A-Rod bidding war could set standard
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by Salmanpour
There is nothing that the agent Scott Boras seems to enjoy more than a good, tough negotiation involving a high-profile player.
Unless it's a good, tough negotiation involving a high-profile player in which Boras has all the leverage.
On that note, welcome to the world of Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
If ever a player was about to find himself in a position to set a new standard for dollars paid to a Major League Baseball player, it is Rodriguez, who is represented by Boras.
As far as salary records go, Rodriguez figures to be breaking his own mark -- a 10-year deal for $252 million that was negotiated by Boras and the Texas Rangers before the 2001 season.
An indication of Rodriguez's value to the Yankees surfaced on Wednesday, when reports from both ESPN and Sports Illustrated declared that the team was willing to bend its own announced policy and negotiate during the course of the season.
In March of this year, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that he had no plans to extend Rodriguez's contract and thus keep him from leaving at the end of the season.
The question had come up because Rodriguez has the ability to opt out of his current contract -- which calls for him to receive $81 million during the next three seasons -- on Nov. 10.
One of the problems Cashman and the Yankees face is that the team has two other key players who will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season -- catcher Jorge Posada and closer Mariano Rivera.
Posada is having an outstanding season, with a .326 average, 25 doubles, nine home runs and 48 RBIs, and Rivera leads the team in saves, with 11. And when you are talking about the heart and soul of the Yankees' recent titles, you are talking about Posada and Rivera in that mix.
Furthermore, if you want a description of real trouble in your clubhouse, try negotiating with one of these potential free agents while treating the others in a different fashion.
When Cashman took his position on Rodriguez in March, Boras said that was fine from his viewpoint.
"Alex has directed me that there is not going to be any discussion about his contract status until after the season is over," Boras told The New York Times. "We've not had any contractual discussions with the Yankees about Alex other than when we first negotiated the contract to bring him [to the Yankees in a trade with Texas]."
If the reports of the Yankees' interest in negotiating with Rodriguez during the second half of the season prove true, the Yankees will have to convince Boras to sit down at the table, and even at that point, there would seem to be no way an agreement could be reached.
The reason is simple: Boras won't have his greatest leverage until every interested Major League team has a chance to sit at the table.
Quite frankly, it doesn't make any sense for the Yankees to express an interest in talking to Rodriguez unless they are willing to blow baseball's salary structure out of the water by offering $30 million a year for 10 years.
Even at that point, you would have to wonder if Rodriguez would agree to stay with the Yankees. He may very well want to be courted by all interested parties and keep his options open as to where he wants to play and how much he wants to be paid.
Rodriguez is having the type of season -- and has had the type of career -- where he can name his own price. He leads the Major Leagues at the All-Star break with 30 home runs, 86 RBIs, 79 runs scored and a .665 slugging percentage.
A-Rod has 496 career home runs, and if he matches the first-half 30 during the second half, he will pass these Hall of Famers on the all-time list: Eddie Murray (504), Mel Ott (511), Eddie Mathews (512), Ernie Banks (512), Ted Williams (521) and Willie McCovey (521).
At the age of 31, Rodriguez is on his way to becoming baseball's all-time home run king.
There are those who will say that to pay a player $30 million a year is crazy, but Rodriguez already has a clause in his contract that, through a series of events, could put him at $32 million in both 2009 and 2010.
All this would seem to be beside the point, because Rodriguez figures to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract.
At that point the Yankees would find themselves bidding against all comers.
The Yankees usually win those types of money wars, but they have never fought one quite like the one that looms in November.
