So since he's opting out the Rangers don't have to pay that 20 something million? What will the Steinbrenner's do without that 20 something million?

There is only one thing that A-rod wants and that is a ring.
He knows the Yankees will not get that for him, so....
He will stay in New York, but with the Mets!

That's what is a bit puzzling. Nobody can match the dollars the Yankees have to play with since any extension to his contract would include about $21 million from Texas. So if money is the key, he would stay in NY, and work a deal within the next ten days. Until he formally files to opt out, the Yankees are in a position to offer the moon if they want him as much as Hank says they do.

I doubt that the Mets want him. They have Reyes and Wright, and I don't think that ARod is willing to learn another position. The Mets need pitching even more than the Yankees, so I doubt they'd be willing to shell out the $$$ for a bat.

I think it may be the West Coast that will be ringing ARod's bell. San Francisco needs someone to lure the crowd now that Bonds is gone.

The teams that can afford A Rod are limited to maybe 3 or 4, right? If the Yankees were having Texas pay for a portion of the contract, what teams are going to give this guy a huge increase to the $30 million per year range?

I think there is a possibility that A Rod will be offered less than his current deal. The MLB owners could to show that they had A Rod by the balls, so to speak, by joining forces and lowballing A Rod. Why give a guy who is an annual postseason flop more money? I would admire the hell out of a team like Anaheim or Chicago if they got A Rod at $16 mil p/yr because the market for him is so limited.

I hope you're right SB! The Giants do have a lot of freed up money, and possibly more to come depending on what they do with several of their players. Plus that park is built for right handed hitters.

Yes, I am getting my hopes way up. My heart will be going out with the next garbage day when he signs with someone else.

I hear there are a couple of top notch bat boys in the free agency market this off season.

Fox Sports is reporting that the Yankees have offered the job to Girardi.

Well, if you think about it, what teams would really be ready and/or able to hand out the money for ARod, and are in markets he'd play in? He's not going back to Seattle or Texas. Baltimore isn't a big enough market for his enormous head. That leaves the Red Sox, Mets, Chicago and CA. As I said, I think that the Mets would prefer to put their money into pitching, and I don't think that Chicago would want to part with the money. Boston would get a better bargain keeping Lowell at 3rd. That leaves either the Angels or San Francisco.

But who knows? I originally thought he'd stay with the Yankees.

I think A-Rod knows exactly where he will be playing next year, and it's just a matter of cutting the best deal with the team while playing off the other suitors.

It strikes me odd that if he is first and foremost concerned about winning a championship, a $30 million+ contract per year isn't exactly helping his team.

You're not implying that he's carrying on negotiations when he's not supposed to, are you? GASP! I am shocked! Shocked, I tell you!!

The Giants were gullible enough to believe Zito was worth $126, why couldn't Boras continue to take them for every penny they have? The Angels seem to have no problem paying out that kind of money though, so who knows.

Are the Yankees really that serious about not wanting him back if "he doesn't want to be a Yankee"? Or is this all just talk to control negotiations and to build up or knock down the money he will be paid? I can't imagine even the Yankees not wanting him back. He is the best player in baseball.

Blib,
I really think that they are not going to pursue him. You have to understand the Yankee mindset. They feel that they are the best ballclub and that naturally ARod should be panting to play there.

For the sake of all other teams, I think that's great! From a business standpoint I don't get it, but I hope you're right.

I think that if A-Rod officially opts out of the contract, the Yankees have no choice but to opt out of the pursuit of him. The best deal they can offer him would involve Texas money, which is lost if he opts out.

It would serve him right if no team picks him up. That money grubbing adulterous bitch. I wonder how many players are in it for the love of the game?I know they have to make a living but still.

ESPN is reporting that Torre is apparently headed back to the NL: with the Dodgers. And Girardi was asked to take his place.

Thats the Steinbrenner mindset. Fuck 'em all.

It appears that Georgie Porgie is no longer calling the shots. Reportedly he wanted Torre back but Hanky Panky, the ungrateful son of a bitch (literally), overruled Daddy Steinhitler.

Hanky stated that they (the Yankees) were no longer interested in ARod. He's playing hardball. It remains to be seen if the team plays hardball next year.

They're all whores. But the owners are no better.

I've become very disgruntled with the "game" of baseball over the last 10-15 years. There's no such thing as loyalty to a team anymore. The almighty dollar has ruined the game and we, as fans, pay for it in more way than one.

I may be rooting for players in the coming years that I used to root against because they played for teams I didn't like and vice-a-versa .... players on the Sox may opt to go elsewhere and I'll be rooting against them.

I can understand that teams want the best players and some are willing and able to pay more but the Steinbrenners think that their money is the best and entitles them to act like asses.

I think Girardi is a better choice as manager instead of Mattingly, though I wonder if Girardi can last a year because got canned in his previous managerial job because he told the penny-pinching Marlins owner to go fuck himself and got fired...despite winning the NL Manager of the Year prize.

That said, I would have instead kept Torre but whatever. Right Hank?

