Norma Rae Rod

Although I thought it was just more hilarious Boras-driven smoke-blowing at the time, in retrospect we should have recognized Friday’s report that the union was claiming to be concerned about collusion in the event that A-Rod did not get his $350 million contract as a signal that things were not going as planned. So the news that A-Rod has apparently all but finalized a deal to return to the Yankees after all, and done so without Scott Boras after Boras hopelessly alienated the Yankees (and probably at a mutual savings by cutting out Boras’ fee – what, Boras is gonna sue?) is an occasion for some schadenfreude all around, even if it does make the Yankees that much stronger again: the Yanks and A-Rod are now stuck in an unhappy marriage neither can afford to leave, and Boras is publicly humiliated, out a whole boatload of commission, has had his bridges burned by his best-known client, and best of all fails miserably at the one thing that people have been forced to respect him for, i.e., his ability to judge the market.
Of course, this saga has had its twists and turns before, so stay tuned to see if the early reports on this all pan out.

11 thoughts on “Norma Rae Rod”

  1. This seemed from the getgo to be a terrible call on Boras’ part. The universe of teams willing to shell out that cash is horribly small and with the Mets going with what they already have and the Red Sox only marginally interested it left him with the 2 LA teams as the only realistic alternatives and they were, clearly, not getting into that stratosphere. It does seem funny that because of the monster the Yankees have created they essentially end up bidding against themselves. No one else is going to come up with a $275 million contract or anything close to it. The thing about his $27.5/year deal is that with the Yankees so ridiculously over the “cap” it is actually 40% higher due to the luxury tax so it comes in at $38.5 mil/year. Ouch. It seems over the top. I know A-Rod is a singularly unique stat machine but at the end of this deal he is going to be a 42 year old 3rd baseman (it is a 10 year deal I assume). Can we get the numbers on all previous 40 year old+ infielders? I bet its not pretty.
    I wonder if this affects the market for Lowell at all. The Sox have been offering 3 years and $36-$40 million. Seems to make sense as Lowell appears to have 3 years left in the tank. I could even see the Sox go up more per year on the money but I would hesitate on the 4th year but I bet other teams will come up with it, especially now.

  2. Boras is still officially his agent & w/the Yankees is serving as A-Rod’s “consultant”, so he’ll probably still get his commission, or at least a good chunk of it.

  3. Who says Boras won’t get his cut? Depending upon his contract with A-Rod, Boras might be owned his percentage even if he does not broker the deal. At minimum Boras would get some “buy-out” money.

  4. I am not at all shocked by the turn of events. As a lifelong Yankees fan, I was infuriated that A-Rod’s agent announced during the last game of the World Series that his client was opting out of his contract. I felt that his agent was making A-Rod more important than the World Series, which ALL baseball players strive to play. I am glad that his agent overestimated the importance of his actions. I salute Major League Baseball’s response as well as all the Major League teams’ reluctance not to bow down to Boras’s demands.
    As far as A-Rod is concerned, I feel he realizes that his legacy as a player is best served by being loyal to one team and not merely allowing himself go to the highest bidder, like a true mercenary. Now he can strive to achieve true heroics in the World Series as well as the All Time Home Run mark. And his salary will not be all that shabby. I am proud of the Yankees holding their ground and even more respectful of A-Rod realizing his misjudgment, owning up to it, and approaching the Yankees.
    In the final analysis, BOTH the Yankees and A-Rod need eachother – the Yanks do not have to give up precious young arms for a new third baseman and A-Rod gets to salvage his image, self respect and dignity as the stellar ballplayer he truly is.
    Posted by Marie

  5. I am not as familiar with the old contract (that was partially paid by the Rangers) as some of you. Is the Yankees new yearly bill more than, less than or equal to their old share of paying A-Rod’s salary?

  6. Previous contract was $25 million/year which, I believe, Texas paid $7 million/year on. I think the Yanks initial offer was to pick up the last 3 years of the contract option and do a 5 year/$150 million extension making for an 8 year/$235 million deal that Texas would pay $21 million of. So the average per year, assuming I am remembering my numbers correctly, comes out to be less in the 10 year deal than the 8 (27.5 vs 29.375) so after 8 years the Yanks will have paid out $220 million. So they make all but $6 million of the Texas money back (although it is really bad cash flow management) but they are in for 2 more years. I don’t know how good those last 2 years are going to look. Assuming he transitions to DH for the last what, 3-4 years of this deal this is a pretty pricey maneuver even for the Yankees. How many 40 year old 3rd baseman have there ever been. Hell, how many non-Bonds 40 year old DHs have there ever been that were worth a lot of dough?

  7. Hitters after 40, well it gets ugly. And it’s a short list.
    Winfield had an exceptional year at age 40 (5th in the MVP). For players in the past 40 years that is the top of the heap. Rose and Darrel Evans had solid years. Fisk, Yaz and a couple of others had passable years. Winfield had a good year at 41 and he is about it. If you aren’t Bonds, life after 40 swinging the stick usually ain’t so fine.

  8. I thought I read somewhere that it was Brian Cashman that released the news about A-Rod opting out, not Scott Boras? I could be wrong on that but it actually makes more sense that way, why would Boras want to antagonize the Red Sox? Cashman certainly would.

  9. I guess the final tally is $289 million less $21 million (the Texas money) for a total of $268 million. Buy the poor guy a drink.

  11. I think we are going to have to see just what affect the new Yankee Stadium is going to have on him. Had he gone to the Cubs, his chances would have climbed a lot.
    I don’t think we will be seeing 70 again for a long time. The top 3 guys now all were “aided” so I would think some number in the low to mid 60s is what a normal, well trained person can be expected to display at a peak. We’ve gotten jaded, but ARod’s not ‘roided performance this year was actually historical. Imagine, he joins the Babe, Ted and Mickey as the ONLY players in history to lead both leagues in homers, runs scored and RBIs. Wow.

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