A widely quoted report in today’s NY Daily News by Mark Feinsand and Bill Madden claims Alex Rodriguez has reached out to the Yankees via a third party, and has been told the Bombers are ready to deal with him, provided Scott Boras isn’t part of the negotiations.
A high-ranking Yankees source told the Daily News that the team is willing to bring Rodriguez back on a below-market contract, one that would make up for the $21 million subsidy from the Rangers that the Yanks lost when A-Rod opted out of the final three years of his contract.
In addition, the Yankees don’t want to deal with Boras, who has been Rodriguez’s agent since the slugger was 16 years old.
“We will not negotiate with Scott Boras,” a Yankees source said. “He cannot be in the room.”
The Yankees are also aware that Boras could convince Rodriguez to stop the talks. “We realize it could be a trap to get us back in the negotiations,” said one Yankee official. “But we don’t think that’s the case.”
As the Daily News reported today, A-Rod will have to have person-to-person talks with the Steinbrenner brothers — Hank and Hal — before a deal can be sealed.
According to the first source, the Yankees are waiting for Mariano Rivera to sign a new contract before finalizing any plans with Rodriguez, who is expected to take a 10-year deal worth roughly $275 million. That would be about $75 million less than Boras has been looking for, though most industry insiders believe there was never going to be a $350 million offer out there for Rodriguez.
“Alex is going to be back with the Yankees,” the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the deal had not been made public. “The Yankees don’t have a choice. How are they going to compete without Alex? They need him back.”
After monitoring the third-base market, the Yankees apparently decided that Rodriguez was the best fit for them at third base. Mike Lowell is the only free agent of note, and his numbers were overwhelmingly better at Fenway Park last year than away from Boston.
Miguel Cabrera is the top name available on the trade market, but the Yankees were concerned about his work ethic and his habit of partying hard, something that dissuaded them from dealing for the talented 24-year-old slugger.
Not to mention Cabrera’s unavailable without giving up at least one marquee name from their big league roster. But I digress —- if Donald Fehr and Gene Orza threw a wrench into A-Rod’s plans to reduce his salary during the abortive trade talks with Boston in ’03/’04, what will the Players Union make of the Yankees denying a player the right to his chosen representation? If Rodriguez wants to fire Boras, so be it. That’s his right. But there’s something entirely backwards about an edict — assuming one exists — that a face-to-face with the Steinbrenner Brothers sans counsel is a requirement. If Rodriguez isn’t aware how capitulating to such conditions undermines the negotiating leverage of every other player in the game, maybe Marvin Miller can spell it out for him.
I believe that Lil’ Mustache set that precident a few years ago, with Papa Steinbrenner.
slightly different set of circumstances, Rog. Sheff’s reluctance to pay an agent’s commission is very different from the Yankees dictating who Rodriguez can or cannot bring to a meeting.
You’re right about this one. I just saw this on Fox Sports. It is *ahem* a form of union-busting. That Hank Steinbrenner is going to eventually make his old man look like a fluffy kitten, me thinks.
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7446572
These Steinbrenner sons show every indication of making their father look competent, even in his drooly dotage. From their conduct in the Torre “negotiations” to these demands, it just seems like they don’t know or care about the basic rules of how this sort of thing gets done. I don’t have any tears for Scott Boras — and Ben McGrath’s recent hit-job on him in the New Yorker raises all kinds of questions about Boras’s ability to put his clients’ interests ahead of his own mad ego — but demanding that a player negotiate without his agent present is beyond ridiculous. It just implies a broad misunderstanding of why players even have agents (or a union) in the first place. And I can’t see how that would bode well for the next Steinbrenner era, even if they do get A-Rod back.
Is there a huge difference between that and refusing to draft guys who are represented by particular agents (i.e., Boras)? That stance made the Padres the proud owner of a #1 overall bust who celebrated his selection by having friends steal shit from a Padres skybox (Matt Bush), and paved the way for Jered Weaver to replace his brother on the Angels’ roster.
Not drafting a Boras client is the right of an owner, even if it means making the wrong choice and having it come back and bite you hard. Once the player is given a contract by the player, or once the dude becomes a FA and you want to sign the bloke to your team, rulez gotta be followed, yo. The Steinbrenners act like Tony Soprano and that’s fine for tv thugs but not so good when the entire earth is watching your every move and you blatantly disregard U.S. labor laws.
There’s no labor law being violated if A-Rod sends Boras home — and for all we know, the latter could be totaly behind this latest PR move. But if anyone on earth should have the negotiating leverage to pick whichever agent he wishes, it would be A-Rod. If the Yankees can unduly influence the representation of the game’s best / most highly paid player, what hope does Andy Phillips have?