Contract Gate Part 178

On the ongoing drama that is A-Rod’s contract situation, the latest news in now that Brian Cashman is near ready to propose a contract extension when they meet with him. The reports are that the extension is expected to be right around 5 years for $150 million. You don’t have to be a math major to realize that this $30 million per season extension is set to break records that this contract already held. A-Rod would then be under the Yankees control until the 2015 season and his contract from hereon out would be worth $231 million. Still, as astronomical as this all sounds it would still be a far cry from what could possibly come out of this situation. At one point, Scott Boras was talking about A-Rod possibly commanding an astounding $40 million per season! While it is still $3 million more then A-Rod had been set to make a season with another extra 5 years tacked on, it’s conceivable that Alex Rodriguez may even see this offer as an insult. This is obviously a more then fair offer but with Scott Boras behind the scenes he is almost certain to try to squeeze more out of the Yankees. If the Yankees can actually land A-Rod at this price then it would almost be a bargain to keep the best player in the game for a price tag that at least didn’t hit ten digits. One could argue that there may be better things to do with the money that could field a whole team, but Rodriguez’s production would still be impossible to replace in the Yankees lineup by just one player. This offer could be seen as a test to A-Rod’s loyalty to the Yankees, as if he truly wants to stay a Yankee no matter what then he should jump at this offer. If he’s been listening to Brian Cashman’s statements about not pursuing him if he opts out of his contract then he should take this offer. The window for A-Rod to opt out of his contract will be closing soon, as the Red Sox are likely to finish off this World Series sooner rather then later (yea I said it) so 10 days later he’ll have to make his decision. Cashman is trying to end this soon as he’d probably like to put this and the Yankees managerial opening behind him as soon as possible. Unfortunately for him, even after the two biggest off season priorities are taken care of he’ll still have plenty of work to do.