StayRod
| 11
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by Aprisco
I'm getting tired of all the speculation so let's end it for good, A-Rod is not leaving the Yankees. The speculation has become borderline hysteria. The reasons for him to leave border from somewhat reasonable: tired of the pressure of New York, tired of the media, tired of his wife..kidding, to total fantasy: he wants to follow in the footsteps of Barry Bonds and play in San Francisco, he wants to break the home run record with the Dodgers (huh?), and one genius columnist from New York surmises that he will end his career as a Marlin.......ok, try to breathe normally.
I hate to douse cold water on these great reasons for A-Rod to leave New York and I hate to be such a pessimist that a player may care about things other than the almighty dollar, but how many times does a player turn down the best offer? Almost never. So who thinks that the Yankees could ever be outbid? The Yankees cannot be outbid on a fair playing field but throw in the $30 million they are getting from Texas as part of the A-Rod trade and it will be impossible to outbid them. Let's say the Angels want to offer A-Rod 200 million for 7 years. Ok, the Yankees will tell A-Rod don't opt out and we'll extend you at 4 years for 120 million. The Yankees will pay him 50 over the next three years, then throw in the 30 mill from Texas and Alex ends up with a total of hhmm, 200 million. Plus, this leaves the Yankees on the hook for only 170 million. Heck, they can beat the Angels' offer by 30 million and still only have to match the Angels in what would actually come out of the Yankee coffers. This is such a huge advantage for the Yankees that no team will be able to make it up.
Should A-Rod really be concerned that he will be stuck on a last place team for the next 7 years? This is another ridiculous reason why he would leave the Yankees. Please, if any team can turn around a losing franchise faster than the Yankees tell me which that team is. The Yankees have gobs of money, they are loaded with pitching prospects and, contrary to what people may think, they are not locked in to a lot of aging players. Abreu is done this year, and Clemens is as well if he starts pitching more like his age. And any significant dropoff and/or injury to the Great Mariano or Posada and they don't have to be resigned either. After next year Pettitte, Mussina, Giambi and Pavano come off the payroll. That leaves you with Damon and Matsui as the only true underperforming veterans who are signed for 2009. As long as the Yankees spend their money wisely and hold onto the right prospects, they can turn it around fast. So let the crazy speculation continue, A-Rod will be Stay-Rod.
