The Yankees will hold a press conference with Alex Rodriguez Sunday at 11am eastern time, according to an announcement from the team. The reason for the press conference is unknown. Rodriguez, 41, has limped to a .204/.252/.356 line in 234 plate appearances this year as the team’s designated hitter. He currently ranks fourth all-time with 696 career home runs. Though A-Rod is owed $20MM next year, it’s fair to speculate whether his time with the Yankees is coming to an end.
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Going to retire. Calling it
Now why don’t you explain to this board why A-Rod would ever want to retire now and forfeit the $20m to which he is entitled?
Yeah, it’s not like he has already banked 100 million, and can afford to walk away…. oh wait…. never mind.
what’s $100 mill when you can have $120 mill?
Actually his net worth is $400m. It pays to cheat and lie I guess.
If I had to guess, Yankeeight be buying out last year plus.
Cheating and lying isn’t how he made almost half a billion playing baseball. Being a free agent at 25 and one of histories best players through that age and playing at the top of the defensive spectrum did
Got there by cheating.
Money isn’t the prime motivation for these guys at this point.
He could spend something like 20k per day the rest of his life and not spend it all.
At this point money probably isn’t a big motivator for Alex
He cheated and lied playing the game so yea…it is. You can go on believing he only cheated during the times he confessed to…I don’t.
For the same reason Gil Meche left $12M on the table. Who knows what A-Rod is thinking, but it does happen.
He could have come to a settlement with the Yankees to get paid part of it to walk away now
You mean force him to retire even though he is overdue
Spending $20MM to open a roster spot sure is expensive, but then you realize just how poorly A-Rod has been playing, -1.0 WAR in 62 games. Perhaps it is time to say goodbye.
DFA is not ‘spending’
Ok, not “spending” how about “costing”. If you still paid the guy it is still $20 million out of the budget!
Sure hope A-Rod breaks into the 700 club. Only 4 HR away.
Doesn’t matter to me whether Rodriguez breaks 700 HR or not. After all, it was Rodriguez and his PED-using peers who cast doubt on what exactly his and his peers’ career homerun statistics meant anyway.
Willie Mays and Hank Aaron used PEDs too. Just saying
I’m guessing they will buy out his contract and release him
Sorry for what may be a dumb question, but if his contract is bought out, does his salary count towards the 2017 team payroll if the Yankees are to go over the luxury tax? (Chances are the Yankees won’t even go over it with several high contracts coming off. Just curious though)
I may be wrong but if its a buy out and he retires I don’t see how it could be on the books.
Unless he retires they have to pay him and it counts towards luxury tax
I believe the question is:
If the Yankees pay A-Rod to retire, is that payment considered payroll thereby subject to luxury tax? And, if so, does that count against 2016 or 2017 payroll?
Yes it does. It’s considered retained salary
Cotts dosn.t have Cuddeyer’s salary listed agains’t the cap, I say A-Rod does the same thing and retires, saving the Yankees the 20 million cap hit.
If the player retires then he forfeits his salary and it costs the team nothing. This is most likely going to be a restructured buy out and release and ARod will become a free agent.
The Mets paid Michael Cuddyer to retire; they bought out the last year of his contract.
Yea, it does. Ii is as if the contract is still active on the books if he is cut. If he retires then all money is off the books.
MLB contracts are guaranteed and can not be bought out unless paid in full. A-Rod WILL collect the $20m to which he is entitled. Deal with it 🙂
Umm. That’s what I’m saying. Bought out and paid in full. My question was if despite that, would his payroll count towards the luxury tax next season? No need to say “Deal with it”.
Pretty certain most fans could care less if A-Rod hits 700 HR, 800 HR, or retires this morning, let alone the Yankees payroll. I will “Deal with it” just fine and sleep well tonight regardless. Gentleman was just asking a legitimate question.
Cuddeyer’s contract is not on the Mets cap this year!
That’s because he retired.
If they agree to a buy out and he retires this year then that money will be of the books for next year I believe
Now if they just release him and pay it off then they pay it
Who Cares, Let A-Rod Retire Into Obscurity PLEASE!!!!!!!
Not going to happen, A-Rod is a lightning rod, you will have to see him on ESPN and the MLB Network. I can’t wait to see him discussing statagy with John Heyman and the likes, Sports are so hypocritical. He was actually very good during the playoffs last year. The best thing for baseball is to forgive and forget, their were many cheaters in baseball history, but it is great for the media.
