IBC

Alex Rodriguez notified the Yankees on Sunday that he's opting out of the final three years of his $252 million contract, SI.com's Jon Heyman is report.

His agent seemingly confirms it. "Alex made the decision today," Boras said. "I thought we should notify the club." We're very surprised to see A-Rod taking this step without first seeing what the Yankees had to offer. If the Bombers maintain the stance they've been adamant about the whole way, then A-Rod is through in the Bronx. With no money coming over from the Rangers to supplement his current salary, the Yankees won't bid for A-Rod, they've said repeatedly. It's expected that the Red Sox will be among the bidders for Rodriguez. Boras is banking on a bidding war that will result in a $30 million-per-year deal.

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The best player in baseball will be a Yankee no longer. It's awesome. The Yankee fans deserve to lose him after treating him the way they did. Karma, bitches.

As long as he doesn't end up in Boston it's a great day for baseball. Excuse me now while I spend four straight days in church praying for a miracle - that he ends up in Chicago.

I think you should be more focused on the Cubs actually winning a WS rather then A-rod leaving the Yankees.

burn

haha.....this might be the 1st year im ever worried about the yanks

No way he coems to boston. He just wouldn't be welcome here, and he knows it. The only way I see him being welcomed in Boston is if he came out and said that going to NY was a mistake and he was completely miserable there. Which might not be too far from the truth.
My favorite part is that by declining the option before the Yankees made an offer, he basically said that they couldn't offer him enough money to make him want to come back.

Brewers wrote:I think you should be more focused on the Cubs actually winning a WS rather then A-rod leaving the Yankees.

Yeah. If only I was more focused, they would win it all. Damn me and my A.D.D.

Cubs wrote:

Brewers wrote:I think you should be more focused on the Cubs actually winning a WS rather then A-rod leaving the Yankees.

Yeah. If only I was more focused, they would win it all. Damn me and my A.D.D.

Hey maybe you don't care to help out, but Jake contributed a lot to the Yankees playoff collapse and shitty off-season

agreed

Honestly, while I can't totally blame A-Rod for opting out - the fans really did treat him like shit up until this year - the manner in which he did it is totally embarassing. While I would never put a move like this past Boras, I thought A-Rod was at least a decent enough human being to tell Cashman face-to-face (Cashman being the ONE guy in pinstripes who never wavered in his full support of A-Rod), but apparently I gave A-Rod way too much credit.

A text message with an attachment that stated that A-Rod was opting out because there were uncertainties about Pettitte, Mo, and Posada is an absolute outrage. How dumb do he and Boras think we are? If A-Rod sat down with Cashman and said, "Listen Cash, I've just got to test this thing out - may be the last contract I ever get - and there's no way I can truly test the market in 10 days. I would still consider being a Yankee, but you've got to give me more then 10 days" - then I totally get it, and while I think there would be some hullabaloo from the Yanks fans, I know some of us would understand.

So my final reponse is: "Fuck him." I want Mike Lowell.

Can't say I blame you for saying "Fuck him". A-Rod was always about 'me me me' but at the same time, I think has some cause (or can at least understand why he'd feel like he has cause, to give a big "Fuck you" to all of Yankeedom. I don't think he had any interest at all in coming back in pinstripes.

Z, I have Lowell. Come and get him!

A-Rod was by no means a perfect player or person, but he didn't deserve the treatment he received from the Yankee Nation. Especially when you remember that some world class douche bags have made their way through NY recently, and none seemed to receive the kind of negative response that A-Rod got.

I'm glad the whole thing is over. It just sucks that we won't be hearing the end of it for quite awhile, if ever.

Cubs wrote:Yankee Nation.

no yankee nation. no red sox nation. no nation.

If only A-Rod stayed in Seattle...

If he really held a grudge against the Yankees "nation", then the should sign for less money than he was due...that would be the ultimate slap in the face....and Scott Boras' dick would shrink by a 1/4 inch.

I'm hoping the Giants break the bank for him and Mo Rivera, fire Bochy in the next offseason and hire Torre, and then it will ultimately solve my dilemma about which Bay Area team to root for when the Red Sox aren't on.

I can't see A-rod pulling a Sheffield (or an intended sheffield) and signing for less money elsewhere, though doing it with the Sox would be entertaining to say the least.
And yes, I think we can all agree he probably should have stayed in Seattle.

It took a gigantic dick to slap the Yanks in the face w/o even negotiating - seeing as the Yanks are the richest team in the history of professional sports - so I don't think Boras is worried about 1/4".

First of all, anyone who thinks that there were no negotiations is ignorant. Even during the WS game they mentioned a possible Yankees offer, and Boras is always working the phones behind the scenes. The reason this decision was made and announced now is that Boras found out how high the Yankees were prepared to go and already has another offer in his pocket for more. Let's not get all high and mighty about how there were no negotiations, there just weren't any public negotiations.

In general, from what I've read around the net, it's not A-Rod's supporters making the bigger deal out of the whole "no negotiations" thing, it's his detractors. They say he's rude and inconsiderate and doesn't understand the "privledge" of being a Yankee. They say he's a douche bag for not even giving the Yanks a chance. I think you're accusing the wrong side of being high and mighty.

A-Rod will go hit 50+ HR's, break the HR record in Anaheim, and no one will care.

Although..imagine what that team looks like with A-Rod hitting after Vlad?

Although, if you saw the Angels in the ALDS, I don't think A-Rod would have made the difference.

I think the Angels are the obvious fit, no one will bother him about playoff struggles there (see Guerrero, Vladimir) and they can make a ride at Disneyland for him. It'll be awesome.

Didn't Disney sell the Angels?

If he winds up in Boston I will spontaneously combust, because the other 28 MLB teams will get zero coverage from a certain sports network that is a total joke. Me and JP were talking the other night about how the Cardinals should've won 3 WS in a row, 04 and 05 along with 06, but even we agreed that if that happened, we still wouldn't get half the coverage the Yanks and Sox get. I also think I'm officially done reading Bill Simmons cause he's been bad enough as is, but I can't imagine how bad he's going to be now. And if the Colts win on Sunday, it'll be a column like the one after the AFC title game, him brushing it off and not mentioning it and then discrediting it. Him and Keith Law should get married

boo-freaking-hoo. Here's an idea. Get a larger fanbase that will attract more ratings and maybe then ESPN will 'give you your due'. ESPN, in all it's Kraplackistanitude, exists for one reason... to make money. Making money requires viewers which means they're going to pander to the largest fanbases (and ignore the smallest ones) and celebrate controversy. It has nothing to do with being fair or providing insightful commentary, it's about keeping butts in seats.

The Cardinals have a fanbase that reaches Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Tennessee. Thats a pretty large area. Those are all states that air Cardinals games via radio and television. You also can't rule out that the Cardinals have strong ties in the Deep South and the Mountain states as well because they were the westernmost and southernmost team for a long, long time. I think I speak for the entire Cardinal Nation(thanks for stealing that from us by the way, because that's been in use for decades) in saying kiss our ass