Please.

You're wasting our time.

The counter to this, "But if A-Rod has already decided he's going to opt-out, shouldn't the Yanks get something for him?"

I say no, because whatever they get is not as valuable as A-Rod himself, and as long as they don't trade A-Rod, they could still end up with A-Rod. Even if A-Rod decided a month ago to use the opt-out clause.

He's already shown once he'll take the most bucks and not care about anything else (like boo-birds). And any Cubs fan will tell you that an opt-out clause does not mean the player is for-certain gone (Aramis Ramirez).

However, the moment the Yanks trade A-Rod, the Yanks lose him for good in one of two ways. (1) The team he goes to agrees to give him a huge contract extension, taking him off the market. That's the smart thing to do. (2) A-Rod still uses the opt-out clause, in which case the odds of him signing with the Yanks are low. Money might not rule the day, and the press beating he'd take from the MSM would be enormous. I can see and hear it now.

"A-Rod said he wanted out of NY, which compelled (Team X)' owner Y to overrule GM Z and give the Yanks star player A and highly-regarded prospects B and C in exchange for A-Rod. Now A-Rod has abandoned the (Team X) and returned to the Yanks, while Y and Z fume." A-LIAR! scream the tabloids. "Did A-Rod really want out of NY?" asks SportsCenter and ESPN.com for a week.

Trading A-Rod is not a solution, and I really hope Cashman isn't even considering it.

What's more, he is also very ugly.

plus, if the yankees are going to make a move, they might as well go after a longer term solution. they have plenty of short term options at the moment.

What a crappy season, exceeded in crappiness by the following season.

While I am an ARod fan, these are sick numbers. Because Texas is kicking in, ARod now costs us in the neighborhood of $20-21m/yr.

I don't want to discuss whether we could/should trade ARod, or whether he will/won't opt-out.

I think as a FA, ARod loses a lot of money. With a new contract, Texas is off the hook, and unlike the Yankees, another team doesn't get a $5-6m/yr discount.

My question and discussion thought is:
Whats ARod worth?
He's 33 after this year.
He's a great player but not Pujols, Bonds (in his prime) or the Babe.
To me, even $25m/yr seems too high.

Will any other team commit to a 3+ year contract for $25+m/yr?

Yes, I know Sori got $18, but past insanities don't justify what someone will Pay ARod.

Just what can ARod get, and from whom, on the FA market?

Actually, that's not true. The Yanks need to either (1) increase his salary by $5M OR (2) make sure he's paid $1M more than the highest paid MLB position player. Given that the 2nd highest paid position player will currently be Jeter/Manny at $20M in '09 and Jeter at $21M in '10, no worries there.

Of the teams who could conceivably afford A-Rod:

The Mets have no room (Wright at 3B, Reyes at SS), though plenty of dough.

The Red Sox have plenty of room, but maybe not the cash to spend, and if A-Rod thinks NY fans and media are rough . . .

The Cubs have no room unless A-Rod goes to SS, but the money is the problem there. Can they possibly afford to add another $27+/year AND resign Zambrano for Zito-like money (or more)? I think not, and Zambrano will be their priority.

The White Sox have money and room - but Jerry Reinsdorf has never negotiated a contract where a guy got more than $13M/season on average, and he probably never will. Selig would take him off his AIM buddy list if he did.

The Angels have money, and room. They do have Brandon Wood maybe in the wings, but who would you rather have?

The Dodgers maybe have money, but I don't know about room - Furcal at SS through '08, LaRoche in the wings waiting to play 3B. I suppose Furcal could move to SS . . . but I don't see the Dodgers ponying up the cash.

Seattle and Texas are obviously out of the question.

Then there are the teams that presumably have the money to spend, but I don't see why A-Rod would ever go there: Baltimore and San Fran

And finally the teams who could (in theory) afford A-Rod, but will never pay what he's looking for: Philly, Houston, Atlanta and maybe Detroit

So it seems to come down to the Angels. I'm not too worried.

11 Some of the guys who passed through the Yanks in those years really make me appreciate the last 13 seasons or so.

On a related note, it will be interesting to see how he does at 3B now that he has apparently lost some bulk. I always thought his errors last year were due to the fact that he built up and lost some of the mobility he had as a SS.

I am excited for this season.

The only thing I am wondering is...didn't we just trade a backup catcher to the NYY last year?

2008 season: $27 million ($3 million deferred with 3% interest)
At the end of 2008 season has the right to void seasons 2009 and 2010 and become an unrestricted free agent unless Rangers increase 2009 and 2010 salaries by the greater of $5 million or $1 million above the 10 largest salary of any position player.

2009 season: $27 million plus the greater of $5 million or $1 million above the then largest salary of any position player. ($3 million deferred with 3% interest)

2010 season: $27 million plus the greater of $5 million or $1 million above the then largest salary of any psition player. ($3 million deferred with 3% interest)
During the years 2001 thru 2004 base compensation of $23 million shall be increased $2 million above the highest average annual value of any shortstop in baseball.

Think about it. If it was NOT 'the greater of', then the $5mil clause makes little sense.
How often does someone write a contract for their benefit where they take 'the lesser'?

And not having 'the greater of' does make sense - the way things were going that offseason, MLB seemed only a few years away from a $30M+/year player. That it didn't happen just means Scott Boras can't predict the future any better than the rest of us. =)

In a way, it's more interesting than the Jeter/A-Rod saga that dominated the early part of this year's camp, or the persistent talk about A-Rod opting out at season's end.

Or maybe it's just that I don't really appreciate the way the mainstream media covers the Yankees today, with the emphasis on "soap opera" over "substance."

.267 .336 .376

Seriously. It would be a travesty.