A Rod or A Roid, he still was one of the greatest players ever, while he won’t get into the hall, he really was great, everyone that hates him for the steroids needs to look at the fact that he more pressure on him than almost any other player in the league, I imagine that getting called up to the majors at age 18 is tough especially when you struggle after that call up. And then taking the bigger contract, why would he take less money, he was still young at the time and getting all the guarantied money was the right choice for him, and then still young, he did what he thought was best for him and his team. And now everyone will say he had a horrible sense of judgment, well yes he did, he got called up at 18 and was considered a veteran at 25, and what 18-25 year olds don’t make mistakes. He doesn’t deserve to be in the hall and won’t be, but that doesn’t mean I hate him, he still is one of the greatest Mariners of all time but he won’t be remembered as that, he will always be one of the most hated Mariners of all time for making a choice that was better for him. Fans need to learn that they can’t hate players for taking the bigger contract to play for a different team unless they start hating the players that join there team, because as a Mariners fan I know we don’t hate Cano for taking more to sign with us(we tend to dislike him for other reasons). And just a reminder that Griffey also left the Mariners for money just like A Rod did. Either way, A Rod is one the greatest of all time.
He will get into the Hall eventually. So will Bonds and Clemens and Rose and everyone else kept out. It’ll just take time. Quite frankly it is ridiculous to have a museum of the history of baseball and exclude some of the best players of all time. Museums are supposed to tell the entire history, not just the cherry-picked version. People in the future need to know about the steroid era. Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. You cannot learn from it if it is just swept aside and forgotten.
It’s not so much “some of the best players of all time” but nearly all the best players of an entire generation. MLB should own up to the Steroid Era.
I am steadfast in my conviction that the only way the Hall could or should bar alleged steroid users is if every BBWA member active before the release of Canseco’s book who neither publicly inquired nor wrote about the possibility of widespread PED use within MLB before Canseco’s book was published was also barred for life from casting Hall of Fame ballots of any kind.
Even growing up in the 1980s over 75 miles from a major league stadium, my friends and I knew who amongst our classmates was using PEDs to get an edge in high school baseball and football. Any professional writer active at that time and indignant about PED use is either totally ignorant of the extent of PED use or just plain hypocritical and therefore unworthy to cast judgment and/or ballots.
Uh, you do realize they are not erasing Arod from history right? His actions will still be remembered and the consequences of such actions. In fact keeping him out of the HoF will bring MORE attention to the steroid era, not less. New people to the game of baseball will see his stats and wonder why he is not in the HoF, the answer will be: cheating. You talk about history repeating, if you let him and the others into the HoF, you are rewarding cheating, that is exactly how you get people to cheat and make history repeat itself.
Gaylord Perry threw a spitball when it was considered cheating. He is in the Hall. I think the lesson you think will be learned will be lost because due to the odd way of choosing which players get excluded. As far as hated players, Ty Cobb was hated a lot more than A Rod by everyone including some teammates and he is in the Hall. There are far worse people than A-Rod in the Hall. Cap Anson was almost solely responsible for the need of the Negro Leagues because he refused to play on the same field as them and he was the biggest star in the game at the time. So racists, cheaters, and just downright despicable individuals are in the Hall, but you think a grand lesson will be learned by excluding A-Rod?
I think future generations will not ask why these players were excluded. I think they ask why we ever let such vindictive individuals decide who entered the HOF in the first place.
Just because someone else did it or something worse is not a valid excuse. His tainted records are already listed in the hall. He just won’t have a plaque and won’t get to give a speech. “Voting shall be based upon the player’s record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.”
The answer is the majority of baseball writers are stupid and hypocritical, at least as a voting monolith.
Award votes have no credibility in general. But who would you get to decide who deserves a vote?
The system in place may be the best way to elect players already. And I believe the best players of each era belong, even the most obvious PED policy violators (Rodriguez, Bonds, Clemens, et al).
The hypothetical above is my reaction to those writers who claim Bonds or Rodriguez or whoever should be barred despite turning a blind eye with their coverage back before Canseco’s book brought the PED issue to light.
No Griffey left for Cincinnati to be closer to his family, not the money.
