Would Mariano Rivera Move On?

It wasn't much of a story six days ago, stuck at the bottom of a Bergen Record article from Pete Caldera.  The New York press was much more interested in Alex Rodriguez's book signing.  But yesterday Mariano Rivera gave eager reporters some scary quotes and the story resulted in six different newspaper articles.  The key quote from the impending free agent:

"I definitely want to finish my career here, but if they don't give me the respect that I deserve...I'm not going to stay at my house crying. I have to move on."

That led various NY papers to create the possibility that Mo could jump over to the Red Sox in 2008.  Mass pandemonium.  But as many of the articles stated, the Yankees have leverage here and baseball is a business.  Rivera likely wants to stay, but he needs to prove himself for the first time.  The Bernie Williams situation is not exactly a parallel, since Rivera has retained his skills well.  But it's clear that the Yankees won't make decisions based on nostalgia.

Brian Cashman and Co. will wait to see if Rivera's elbow holds up this season.  If they can get him for two years and $24MM after that, as Ken Davidoff suggests, he'll finish his career as a Yankee.  If he gets injured this year or demands a three-year deal, there's a good chance the team turns to its numerous internal options.

Comments

[Dave]

Just finished reading the Newsday article and came here to see your thoughts.

I think this is the first time Ive ever seen Mo give out a serious amount of lip service.
IMO, if Mos arm holds up he'll get a contract extension by the Trade Deadline.
I think the internal options deal is some BS. They want to see what develops with K-Rod then act on Mo. I really cant doubt that this is their motivation. I also couldnt complain about it if it happened. Mo's been a legend for us, but like stated Baseball is a buisness.

[TNS]

I can't shake the image of Rivera getting a standing ovation during the ring cerimony on the home opener in 2005 at Fenway Park. I'm not going to speculate on Rivera's future, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him use the Red Sox as leverage for more money out of the Yankees.

[SierraM]

I can't see the Yankees not resigning him. Even if Proctor gets bumped into starting duty, Rivera's presence alone would keep the bullpen from being mediocre. This is going be another Bernie Williams situation with Rivera using the Sox in negotiations and eventually resigning.

[Makaveli616]

As a Sox fan I can tell you that Mo earned a lot of respect from the Sox fans for taking his lumps like a man and actually tipping his cap when he was "cheered" by the Sox fans for blowing all those saves against us (IIRC in additon to the playoffs he had blown at least one already that year vs. the Sox). It said volumes about his character that he was willing to do that, particularly when we are talking Sox-Yanks.

[Metsin07]

I hope Mo rivera leaves they need to cut their ties an start looking for a closer of the future

[snowmanny]

First of all, Makaveli616, and for the record, Rivera had blown 2 saves already against the Sox that year, making it 4 in a row(dating back to the 2004 ALCS) that he had blown against the Sox.

On the other hand, he was not bad the rest of 2005, was he?

As a Sox fan, I have zero bad words to say about Rivera. He is a class guy and a great player and looks as good as ever to me.

What is he worth, though? He and Billy Wagner are the two highest paid relievers in MLB @ 10.5MM/year. So 2 and 24 seems pretty good for both sides.

But on the other hand, again as a Sox fan, if I could transport one Yankee player to the planet Zorkov for the 2007 season, it would be Rivera.
Losing him would hurt them more (I think) than losing
(in order of importance)
ARod, Giambi, Jeter, Wang or Pettite. So why isn;t he paid at least as much as Pettite?

So maybe 3/45 from the Sox to change the balance of power wouldn't be insane.

Or maybe the Yankees are just waiting as long as possible to feel out the K-Rod situation.

[darkstar1661]

The yanks will be saving a ton if A-Rod opts out ~ 81 guaranteed which Tex pays 20 of so about 60M over the next 3...

That money once they find out A-Rod is actually moving on will be transferred to Rivera and they could still have money left. They are also doing other moves to save money so they should easily be able to find another guy for third ~ and lets not forget they went with a cheap on in Brosius for a couple years and were better. (of course they overpaid but that’s their stupidity and not his value at that time ~ he wouldn’t have gotten near that elseware)

I love how anything a Yankee says turns into some huge story when its not really that big of a deal most of the time. He didn’t say “I’m not resigning” so why are we talking about him being with the Sox?

