It came ten days earlier than it had to and it pretty much guarantees that he won’t be in pinstripes next year, but Alex Rodriguez had opted out of the remainder of his contract with the Yankees:
DENVER — Superstar third baseman Alex Rodriguez notified the Yankees Sunday that he’s opting out of his record $252 million contract, SI.com has learned.
Rodriguez’s decision means he will become a free agent and be able to negotiate with all 30 clubs. Rodriguez’s bombshell move will shake up the entire winter for the Yankees — who had hoped to retain him with a big extension — as well as other big-market clubs that will now pursue him.
Responding to the revelation, Rodriguez’s agent, Scott Boras, confirmed he sent word of the opt-out decision in writing Sunday to the Yankees and expected the club to receive it by Monday. Boras also left phone and text messages with the same information for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.
And it seems that the chaos currently coming out of the front office may have played at least a partial role in A-Rod’s decision:
Rodriguez technically had until 10 days after the World Series ended to exercise his opt-out rights, which were provided in his $252 million Texas deal. However, Boras said in an interview with SI.com Sunday that Rodriguez couldn’t even consider any pre-opt-out deadline offers from the Yankees until they settled several situations, specifically mentioning the impending free agency of Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada and uncertainty surrounding Andy Pettitte. Boras specifically mentioned Yankees partner Hank Steinbrenner’s comment the Yankees are in a “transitional” phase as a concern.
Now, he stands to be the subject of a bidding war that could result in the largest single contract for a baseball player:
Boras hasn’t said how much he believes Rodriguez is worth on the open market, but he suggested in interviews that Rodriguez could be worth $500 million to the Yankees over the next 10 years. It’s clear he’s shooting for a deal well in excess of $300 million, perhaps even as much as $400 million. Rodriguez was to make $91 million over the final three years of his Rangers/Yankees deal.
This would seem to be especially true since we’re talking about the player best situated to break Barry Bonds’ home run record, and do it earlier in his career than Bonds.
I won’t say I’m not disappointed. Though his time in New York has been controversial, Rodriguez had become a great part of the line up and, this year, had a year for the record books. I’ll always remember being there to see him hit his 500th home run, it’s just too bad I won’t be able to see him do the same thing with No. 700, at least not in the Bronx.