Seattle couldn’t afford to pay him, so they were going to trade him either way, Cincinnati was where he wanted to be so it worked out.
Everything you mentioned is mute to him. ARod was a douche with his on field actions and only when he confessed to his steroids did he begin to show any humility. That means absolutely nothing. Pressure can be placed on every first rounder, he just so happened to up his game with steroids. Personally, I don;t care about steroids because you still need to hit the ball, but his Lance Armstrong defense over such was entirely reflective of his character, along with his numerous on field antics. Hall of Fame voting takes into account the individual, and ARod was a complete media whore and douche. Same reason Harper will never be in the same league as Trout, Trout is a stand up human being, Harper is the embodiment of cockiness. There is a reason Trout i respected, while Harper is booed.
Did you clear this take with the fire marshal before you posted it?
Harper is booed cuz he’s a better baseball player. Plain and simple
Can we hate people that don’t know the difference between their and there? Fan is short for fanatic and as a fanatic you can have a strong distaste for players on other teams for whatever rational or irrational reason you choose. A-Fraud has others reasons for fans to dislike him that have nothing to do with how big his contract is.
You’re a M’s fan and you claim Arod left Seattle for more money, just like Griffey,…. Griffey was traded. Look you can coddle make excuses for him all you want — he knew what he was doing and he knew it was cheating worst of all he looked people in the face repeatedly and told them he was a changes man after he was caught the first time. We will never know how great he really was because the rumors of him using roids date back to his days in HS… He was massive fraud and people who still want to claim he was a great player seem to gloss over all his failings. Personally, I see him as a truly tragic figure, he clearly had the skills to play baseball but his need to be desired and adulated led him to do the things he did. I wish he had stayed clean after he got caught the first time, but he didn’t.. Dude even managed to ruin his own redemption story.
Sorry to see you go. But …….
One can only hope that he will walk away from this game and never come back
Hes not even the worse human being to play for the Yankees this year. ARod might be a bad figure, but he has stayed out of headlines since his suspension ended and kept his nose clean. There are a lot of worse people in this sport than Arod..
Worse people? Probably. More hated? Not even close. Most hated guy in baseball and you’re over here trying to defend him….. waste of time if you ask me.
I could be wrong, but I’d imagine that Brixton’s comments are referring to Adrolis Chapman, who was on the Yankees and has sent been dealt away. Or do you condone Chapman’s actions?Of course Brixton could be referring to someone else, because ARod certainly doesn’t have a monopoly on stupid choices.
They should offer to pay him 20 million to be the hitting coach next year if he agrees to retire at the end of this season. They would save the luxury tax and he couldn’t do a worse job than the hitting coaches they have now.
MLB would see right through a one-year, $20MM+ batting coach contract and rule that sum applicable to the Yankees’ 2016 player payroll.
Otherwise, teams would be naming busted players coaches on a pretty consistent basis.
Bobby Bonilla 15 yr extension 2.5 mil annually
I don’t see him calling it a career and giving up one dime. It’s not his profile or character at all. This isn’t Wayne Garland, nor Ryan Dempster here that knew they were done and did there team a favor to save their team some cash, retiring early. He’s going to squeeze the Yanks for every thin dime they can and it’s not right with all the issues and embarrassment he caused them.
Why would he? He has more money than he could ever hope to spend in one lifetime and if not another $20MM won’t be enough either. Alex Rodriguez is still a human being. I have to imagine that even he is starting to strain under the incessant booing and vitriol being sent his way nearly every day. If I had as much money as him, it would be worth $20MM to get away from that.
Get over it, A-Rod isn’t forfeiting a single penny of his guaranteed contract. Delete your account if you think otherwise.
Because you know everything, right? And you seem a bit young, so I’ll go slowly. In life, you aren’t going to silence people that disagree with you by asking them to go away because you think you are the only one that gets to be right. Grow up.
The “Oh he already has enough money so he’ll do this or that” argument has already proven to be false. Baseball players are greedy and A-Rod is arguably the greediest of them all. He already said he would play out the remainder of his contract and he’s not the kind of person who would take a pay cut for anything. So rather than trying and failing to argue with me, why don’t you come up with a legitimate reason as to why forfeiting $20m is a good idea from A-Rod’s perspective? Go on, I’ll wait.