[snowmanny]

"so why are we talking about him being with the Sox?"

I think because the Sox would offer him more than his current salary for more than two years if was a free agent right now.
And Mo and the Yanks know that that potential offer is out there.

So even if he never gets to free agency if he asks for 3/36, he's not asking for more than he could probably get.

[Yanksfan1987]

sorry sox fans, Cashman said tonight that he is going to talk to Rivera soon to get a contract worked out. He said he would prefer to wait but will do it sooner if Mo wants to. Did you really think Cash was going to let him go so easily?

[walkoffblast]

Numerous internal options?

I hope that is a satirical comment. A big reason Rivera has had any problems recently stems from the fact they have no one else reliable to give the ball to in the bullpen. He gets worn down from overuse and it takes a toll on him as the season progresses.

Cashman is not stupid as much as I wish he was. Rivera will not end up going anywhere but it probably is going to cost them. Closing in New York would be an incredibly hard job. People forget this because Rivera has made it look so easy. Following him could tear a guys nerves apart all by itself let alone the bronx cheers that would follow as soon as they realized the replacement wasnt mariano good.

Go ahead hand the ball to farnsworth in the 9th next year. That is better leverage than the red sox imo.

[Spencer]

I was listening to Mike and the Mad Dog today and Mike really hit it on point. Stat: Rivera is the 10th highest player on the Yankees. 10th! He is the most valuable Yankee. Jesus, Carl Pavano is getting similar money to Rivera! The man deserves a blank check, end of story. Mike was discussing how Rivera has been the best CP of all time and I totally agree with him. Papers have been trying to put Rivera in the same boat as Bernie and identifying Cashman as a GM who doesn’t care about the past but his vision is strictly focused on the future. Mike was pointing out that you must look at Rivera’s achievements and give him whatever money he desires. Considering this, you have to look at Bernie and say the same thing. He is on the bubble for the hall of fame and has been one of the most clutch players in the past decade for the bombers. Mike really didn’t talk about Bernie as this hero and warrior for the Yankees and I really thought he should have. I understand Rivera as a lot more Gas in the tank then Bernie but they both deserve to leave with dignity and they way they want to.

[Marvel]

The NY media is lame. If Clemens doesn't go to the Yankees, he'll pitch in Boston. There's a possibility if Rivera doesn't come back to the NYY next year, he'll go to the Red Sox. If Torre doesn't come back, he "could land in the Red Sox dugout."
I remember when the rivalry was very one sided, with Boston fans always worrying about what happened in NY. When did it turn around?

[boomshwa12]

i agree, and bernie did pretty well in his role as a reserve outfielder last year w/o complaining. and rivera can still close ballgames with the best of them. they're smart guys; they know what their limitations are. i have a problem with craig biggio wanting to come back in houston this year b/c he insists that he can still play everyday, even though he hit below .200 after the break last year while taking most of the road games off. as long as both of them know their place, why not bring them back.

and i think farnsworth would have an easier time replacing rivera than bringing in k-rod would. can you imagine the pressure on his shoulders if they kicked mo out the door so they could bring him in?

[boomshwa12]

well i take that back, farnsworth would melt if he had to close in ny. but the pressure on k-rod would be rediculous if they brought him in

[beeniez]

Bluff.

[snowmanny]

beeniez says "Bluff."
Ynaksfan1987 says "Sorry Sox fans."

Hey, I don't think there's a chance that he ends up on the Sox, even though they would give him 3/39.
Because the Yankees will give him that, or close enough to it, because they know the Sox would. That's the point.

I predict a three-year extension.

[beeniez]

He picked his timing well. Bernie's departure basically got him that extension if it happens now. Mo knew that they weren't going to upset another Yankees' icon and fans in a matter of days. I don't think it'll happen before spring training and he doesn't want to do anything during the season, so it'll probably happen next offseason. The Yankees will probably be more willing then, as well.

Poor Bernie, he deserves better but it's a tough decision to be in for both sides. But, if Bernie really does want to do what's best for the team, he should realize that his better days are behind him and that other players can outperform him. I hope he doesn't do anything stupid like sign a deal with another team.

[DonCoburleone]

Yankees suck...

[beeniez]

"Yankees suck..."

haha, and how do you justify that?