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May 02, 2007
Are Mets & A-Rod Chuck Woolery's Dream?
I found these two recent news reports on Alex Rodriguez' contract/opt-out clause to be interesting:
From Monday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -
Now, less than seven years later, it is generally conceded that Rodriguez will exercise the "out" clause in his contract after the season and look for an even bigger pot of gold. After this season, A-Rod will have three years and some $90 million remaining on that contract.
The man who negotiated that deal for Texas, Doug Melvin, now is general manager of the Milwaukee Brewers. Melvin recalled that Rodriguez and agent Scott Boras originally wanted an "out" clause much earlier in the contract.
"He wanted an 'out' after three years, then he wanted an 'out' after five years," Melvin said. "(Rangers owner) Tom Hicks said no. He said, 'If I'm committing this kind of money, we want Alex Rodriguez to end his career with the Texas Rangers.' So (the 'out' clause) went to seven years. That's how it got done."
"He can go out and get a long-term deal that gets him back over $100 million," Melvin said. "He might want an 'out' again after three years. You never know. What may be attractive to a club is that in six or seven years he might be breaking Barry Bonds' (pending) home run record.
"I saw where (Boston's) David Ortiz came out and said they would take A-Rod. There's going to be all kinds of tampering. My gut feeling, looking at the history of Scott Boras, is that he'll opt out (of his contract). Look at J.D. Drew (a Boras client who opted out of his contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and signed with Boston)."
And, from a Bloomberg report today:
The New York Yankees' Alex Rodriguez, whose $252 million contract is the biggest in baseball history, generates more than twice his $23 million annual salary for the team, according to an economist who has advised franchises on players' value.
The Yankees earn almost $47 million a year in revenue based on the games Rodriguez wins for the club, said Stephen Walters, an economics professor at Loyola College in Maryland.
The Yankees win 10 more games a season with Rodriguez, based on Walters's projections. Each victory results in $4.66 million in additional revenue, including ticket and merchandise sales and higher prices for sponsorships and commercials on the team's Yankees Entertainment & Sports Network.
Even after deducting the Yankees' payments into baseball's revenue-sharing plan -- where money from wealthy clubs is given to lower-revenue teams to try to keep them competitive -- Rodriguez still is producing about $31 million this season.
Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, declined to discuss whether the money his client brings the Yankees would become part of negotiations for a new contract.
``The value of players is something that we keep internally and talk about with the teams,'' said Boras, who is based in Newport Beach, California. ``We really don't discuss that publicly.''
Rodriguez is scheduled to make $27 million for each of the next three seasons and might have a difficult time getting more, Walters said. After revenue sharing, only the New York Mets would profit by signing him at his current salary. The club would generate $31 million with Rodriguez continuing to play in the nation's biggest media market.
Now, let us also look back at what Scott Boras, A-Rod's agent, had to say about the Mets, just six month ago:
When asked to identify baseball's next great franchise, the one that could dominate the next 10 years, Boras doesn't hesitate.
"The New York Mets will be a juggernaut," Boras says. "They have so much money coming with their new TV deal, they could have the biggest payroll in baseball. They understand what it takes to win."
It's starting to look like a love connection between Alex and the Mets, no?
Posted by Steve Lombardi at May 2, 2007 01:08 PM
Comments
Alex has always given the answer "I am staying in New York" or "I love it in New York, my wife loves it here also" when asked about his opt-out clause. He wouldn't be lying if he went to the Mets.....
Posted by: themetssuck ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.waswatching.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 2, 2007 01:32 PM
The Mets fans booed David Wright the other day. Which is much worse than booing A-Rod -- Wright is a hometown kid, homegrown from their farm system, only in his third year, and not the highest paid player in the league. It was pretty shocking.
If the Mets fans would boo Wright, imagine what they'll do to A-Rod if he has any struggles.
Omar will no doubt make a run at A-Rod. Who knows -- maybe Omar signs A-Rod and then flips Wright to the Twins for Santana. Then Yankee fans can cry their eyes out every night.
Ha, ha, ha. That's the sort of luck the Yankees have had in recent years.
Posted by: baileywalk at May 2, 2007 01:33 PM
Bailey, Steve,
I actually happen to attend Loyola College in Maryland and was completely stunned to find out that Steven Walters taught at my school. Shows that I'm in the wrong department (Finance major). I sent him an email about the article and he just responded to me with this. I'm hoping Cashman feels the same way as Prof. Walters.
Hi James:
My forecast is that Cashman will sign A-Rod to an extension of his current deal, thereby making sure that the money the Rangers are paying keeps coming...
Good luck on finals,
Prof. W.