I know the NYC media assumed it would be Mattingly, but consider this. Girardi has managerial experience, he made a winning Marlins club out of scrubs. He turned an expected 100-loss ballclub into would-be playoff contenders. Plus, Girardi was offered a very juicy Baltimore Orioles contract, and he turned it down flat.

The Yanks job was his, if Torre left/got canned.

But yeah, if the reports are true, I hope Joe Torre does well with the Dodgers. Be nice to see him validate his HOF credentials and make the Steinbrenner clan look like idiots*.

*=Not that they need help really!

You know, its nuts when people are already yearning for George.

Anyway, I'm not shocked that A-Rod is out. Maybe he wants that ridiculous $30 million/season, or maybe he got tired of carrying a mediocre YAnkees club on his shoulders for the first few months, and still be hated by Yanks fans. Without A-Rod, the Yanks would have been eliminated back in June.

Or maybe he just wants the fucking money. *Rubs fingers* The world's smallest violin plays for him.

Dugout GM is reporting that the Yankees are planning to offer Mike Lowell a 3 year/$45 million contract, quite a boost from his $9 million deal this season.

Lowell started his career in NY and he played for Girardi, 2 factors of questionable impact.

If A-Rod leaves (and I'm still not convinced he will), the Yankees have a void at the hot corner. No prospects in sight and noone on the roster that has experience starting at third.

Winning the WS MVP and having an outstanding postseason will add millions for Lowell, just as it did for Jeff Suppan, who got overpaid.

Their guess is that the Red Sox will get a home team discount and keep Lowell.

Sources: Yankees more than $100M short of entertaining A-Rod

Before Alex Rodriguez opted out of his contract with the Yankees earlier this week, the team was told that it would not be able to meet with the third baseman unless it presented an offer of at least $350 million, sources say.

The Yankees had hoped to meet with Rodriguez this week, and would have presented him with an extension offer close to five years and $150 million, to begin at the conclusion of his 2008-2010 contract, through which he would have earned $81 million. Through the Yankees' proposal, then, Rodriguez would have made about $230 million over eight years, and during the last five years of the contract, sources say, he would have earned the highest annual salary in Major League Baseball history.

But team executives were told, sources say, that in order to arrange a meeting with Rodriguez, they would have to be prepared to make an extension offer that would take the third baseman's deal up to a total value of $350 million. That means that the offer the Yankees intended to propose would have been more than $100 million short.

Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, sent the documentation of Rodriguez's intention to opt out of the contract to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman during Game 4 of the World Series, Cashman has said, and the GM did not speak with Boras until after news of the decision was published on SI.com.

The timing of how this played out, and the fact that Rodriguez did not meet with the Yankees to hear their offer before making his decision, has led some baseball officials to surmise that a deal with another team may already be in the works. In an interview with ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick on Thursday, Boras said, "We have had no economic discussions regarding Alex Rodriguez with any major-league team."

The Mets, Dodgers, Angels, Giants and Marlins are among the teams which have not publicly ruled out pursuing Rodriguez. Sources say it is highly unlikely that the Dodgers will seriously entertain the possibility.

Source: ESPN

Yankees exercise Abreu's '08 option

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bobby Abreu's $16 million option for next season was exercised Friday by the New York Yankees.

The 33-year-old right fielder overcame a slow start to hit .283 with 16 homers and 101 RBIs this year, when he finished second in the AL with 123 runs. He has reached 100 RBIs in five consecutive seasons.

"Bobby Abreu possesses a unique skill set and has proven to be a durable and reliable asset to this club," general manager Brian Cashman said. "Consistency has been a hallmark throughout his career."

New York acquired Abreu from Philadelphia in July 2006.

Source: SI

How wrong would it be....
to be thinking things like:
"I would love to see A-rod get hurt and not be able to play pro ball" Then he could stick his 350 million dollar deal up his ---.
"Or maybe: That his wife should leave him and take all HIS money with her."
I know:
That he should get some bitch ass disease so no women would go near him and he has to spend all his millions in treatment costs.

A-Rod is a [BadWording] BUM, and Scott Boras is a filthy [BadWording] [BadWord] who never thinks of anything but [BadWording] money. I hope A-Rod doesn't work again -- or ends up making less than what we would've offered him ...and for some shit Florida team! [BadWord] him, that "motherless fuck" (as Junior would say ) That scumbag doesn't have enough [BadWordin'] money already -- to play the GAME of baseball???? He can go F himself up the [BadWord].

Wait... would that be "wrong" to think? Fuck it.

Haha, go A-Rod.

This thread is soon going to be renamed "The Yankees Support Group" thread.

Looking back at the first post ever in this thread, it's got to be hilarious that the Red Sox just won another championship.

Why A-Rod refused Yankees meeting

Alex Rodriguez wants to stay a Yankee -- albeit after proving his open-market value -- and has gone out of his way to make it possible for the Yankees to climb down from their posturing and match any offer. If the Dodgers can afford to pay the $32 million a year, can the Yankees -- the richest franchise in sports -- plead poverty? Now we understand why Rodriguez did not meet with the Yankees or return their calls. He did not want to give the Yankees an opening to make him a good offer, leaking the details to the news media.

Source: Fan Nation