!!
But i’m sure it’s A-Rod’s fault that the Mariners lost that series 4-2. After all, he “caves in to the pressure like an overripe honeydew.”
So show me the evidence. Show me the teammates who are magically transformed from All-Stars to losers. Provide me with verifiable first person accounts, not hatchet jobs in the Post that contain out of context quotes and wild suppositions.
You have a strange definition of “never.” In 2000, Rodriguez batted .371 in the postseason, incluidng ,409 with two homers against the Yankees in the ALCS. In the 2004 playoffs he was .320 with three homers. In the 1997 ALDS you can hardly complain about .313 with a homer.
A-Rod’s alleged choking tendency is based on exactly two series; the 2005 and 2006 ALDSs, a total of eight games. Yes, he hit badly. If you’re basing your assessment of a player on eight games, you need to ask yourself, honestly, whether you are engaged in genuine analysis as a baseball fan, or if you’re just bitter he went to Texas.