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Alex Rodriguez

Cashman Takes Firm Stance On A-Rod

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When we last heard from him eight days ago, Brian Cashman left himself some wiggle room to negotiate with Alex Rodriguez even if he opts out in November and the Yankees lose the Texas money.  The implication then was that higher-ranking club officials could overrule Cashman’s recommendation.

Yesterday, after the Yankees’ meeting of the minds in Tampa, Cashman took a firmer stance:

If Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract then we will not participate in free agency.  That is accurate and that is definitive.

Why this is being aired out in public I’m not sure, but at this point the Yankees will seem kind of stupid if they do negotiate with Rodriguez after he opts out.  It really seems that they’re not kidding about not wanting to lose the Texas money or enter a bidding war.  Meanwhile Scott Boras just spent three full days convincing A-Rod to opt out.  However, Ken Davidoff believes that rather than opt out, A-Rod will sign an extension amounting to $297MM over nine seasons.

George King also revealed that Bobby Abreu’s $16MM option is at the bottom of the queue.  The Yanks will make decisions on Joe Torre, A-Rod, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada first.

Odds and Ends: Wakefield, Guillen, Lowell

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Some random rumorage not quite worthy of individual posts…

Odds and Ends: A-Rod, Boras, Pettitte

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Early Monday morning reading material…

  • Interesting article in the New York Daily News regarding Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez.  Boras insists that many of his clients have not taken the largest deal offered to them, giving examples.  The article also touches upon recent Boras clients connected to performance-enhancing drugs (Rick Ankiel and Scott Schoeneweis).  Boras’ agency is known for its obsessive attention to detail for all of its clients, and seeing a few of them busted raises some questions.
  • Last winter, we discussed the possibility of Hiroki Kuroda coming over from Japan.  Well, he’s a free agent again, and Nick Cafardo is wondering if 2008 will be the year.  Cafardo also noted that Daisuke Matsuzaka did not earn the Red Sox nearly as much marketing revenue as Scott Boras suggested.
  • Newsday’s Ken Davidoff says Andy Pettitte intends to exercise his $16MM player option for 2008.  Davidoff points out that Pettitte has the same deadline for this decision as A-Rod has for his opt-out.  Davidoff also mentions that Roger Clemens’ most likely destination for 2008 appears to be back in Houston, if he plays.
  • You’ve probably heard by now that Hank and Hal Steinbrenner will have final say on baseball decisions (especially Hank).  Hank will insist Joba Chamberlain be used as a starter in ’08, heightening the need to re-sign Mariano Rivera.
  • The Hardball Times tries to place dollar values on some top free agents, plus Adam Dunn.

Latest Phillies Rumors: Lowell, Rivera, Schilling

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Let’s catch up on the rumors and minor moves involving the Phillies recently.

One offseason objective is, of course, third base.  Abraham Nunez was an easy buyout decision; Pat Gillick will import a new third baseman this winter one way or another.  Phils fans can stop dreaming up A-Rod scenarios; Gillick won’t pursue him.  Mike Lowell is the one free agent 3B on the Phils’ radar.  While Lowell wouldn’t mind playing in Philly, he made it clear yesterday that Boston remains his first choice.  So there’s a good chance Gillick will have to get his man via trade.  Scott Lauber names Garrett Atkins and Joe Crede (free agent after ’08, Boras client) as possible targets.  We all know how Gillick loves dealing with Kenny Williams (and the Sox can use Josh Fields at third base).

Rod Barajas won’t be retained; Chris Coste will serve as the backup to Carlos Ruiz.  A nice, cheap catching tandem.

How about pitching?  Randy Miller has a source saying the Phils are targeting a couple of AL East stalwarts – Curt Schilling and Mariano Rivera.  To sign Rivera at $12MM per and use Brett Myers in setup seems like a misallocation of resources to me.  As for Schilling, Miller says he’s expressed interest in coming back to Philly to finish his career.  I like the fit.

