A-Rod To Stay?

The latest quote from Alex Rodriguez:

"I want to be a Yankee and I understand my contract and I understand my options.  My goal is to go in with Derek and Mo and open the new stadium. It's pretty clear."

The interpretation is that he wants to be a Yankee in 2009.  However, the above statement is very different from, "I will not exercise my out clause."  Many folks still think A-Rod is leaving the Yankees after this season.  Most likely, he hasn't made any kind of decision yet.  The A-Rod/Rivera storylines will follow us around all season, like it or not.

Comments

[Guitar Hero]

He doesn't actually say he wants to go into the new stadium as a Yankee, or as a fan or other player.

[RotoAuthority]

Yes but if he meant either of the last two that would be the ultimate in slippery talk.

[NYCBOY21]

I think the angels are the only team that would actually get him, i cant think of anyother team that would even want to sit down with him a discuss a contract.

[yanksfan]

I can't see A-Rod opting out unless he has another year like last year with another playoff flop.

Let's say he opts out, and gets the exact same contract Soriano got. $136 million for 8 years. To do that, he'd have to give up $81 million over 3 years. That would make the new contract equivalent to a $55 million, 5 year extension on his current deal.

Does A-Rod / Boras believe he could substantially top Soriano's offer? If not, it only makes sense to opt out if he thinks he won't be able to get $11 or so million a year down the line.

[jg]

Why can't he opt out and then resign with the Yankees for more years but at less per, making it a win/win for everyone? Especially Red Sox fans :wink:

[bobo]

Perhaps the Rangers would be interested if he opts out? They're paying, what, $10M/year? Maybe they'd rather pay him $20M/year to have him than $10M/year to not have him?

I doubt he opts out. If he has an amazing year, wins the WS, etc., he'll use the clause as leverage against the Yankees to get an extension - because they won't want to give him up at the bargain price they have him at.

If he flops again, he knows he won't get the huge deal and won't give up the money. But he'll want to get out of NY (and the feeling will be mutual) so the Yankees will trade him, maybe with some cash, a la the Sheffield deal. ARod still gets his $27M a year, the Yankees get some nice players in return for the great trade they negotiated where they got ARod so cheap, and they get to rid themselves of each other. Everyone wins.

[yanksfan]

If he opted out, he'd have to take a rather significant cut for the Yankees to resign him. Right now Texas pays about 1/3 of his salary. If he opted out, Texas would be off the hook, making the cost to the Yankees much higher.

I could see the Yankees negotiating an extension rather restructures the contract, provided that they can do it without letting Texas off the hook. That said, they'd only consider it if he had a really good October.

[bobo]

Guys, why aren't we talking about the REAL story? If Pavano pitches 400IP between this year and next, he can void the Yankees $13M option for 2009. And you guys are sitting here talking about A-Rod...hmm.....

[integr96]

if he opts out, look for him to approach Piniella and the Cubs pretty quickly. He and Lou have a man love for each other and he could be a dominant NL player. The question is, are the cubs willing to take the payroll up to $130M because he will demand 6/150

[Guitar Hero]

You know, its also not all about the money.When your net worth is in the hundreds of millions of dollars, walking away from 20 million or so (which is what I am guessing he'll lose if he opts out and sign another contract) is not the biggest deal in the world, especially if he is happy somewhere else. And there definitely would be teams lining up to sign him. He's one of the best players of all time and the Yanks fans treat him like shit.