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It looks like Alex Rodriguez is set to come back as a member of the New York Yankees...and for less money than what they were rumored to be offering before. The former Yankees 3rd baseman is reportedly hammering out a 10-year, $275 million contract with the Yankees. Sources tell the Daily News that a deal could actually be worked out in the next 24-28 hours. So much for the 10-year, $350 million offer the Yankees had to put on the table just to talk to Rodriguez.
If the $275 million figure is correct, it would, on average, be less than the money the Yankees were offering in October. Back then, before the opt-out, there were talks of a 5-year extension at about $30 million per year. The post thinks the new deal would be front-loaded so the Yankees get a discount similar to the $21 million then had from the Texas Rangers on the last contract.
Despite the reports of discussions, some say don't trust A-Rod until the deal is actually done and that he's using the Yankees as a negotiating tool. Perhaps, but without agent Scott Boras at the table, maybe Rodriguez is actually negotiating in earnest? After all, he did profess that he and his wife both love New York.
Even if A-Rod does come back, will Yankees fans welcome him back in April? We say yes...with a chorus of boos. Until he hits that first home run, that is.
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I don't think people will really boo him.
and they shouldnt. Why should be be booed? He's the best player in baseball since Babe Ruth. He deserves to make the most money, and he carried the team last season. Fans who boo A-Rod are complete retards. Unfortunately, that decribes the majority of Americans, let alone baseball fans.
Give the guy a break, he was only kidding when he said he wanted more money back during the World Series.
i dunno, i think there's going to be some pent-up anger from some yankees fans.
i don't think he should be booed though as, like SP said, he's the best player in baseball.
they all come crawling back.
Wow - that's still a lot of pesos for a Duminican...
People will boo him as long as A-Rod doesn't bring in a World Series.
Yes, they will, but not because he desveres it though.
I dunno, I went to 30+ yankees games this season and I didn't see much booing for A-Rod. It's a myth!
...I did, however, see a lot of booing for: Scott Procter, Kyle Farnsworth, (insert name of pretty much every Yankee reliever). So, yeah.
smitty and SP are right on. rodriguez is the best player in baseball - the yankees fans should be happy to have him. but booing is part of sports culture and it's not just relegated to the yankees ballclub. anytime your star player doesn't get that big hit, plays poorly for a stretch or doesn't do well in the playoffs is likely to get booed.
as long as he comes back with a discount. I always thought it was stupid of him to part ways with the yankees. There were only 4 teams who could afford him realistically. The yankees, the red sox who don't need him, the chicago cubs, and the dodgers. the dodgers just signed torre to a load of money and are running on the good will that torre brings so they don't need arod just yet. That leaves only chicago and they didn't bite. Everybody knew it came down to chicago and it's funny for Boras and Arod to not realize that.
The Yanks just can't get rid of this guy. He's been nicknamed "The Cooler" for a reason -- his teams don't win even when he hits 50 HRs and 150 RBI. He's poison. I hope he goes to the Red Sux.
Great player but poison to a team. He seems to suck the oxygen out of the clubhouse.
If every other position player on the Yankees compiled the stats that A-Rod did last year - they woulda won a World Series. So if you want to boo A-Rod, start by booing the other 24 players first.
As said above, A-Rod is the best hitter in all of base-a-ball.
I spent $20 on a Rodriquez T-shirt, so Alex isn't the only one with a financial interest in him staying with the Yanks.
So I'm glad he's back.
lol, right on Tim. As far as the whole "cooler" notion is concerned, thats complete idiocy hatched by morons who just have an intrisic knee jerk instintinct to player hate, mainly out of jealousy and awe. I dont want to write a whole fucking essay on how stupid those arguments are, so just go to espn and read Jim Caple's article, he breaks it down, with statistics, to show how that concept is a fallacy (and BTW, Jim Caple is a former Red Sox fan and current Yankee hater, so this isnt some rah rah Yankees snowjob):
sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=caple/071114&sportCat=mlb
Pretty strong words from an idiot who read a story on ESPN and now thinks he's an expert. A-Rod's teams haven't won squat ever while he's been on them. Even when he's been the MVP he's still a drag on the team psyche as whole. He should have taken up an individual sport like golf.
And I don't want to hate any Yankees player. I've been rooting for the team since Mickey Rivers and Oscar Gamble were sharing centerfield duties. But there's no denying that the guy's a headcase, and no ESPN.com article will convince me otherwise. I'd rather have someone like Scott Brosius back, who can hit .280 with 20 HRs and 80 RBI and be a team player who also hits in the playoffs. Oh....and who plays for $20 million/year less and who gets along well in the lockerroom.
^^^ and of course you spend time in the Yankees lockerroom...
Of course not. If spending time in the lockerroom was a prerequisite for commenting then we should all shut up right now, right?
But people who have spent time with A-Rod in different lockerrooms -- and who are much more familiar with baseball lockerrooms then either you or I -- refer to him as The Cooler for a reason. The Yankees that this latest generation of fans came to know and love didn't win four World Series because of their extraordinary physical talent or even because of the payroll (Boston actually had a higher payroll for many of those years, including the year the Yanks beat them in the playoffs). They were talented players, but they were an extraordinary team because of mental toughness and team unity. Guys like Brosius, Paul O'Neill and Tino Martinez weren't perenial All Stars with out-of-this-world stats. But together as a team they became much greater than the sum of their parts.
Anyone who hasn't had his head up his ass for the last few years can see that A-Rod has the opposite effect.
Oh really? Like in 2004 when he hit .320, scored 11 runs, eight RBIs, three home runs? Yeah, that was really bad. They were only on the verge of sweeping the sox and going to the world series, but i guess it's arod's fault that gordon and rivera shit the bed twice, that javier vasquez completely bombed, and that kevin brown was, well, kevin brown. And yeah, this year, it was totally a-rod's fault that chien ming wang had an era of over 19. I think Wang must have felt totally "cooled" by a-rod for that to happen.
the texas rangers finished last in 2000 with 71 wins. after a-rods first year, the finished again last with 73 wins. oh yeah, he really killed them. it's his fault tom hicks didnt bother to sign any pitchers. maybe a-rod should have pitched every day too, as well as hit and play shortstop. before that, when he was with the mariners, their win totals went up and down, but his last year they had 91 wins and won the wild card, so WHAT THE FUCK IS IT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, you insipid sack of human waste?
anyone who calls for a "team player" on the yankees clearly has not been a fan since steinbrenner got the team 30 years ago.
the reason people hate the yankees is cause they showboat and play for themselves and their vanity.
hence the reason a-rod is on the team. that said, jeter is worse grandstander than any of them, if you ask me.