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As long as they don't sign Andruw Jones/Jermaine Dye/Torii Hunter with that freed up money, I can live with a last-place and rebuilding Yankee team. I don't want to see them compound the mistakes of the past with stupid signings for older players like those three.

I'm sad that A-Rod will be playing elsewhere next year and I think Cashman should be wary of playing too much hardball here if he has any intention of leaving the team with a decent lineup next year (before his ass is canned...).

It's called negotiating. The process is just in the early stages.

agree with rbj here. I don't see how anyone can come to one conclusion either way about whether A-Rod is staying or not. As Pete Abraham points out, they'll have time to hammer out an extension after the season if in fact A-Rod wants to.

According to the report, Rodriguez has until 10 days after the World Series - Nov.10 at the latest - to opt out of the contract. So, if the season ends around the beginning of October, that's about four weeks to get it done. It's time - but, not a lot of time.

It's time - but, not a lot of time.
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It's plenty of time. As of now, they have an idea of what it may take to sign him.

It depends on how stubborn either side is on their demands.

What if A-Rod suprises you all and decides to NOT opt-out?

Nah, I don't think so either.

~~It's plenty of time.~~

You think 5 year, $160 million dollar, contracts happen over night? MLB and the MLBPA will be part of this one. With all those moving parts, 4 weeks can fly by.....

Even if they're not negotiating, I'm sure they're talking. Cashman and Boras will be throwing numbers at each other during the season (well, more likely, Cash is the one who'll be talking numbers, Boras will just listen and go "hmmm".) Once the big numbers $$$ and years are settled, everything else will fall into place.

"What if A-Rod suprises you all and decides to NOT opt-out?"

WOuldn't surprise me at all. It would mean he wants to stay a Yankee and he used the opt-out threat to get an extension.

As long as they don't sign Andruw Jones/Jermaine Dye/Torii Hunter with that freed up money, I can live with a last-place and rebuilding Yankee team. I don't want to see them compound the mistakes of the past with stupid signings for older players like those three.
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They need that freed-up money to pay their own players -- Mo and Posada.

But why the jump to the Yankees being a last-place rebuilding team? Just because A-Rod goes elsewhere the team can't survive?

The Yankees rebuild on the fly. That's what they have done over the last few years. They continue their absurd spending on vets (Clemens, Damon) while bringing in young kids (Cano, Wang, Melky, Hughes). Because of the demands of the team, to win always and rake in the cash, that's just the way it's going to be. Next year will probably be no different.

This team has won without A-Rod and has never won WITH him, so I don't really see his departure as doom and gloom. Just look at the Red Sox this year and last. Last year Papi was killing the ball and ended up with over 50 home runs. The slimmed-down Ortiz (ahem) isn't anywhere near as productive this year, but the team's pitching is much better and they have a ten-game lead. Next year if a rotation of Wang, Pettitte, Hughes, Mussina, (Clippard, Chamberlain, Kennedy, Horne, choose your prospect, no-Kei-Igawa-please) is as good as it is on paper, then the Yankees are in good shape. With or without A-Rod, they have a good team. And they have the most important thing in baseball -- good young pitching.

I want A-Rod to stay, but the success of this team does not rest with him.

You think 5 year, $160 million dollar, contracts happen over night? MLB and the MLBPA will be part of this one. With all those moving parts, 4 weeks can fly by.....
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How long did it take for Rodriguez to sign with the Rangers?

They can announce the deal and have all the lawyers iron out all the details.

Bailey, I'm not saying its a lock that the Yanks will be in last place. But the lineup without ARod looks pretty soft next year. Melky, Giambi, Damon, Jeter, Matsui, Cano are the only ones under contract and it's not like Giambi/Damon/Matsui are inspiring a world of confidence these days (at least in my opinion, others may disagree). Further, are there any minor league bats that we have coming up next year? The pitching might be much improved if Wang, Hughes, Chamberlain, etc. all pitch in the rotation next year.

But the truth is, this is an underachieving team with ARod this year. Why would it be better without him next year?

Agreed, rbj. This is just saber-rattling. Cash is probably aware that, if Boras-rod opts out, there will be a very limited pool of teams with the financial means to bid for his services. Most teams would not be comfortable dedicating a quarter of their payroll to one player for eight years, albeit a great one. And is Boras envisions an all-out bidding war among ten teams, he's mistaken.

Agreed, rbj. This is just saber-rattling. Cash is probably aware that, if Boras-rod opts out, there will be a very limited pool of teams with the financial means to bid for his services. Most teams would not be comfortable dedicating a quarter of their payroll to one player - albeit a great one - for eight years. And if Boras envisions an all-out bidding war among ten teams, he's mistaken.

Yikes. Sorry for the double post, ya'll.

"The team has won with A-Ro but never won with A-Rod." Does that matter in the slightest?

First of all, THIS TEAM, has never won a damn thing. So that's a fallacy.

Second of all if the Yankees didn't have A-Rod this season, how many games do you think they would have won?

Now imagine this team next year, with Posada a year older and maybe not at all, Jeter a year older. Cano, Damon, Giambi maybe. Who replaces his production? Nobody.

Before Cashman let's A-Rod go, he better have a bullet proof plan to amortize A-Rod's production across a couple of guys, thereby replacing it in totality. If he doesn't he needs to pay Alex $50 million a season if that's what it takes. It's not like the Yankees can't afford whatever he asks for.

~~~Who replaces his production? Nobody.~~~

We can always try to get Sheffiled back. Check out this story...

http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/ny-spsheff0714,0,3077023.story?coll=ny-main-bigpix

brockdc -- I like double posts that agree with me.

Face it, A-Rod, Posada and Mo have the Yankees over the barrel. They'll probably be splitting Roger's salary next year. Which means more kids playing next year.

Actually, I think there's probably half a dozen teams at least that have the financial means to bid on ARod. About half of them have already been stung by ARod's and Boras' negotiating ploys, though, so they probably won't even bite.

You all know, don't you, that they've done this before? (for the history, see http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/brainwashing-by-boras/ )

Boras puts out feelers about 3-4 months ahead of time using an outrageous $M dollar amount, just to get the media reporting it and to get the talking heads talking.

The more the outrageous $M dollar amount is talked about, the less outrageous it seems...it's like repeating "fcuk fcuk fcuk" a thousand times. After a while it doesn't seem like it's an obscenity, it's just something you've gotten used to (C-Rod should sit in on these strategy sessions). That's part of Boras' technique for softening up the market.

Then, when everyone's used to what's been talked about for months, upping the ante another $10M a year doesn't seem like much... :P

All this for a guy with superb talent, the baseball instincts of a Little Leaguer, and really, declining defensive skills. Yeah, watch the Great Alex and His Magic Bat as he Marches Towards Home Run Immortality!!! $30M, $35M, even $40M for THAT?

The suspense is killing me. Who will blink first? A-Rod or G-Steins?