Alex Rodriguez will have another trophy in his case when he finally re-signs with the Yankees.
As expected, Rodriguez was named American League Most Valuable Player today, the second time he has won in a four-year career in pinstripes that is expected to last another decade when his signature finally goes on a $275 million contract.
Rodriguez hit .314 and led the majors with 54 homers and 156 RBIs last season, numbers that put him in the company of other Yankees MVPs such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio.
The Yankees, agent Scott Boras and MLB officials are moving toward finding a way for A-Rod to share in the financial windfall the Yankees will experience as Rodriguez approaches Barry Bonds’ all-time home run record in pinstripes.
Since milestone bonuses are not allowed in player contracts, a revenue-sharing program has to be agreed on before the proposed deal becomes official. A revenue-sharing program could push the contract’s value past the $300 million mark.
Rodriguez, 32, has 518 homers; Bonds leads with 762.
Talking to MLB.com during the weekend, Rodriguez said the negotiations are “in the bottom of the fifth inning.”
Considering the short Thanksgiving work week, an official announcement may not come until early next week — but the deal will get done.
Rodriguez won AL MVP for the second time in three years (third overall; 2003 with Texas).
His Yankee career was seemingly finished when he opted out of his contract during the World Series. But after seeking the advice of everybody from Warren Buffett to Goldman Sachs to John Lennon’s spirit, he decided to go back to the team, a process that included apologizing to the Steinbrenner family. Rodriguez hasn’t spoken publicly of that meeting, which he attende without his agent.
“When the time is right and I have a proper forum … I think it’s important for the New York Yankee fans, to realize exactly what happened, from A to Z,” said Rodriguez, who credits his face-to-face chat with Hank Steinbrenner as the key ingredient and looks forward to being known as a New Yorker.
“I think it’s the best way you can do things. I felt sometimes the messages can be mixed up and you may be getting some information that is not 100 percent accurate. I just took it upon myself to call Hank and talk to him one on one. Long after baseball, New York is going to be part of our lives. I have some unfinished business in New York.”
Though the Boras camp was impressed with Steinbrenner granting Rodriguez an audience after Steinbrenner said good riddance to Rodriguez when he opted out, the feelings could change following Steinbrenner’s quotes in Sunday’s Post.
“There were mistakes made by his agent,” Steinbrenner said. “We reached out to (Rodriguez) and then he didn’t call us back. Scott did mess up things.”
Boras has refused to discuss the process, waiting until the deal is officially done.
Rodriguez and Don Mattingly (1985) are the only Yankees to win AL MVP since Thurman Munson in 1976. Overall, a Yankee has been named MVP 22 times.