Yanks: If A-Rod Opts, We Won’t Resign Him
The rumor from July has now been confirmed by Brian Cashman. From the AP:
If Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract after this season, the New York Yankees insist they won’t try to re-sign him.
“How can we? We lose all our money from Texas,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday.
Cashman said the club has not spoken to A-Rod or his agent, Scott Boras, about a potential contract extension.
“We’d like to have him stay,” Cashman said. “We’ll have those discussions at the end of the year.”
Rodriguez and Boras also have said they won’t discuss the third baseman’s contract status with the Yankees until after the season.
“He’s earned the right to opt out if he so chooses,” Cashman said. “He has a contract. We hope he doesn’t opt out.”
Asked if it would be cost-prohibitive for the Yankees to pursue A-Rod as a free agent, Cashman said yes. He also confirmed that if Rodriguez opts out of his deal, the Yankees can offer him arbitration.
The GM said the team’s position has been reported before, so it shouldn’t be surprising.
“It’s pretty obvious. It shouldn’t be a shocker. Sounds like it’ll play like a shocker. Good, it will take away from whatever gets said today in the other dugout,” Cashman said, a reference to Gary Sheffield’s return to Yankee Stadium with the Detroit Tigers.
Looks like Alex is not the only one on the Yankees who enjoys playing poker.
I agree, it’s just playing poker. The message is, we’ll give you an extension with a big signing bonus, but we still want the Rangers paying part of your salary while we can get it. Once Giambi’s and Moose’s contracts are up, then we’ll have some money to spend.