Miller also has some very interesting info on Aaron Rowand – he’s looking for a six-year, $84MM contract!  Does that mean he ends up with a five-year, $60MM deal?  Pretty hefty for a guy coming off a career year.  Miller says the Phils won’t go for big-name replacements like Andruw Jones or Torii Hunter.

Finally, Pat Burrell has surfaced as a solid trading chip.  He’s left with a reasonable one-year, $14MM commitment, albeit with a full-no trade clause that would require more compensation.  How about Burrell to the White Sox for Crede?  Phils kick in a couple mil, the White Sox get much-needed OBP for ’08 plus draft picks when Burrell leaves.

A-Rod Through 2019?

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Could Alex Rodriguez’s next contract be a twelve-year pact, running through 2019?  Scott Boras won’t deny it, as he’s talking about taking his superstar through the end of his career.  A 12-year, $380MM deal doesn’t seem out of the question.  Has a baseball player ever signed for more than a decade?

Of course, Boras is a master negotiator.  So over the coming weeks, he’ll probably casually talk about A-Rod as a $35-40MM player getting 13 years.  Unless some team loses its mind entirely, he should settle at 10-11 years and the low $30MM range annually. 

Even teams flush with free cash are going to have to wonder whether they should aim for two $15-16MM players instead.  Doesn’t it make sense to spread the risk a little bit?  You might be able to get a 10 win gain in ’08 from Curt Schilling and Torii Hunter, at a much smaller total commitment. 

What if an aging A-Rod settles in as a 6-8 win player, as he was in 2004 and 2006?  What if he has to move to first base halfway through the deal?  What if he misses one entire season due to injury?  What if he’s connected to steroids?  Any team entertaining the landmark contract has to consider all of these things.

Random Rumors

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Some random rumors to help you get through your Thursday morning…

  • As you might imagine, the Rangers are keenly watching and hoping Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract.  That would free up $7MM for them in each of the next three years.  Rangers’ manager Ron Washington’s wish list includes a center fielder, corner outfielder, and first baseman.  The Rangers have been connected to Torii Hunter quite a bit, but they’ll have plenty of competition.
  • Will the exchange rate free up a bunch of money for the Blue Jays?  Perhaps even enough to make a pass at A-Rod?  Hey, fans can dream.  Mine!
  • Something I didn’t mention yesterday – Elijah Dukes is playing winter ball.  The Rays still don’t seem to have any room for him in the outfield or at DH.  Maybe the Marlins will get involved again?  Would Kevin Gregg work?    
  • Gordon Wittenmyer thinks the Cubs should keep Jacque Jones for 2008, which makes sense.  Wittenmyer also believes 22 year-old Felix Pie with 194 big league plate appearances, has proven conclusively that he can’t hit Major League pitching.  His suggestion is to trade Pie now.
  • Larry Borowsky wants the Cardinals to sign Milton Bradley.   
  • Jeff Sackmann recommends against Geoff Jenkins’ $9MM option for ’08, but the decision was tougher than you think.

Heyman’s Latest

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SI.com’s Jon Heyman has a new column up, with some minor info.

  • Heyman’s sources describe a Jose Reyes for Johan Santana rumor as "pure fantasy."  Well…who said it was ever anything more?  Buster Olney was clearly just playing Let’s Make A Deal when he devised it.  Things get twisted around easily.
  • Most of us already figured this, but Heyman says the White Sox will go after either Aaron Rowand or Torii Hunter this winter. 
  • Heyman puts the Angels, Dodgers, Red Sox, Giants, Cubs, Mets, and Phillies into the A-Rod derby if the Yanks don’t keep him.
  • No offense to Jon but this column really lacked any kind of new info.

