A-Rod's new best friend is Ichiro
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by Aharner
Alex Rodriguez could be mired in a slump for the rest of the season, but after Ichiro Suzuki's contract signing today, he will still get plenty of money for his services when the end of the year comes around.
Suzuki, 33, signed a 5 year, $90 million contract today with the Seattle Mariners which will give him an average salary of $18 million for the next five seasons. And this is for a singles hitter. Rodriguez, hits for average and power and already has scored a $252 million contract. But at that, his 2007 campaign is an above-average year for him which he can easily use to his advatage in the free-agent sweeps this winter.
Of course, there is no guarentee that Rodriguez will opt out of his contract, but I don't see why he wouldn't at the rate his season is going. The New York Daily News has said that...
"A-Rod stays the course on his current contract (of which the Yankees carry about $50 million of the remaining $81 million) or signs an extension with the Yankees, or the Yankees are out. No late-night calls to Boras. No record contract in the Bronx. No more pinstripes for A-Rod."
There are four teams that would love to take a bid on Rodriguez if the chance comes: the Boston Red Sox, the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Los Angeles Angels, and the St. Louis Cardinals.
With Mike Lowell's contract expiring, Boston would certainly love to steal a piece of the Yankees (perhaps to get even with the Roger Clemens agreements).
The Dodgers could always move Garciaparra back to first base and have a one-two punch of Rafael Furcal and Juan Pierre at the to pof the line-up follow by Rodirguez and Jeff Kent.
The Angels have already released Shea Hillenbrand and are a part of the Scott Rolen talks, but they could easily trade off Rolen if Rodriguez comes avaliable.
The Cardinals are looking to move Scott Rolen at the break, so why not replace him in the offseason with Rodriguez?