Stephen J.K. Walters
Professor of Economics
Loyola College in Maryland
4501 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21210 USA
Posted by: themetssuck at May 2, 2007 02:10 PM
Would an extension void the money that Texas is paying, or is that only in the case of a contract getting ripped up & a new one in place.
Depending upon how lucid George is, I cannot imagine him letting the Mets out bid him on such a HoF caliber player -- especially one who's got a good shot at breaking 800 homeruns.
Posted by: rbj at May 2, 2007 02:15 PM
Admit it, you just wrote that Mets bit to tick us off, right? Well played.
I know the Yanks are playing bad, but the only positives posts lately are about your t-shirts or Baby DVD's.
Posted by: BMack at May 2, 2007 02:23 PM
great, now i got the theme stuck in my head... thanks a lot, steve
j/k
Posted by: Raf at May 2, 2007 02:36 PM
If Alex opts out no one will pay him more than what he is already owed.
The fact is that as long as the Yankees are winning they will fill those seats, barring a steep recession. Before Alex came here were the Yankees an 86-88 win team? Those ten games is assuming that any replacements are totally useless. So IMHO, that $47 million is a pile of &*^%.
This team hasn't won squat with Alex, they may in fact do better without him if they add the right mix of players at less money. The team needs a Piniella or O'Neill type attitude guy or two. Not a prima donna who shows such mental weakness at times.
Posted by: Don at May 2, 2007 02:42 PM
James - thanks for the sharing. If Cashman is still around, that just might happen.
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at May 2, 2007 02:43 PM
The team needs a Piniella or O'Neill type attitude guy or two. Not a prima donna who shows such mental weakness at times.
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The team needs playoff caliber pitching more than they need a "red ass"
Posted by: Raf at May 2, 2007 02:48 PM
~~~I know the Yanks are playing bad, but the only positives posts lately are about your t-shirts or Baby DVD's.~~~
Did I miss something positive in Yankeeland during the last month that I was supposed to glow about?
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at May 2, 2007 02:50 PM
I wouldn't let a bidding war for A-Rod stop me from getting Johan Santana. Santana first, A-Rod later. The Yankees, I recall, did just fine with Scott Brosius at 3B and high-quality starting pitching.
A-Rod could hit 1000 homeruns. Pitching, pitching, pitching--NOTHING HAPPENS IN SHORT SERIES IN OCTOBER WITHOUT PITCHING!!!
Posted by: Joel at May 2, 2007 03:01 PM
1. Carl Pavano got his DVR to record a full season of Real World/Road Rules Challenge.
2. The Mink got A hit yesterday!
3. AROD didn't opt out of his contract this month.
4. Cashman is still clinging to a few hairs on his head.
5. Jeter hasn't made an error in a while.
6. Steve Philips still hasn't signed AROD.
7. Torre hasn't batted Abreu in the dreaded AROD memorial 8th spot YET.
8. Hughes spend his DL stint reconsidering his choice of #65 for something lower.
9. John Kruk has overtaken Jason Giambi for most sweaty, dripping hair gel on a pro athlete-both still trail Brady Quinn, though.
10. Mike Mussina has been dominating his Sunday Times Crossword puzzle!
Posted by: BMack at May 2, 2007 03:09 PM
LOL BMack!
Posted by: Steve Lombardi at May 2, 2007 03:14 PM
Looks like the new strength coach was fired.
Posted by: Garcia at May 2, 2007 05:25 PM
Gee Raf, no foolin'! Even with that they still need some fire. There is no fire on this team.
I would not get into a bidding war for Alex: Goodbye, goodbye. Where will the Mets play him? They've got their 3rd baseman (cheap) and SS (real cheap). The spectre of Mr. Met signing Alex for a bigger contract than he already has is farce. Pure Bora$$ BS.
Posted by: Don at May 2, 2007 05:28 PM
Yes, the 'strength' coach is gone. Many veterans were complaining openly about that dufus. Top pitching prospect, Joba Chamberlain (who may have better stuf than Hughes) has been out since March with........ a hamstring problem.
Posted by: Don at May 2, 2007 05:32 PM
Gee Raf, no foolin'! Even with that they still need some fire. There is no fire on this team.
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Fire is overrated. Even more so with the BTDT crowd. Wright, RJ, & Sheffield had "fire" and it didn't do the Yanks a lick of good. So did Weaver. Kevin Brown too.
Me, I'd much rather have a decent pitching performance than histrionics.
Posted by: Raf at May 2, 2007 06:57 PM
Not sure why--but A-Rod just doesn't seem to FIT on the Mets. That whole corner is younger players.
It just wouldn't seem natural for him to be in Queens.
Posted by: snowball003 at May 2, 2007 09:28 PM