Yankees Discussing Deal With A-Rod

UPDATE: An official statement from A-Rod – he and his wife spoke with the Steinbrenners today.  Contract talks are expected to continue and it looks positive.  I’m also getting emailers from readers who have heard from John Sterling, Yankees radio announcer.  Sterling apparently has a source close to Rodriguez saying that the chance of A-Rod re-signing is 101 on a scale of 1 to 100.  So there you go.

UPDATE: Ken Rosenthal notes that A-Rod would need to fire Boras for the Yankees to exclude him from negotiations.  Otherwise, it would be a violation of the Basic Agreement.

This is a shock to some, not so much to others.  Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden are reporting that the Yankees are in contract talks with Alex Rodriguez.

Two stipulations from the Yanks: the contract would have to compensate for the lost Texas money, and they don’t want Scott Boras involved.  Rodriguez would have to talk directly to the Steinbrenner brothers before anything could be completed.  Taking a "below-market" deal might be a way for Rodriguez to improve his public perception.  Would Boras still get a 5% commission? 

The Yankees have surveyed the third base market and may have realized that they can’t afford to lose Rodriguez’s production.  Perhaps they feel Mike Lowell at four years is questionable, and acquiring Miguel Cabrera creates too many new holes.

Peter Abraham, by the way, doesn’t buy any of this.  He’s certain it’s posturing, and expects Rodriguez to make a point to talk about coming back to the Yankees on Monday’s MVP conference call.  ShysterBall leans toward skepticism as well.