DENVER – Oct. 28, 2007 is now certain to live in Yankee infamy – the Red Sox won their second World Series in four years and Alex Rodriguez told the organization he was leaving.
So the Yankees know now they will have to pursue the Red Sox without the best player on the planet.
In a jolting maneuver to both the Yankees’ offseason and future, Alex Rodriguez informed the organization yesterday he will not even listen to their extension offers and, instead, will opt out of his current contract.
The bombshell dropped by Rodriguez, through his agent, Scott Boras, means Rodriguez will enter free agency. That almost certainly will end his four-year Yankee career, which was a combination of sensational play and even more sensational headlines.
“I got a call from Alex tonight, and he is going to opt out,” Scott Boras, Rodriguez’s agent, told The Post last night during Game 4 of the World Series. “He was just too unsure with new ownership talking about a transition where the organization is going right now. He is not sure what is going to happen with [free agents] Mariano [Rivera] and [Jorge] Posada, and if Andy Pettitte is coming back. He needs more time to assess where the Yankees are going in the future.”
Rodriguez has until 10 days after the World Series to opt out of his contract, which has three years at $92 million left on it. But he didn’t even wait for the World Series to end to deliver his most devastating hit ever of the postseason. Boras said he tried to reach Cashman by phone yesterday and failed. So instead, he sent e-mails and faxes to both the Yankee offices and also to the Players Association to inform all parties of Rodriguez’s intentions.
Yankee officials did not immediately reply to messages last night for comment.
But this, obviously, is a major hit. Perhaps devastating when you consider how this period is playing out. It is possible that in one offseason the Yanks could lose such meaningful pieces of their history as Joe Torre, Don Mattingly (if, as expected, Joe Girardi is named manager), Ron Guidry, Rivera, Posada, Pettitte and A-Rod. All while having it accentuated that the Red Sox are now ahead in the Rivalry – perhaps way ahead.
The Yanks thought they were going to receive, at least, a chance to retain Rodriguez. Yankee officials had intended to offer better than the average annual value of Rodriguez’s current contract ($25.2 million), but less than the $30 million Boras was strongly implying was necessary.
However, they had been adamant that if Rodriguez opted out, they would not pursue him in free agency because they would lose a $30 million subsidy received from Texas when they acquired the star after the 2003 season. They also assumed if Rodriguez opted out it would mean Boras had received signals that other organizations were open to discussions in the 10-year, $300 million range or more. The Angels and Dodgers are considered quick favorites, with the Cubs, Mets, Red Sox and Tigers also among other teams to watch.
Boras, though, said whatever the Yankees’ intentions are, A-Rod likes playing in pinstripes and would still consider staying.
“That (not to talk in free agency) is a Yankee decision,” Boras said. “We want to wait to see the direction of the club. The door is open from our end to continue discussions.”
Boras said Hank Steinbrenner’s pronouncement a few days ago that the Yankees are in transition and that patience is needed for whomever the new manager is caused Rodriguez to fret about the immediate future of the club. The Yanks are trying to retain Posada and Rivera, and also want Pettitte to pick up his player option for 2008. However, Boras said, it is unlikely all of that would have been resolved before A-Rod‘s opt-out period concluded.
“Alex is very aware of what is going on with his teammates from his discussions with them,” Boras said. “We just weren’t prepared to make an economic decision like this until we knew the philosophy of the club and what was happening with key players. We are talking about a pitcher of stature, a catcher and a closer. These are keys to the Yankee success for the next 3-4 years. We couldn’t enter into a dialogue about Alex’s contract when we needed to see how they conduct themselves on these other [issues].”
So this means the Yankees are about to lose the likely AL MVP, in his prime and coming off a major league-best 54 homers and 156 RBIs. The Yanks would have a lot more money to spend with Rodriguez gone, and they would potentially remove all the headaches that came with such a big-ego, high-maintenance star.
However, one person cannot replace Rodriguez. The Yanks will probably look into trade possibilities such as Seattle’s Adrian Beltre and the White Sox’s Joe Crede, and consider Boston’s Mike Lowell if he enters free agency. It is possible the Yanks will turn even more now to a team built around young pitching, and perhaps will try to obtain a star such as Johan Santana to front the rotation.
For now, though, an offseason in which they were changing managers and dealing with key free agents became more difficult.
A Boras bulletin
“I got a call from Alex (last) night and he is going to opt out,” Scott Boras, Rodriguez’s agent, told The Post. “He was just too unsure with new ownership talking about a transition where the organization is going right now. He is not sure what is going to happen with (free agents) Mariano (Rivera) and (Jorge) Posada, and if Andy Pettitte is coming back. He needs more time to assess where the Yankees are going in the future.”
Boras tried to reach GM Brian Cashman by phone yesterday to impart this information, but failed. Instead, he faxed the plans to both the Yankee offices and to the Players Association.