State Of The Dodgers

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The L.A. Daily News’ Tony Jackson has a look at the Dodgers’ upcoming offseason.  You also might be interested in my recent Needs and Luxuries post on the team.  A summary of Jackson’s column:

  • Juan Pierre could be shifted to left field to allow the Dodgers to employ a stronger arm in center field.  It’s odd…teams seem to be souring on last winter’s signings even when they received exactly what everyone expected (Pierre and Jason Marquis, for example).  It’d be different for the Red Sox to sour on J.D. Drew, he played well below expectations in Year 1.  Anyway, Pierre could be moved to accomodate Matt Kemp (perhaps putting Andre Ethier in right), or the Dodgers could pursue a center fielder.  They’ve already been connected to Andruw Jones.
  • The Dodgers perceive third base as a big hole, apparently not willing to give Andy LaRoche another look.  Of course we have to mention Alex Rodriguez.  But how about Mike Lowell?
  • The Dodgers will pass on options for Ramon Martinez and Randy Wolf, but might consider Mike Lieberthal at $1.5MM.  Liebs could earn almost $40K per game next year, not too shabby.
  • L.A. has a couple of non-tender candidates: Mark Hendrickson and Chin-hui Tsao.  Apparently they will keep Hendrickson but cut Tsao loose.

Time To Talk A-Rod

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Alex Rodriguez has exactly one month to decide whether to opt out of his contract.  This is going to be a hot topic for the next thirty days, and of course the top offseason story if he does opt out.  Let’s sum up the latest.  The info comes from six similar articles, which I’ll just link to at the bottom.

  • Any major event deserves an acronym, and Scott Boras has coined one for Alex Rodriguez as he heads toward free agency.  Boras’ term is IPN – Icon, Performance, Network.  In other words, A-Rod is famous, he’s an awesome hitter, and he boosts the Yankees’ TV revenue.  We needed a new acronym for that?
  • Reminder: Texas is on the hook for $21.3MM of the $91MM owed to Rodriguez for the 2008-10 seasons.  This obligation disappears if he opts out.
  • Brian Cashman again said that not negotiating with A-Rod if he opts out would be his "strong recommendation," but hinted that others have a say in the decision (read: The Boss).  This is the first public crack in Cashman’s stance.
  • Boras will obviously push hard for Rodriguez to opt out and sign a landmark free agent deal. 
  • We’ve seen the ten-year, $300MM estimate thrown around quite a bit.  Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News ups the ante, suggesting Boras could find a team to pay $400MM over eleven years.  Screw it – someone should just pay him one billion dollars over 29 years and get it over with.

References:  Newark Star-Ledger, New York Times, Hartford Courant, New York Post, Newsday, New York Daily News

Odds and Ends: Aramis, La Russa, A-Rod

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A random smattering of links this morning…

  • I wrote a postmortem on why the D’Backs beat the Cubs over at The Hardball Times.
  • Just a whisper at the moment, but I’m hearing that the Angels could pursue Aramis Ramirez if the Cubs make him available.  They were in hard on him last year when he was briefly a free agent.
  • Seems that Joe Torre is done as Yankees manager, but Tony La Russa is not interested.
  • Another important date to mark down: November 10th.  That’s when Alex Rodriguez decides whether to opt out of his contract.  Right after the GM meetings.
  • The Tigers will stick with Brandon Inge at third base next year, perhaps feeling that his defense justified his .236/.312/.376 line.  There is hope for a rebound, since he slugged .463 the previous year.  Plus Inge is locked in for $6.2MM in ’08, $6.3MM in ’09, and $6.6MM in ’10.
  • The Mariners had a $2.7MM option on Chris Reitsma with a $0.7MM buyout and apparently some kind of option on Arthur Rhodes.  Both were declined.  Reitsma, coming off ulnar nerve transposition surgery in ’06, was supposed to be Seattle’s setup man.  He tried to pitch this year but the elbow wasn’t fully healed.  Rhodes had similar problems in ’06 and went under the knife for TJ in April.
  • You may have noticed some of the in-post ads are showing as ugly blank white space or "This page cannot be found" errors…please bear with me as I try to get it back to normal. 

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