Can I use $12 million as an example? Look up Gil Meche. You’re probably too young and never heard of him since you seem to be acting like an Internet tough guy for no reason
TheWestCoastRyan not all baseball players continue to play extra seasons just for the money. There have been several who retired with money still left on their contract for one reason or another. Just earlier this season Adam LaRoche felt compelled to leave the game.
I’m certainly not making a judgement on ARod personally about his greed (or lack there of). It was just (without you quantifying) seemed rather all inclusive in your words. Personally I don’t think money drives every decision in life, if it does in yours then good luck in your happiness. I’m afraid you might need it.
You must be too old to remember the situation with Meche… Yes, you are right, he left 12 mil on the table — but they were vastly different situations. Meche was going to have to sit it out because he was injured and unable to play — he took the high road and chose not to get paid when he wouldn’t he able to contribute — and he admitted he was tired of the injuries and wanted out. Gil Meche had character — Arod has lacked that his entire career.. It’s doubtful Arod is willing to walk away as gracefully as Meche did.and I don’t really think that it’s really a character issue so much as I doubt the guy’s competitive fires are really out.. About the only thing I’ll never question is Arod’s desire to play and play well. That desire led him to some bad choices, but there is no denying the dude had it.
I know very well they were different situations. But my point still stands. Meche could have just been on the roster or on the DL and still collected $12 mil. I’m not saying A-Rod will do the same FWIW. You’re right Meche had character. We will see what the Yankees and A-Rod do/say shortly.
Lol at all the issues he caused the Yankees
They were loving every minute of him using while he led them to a championship. Not s single complaint was seen
It’s funny how quickly the Yankees turned their back on him when the cards came tumbling down, literally throwing him under the bus as much as possible at that point.
Starting feuds with him over the bonuses he was set to receive for home run marks he hit and everything. It was all cool before the house of cards came down but the second it did the Yankees tried to scurry away from any responsibility they owed to the situation. Truly pathetic. The Yankees are the biggest scum bags of all of this and deserve anything ARod did to them.
I’m really feeling the dramatic second comma in the last sentence. Very Hollywood. Well done, sir.
😀
He’s gunna retire.
The moment Yankee fans have been waiting for…
From the sold out Yankee Stadium… It’s time!! 5 rounds for the NYY undisputed most overpaid player in franchise history. Fighting out of the Road Grey corner, standing at 6 foot 3, and weighing in at 215 pounds, Mark Teixeira… Fighting out of the Pinstripe corner, standing at 6 foot 3, and weighing in at 225 pounds, he is the 3x MVP, Alex Rodriguez.
Bye Arod. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. The most untrustworthy individual, on par with Hillary Clinton. Both will say and do anything for personal gain!
This is a bad take. Really truly pathetic. I am sincerely embarrassed for you, and I pity anybody else who took the time to read it.
Bye Arod. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Most untrustworthy disingenuous person. Right up there with Hillary Clinton. Both will say and do anything for their own personal gain!
Aside from the fact that he cheated and continually lied about, aside from his animalistic puffery during the investigation, aside from his pure arrogance and narcissistic ways, all of which turn my stomach, what I despise most about A-rod is his deception of the youth he spoke to. After his touching 2009 confession he signed on with the Taylor Hooton Foundation at the behest of Taylor’s father because, as usual, Alex could stare America in the eye and lie. Do you remember Taylor? He was the young high school student who died from using PED’s. In order to show how “sorry and heartfelt” he was, A-Rod agreed to go around the country, talk to youth about the evils of PED use. He even stood with hundreds and thousands of young impressionable children and signed a promise, right along with them, to never use PED’s. The all-time he was doing this he was spending thousands of dollars per month With Biogenesis. Alex, much like Rose, always considered himself above the game, above the rules, above it all…his only concern…his own glory. He cannot go away fast enough.
he failed another drug test
The Yankees have cut their loses and move on.
I bet the conference is about Joe getting fired and A-Rod taking over.
I remember sitting out in the LF bleachers at Dodger stadium and watching him at SS with the Rangers. Dude was a mountain compared to everyone else on the field. (besides maybe Gabe Kapler). What surprised me was seeing his range at short live. Watching a game on TV its difficult to see how much a player moves laterally off the pitch. The guy was very underrated defensively, even in his time at 3rd in the Bronx.
He was an habitual liar and not someone id want to have a drink with but he was one of the best baseball players I’ve ever seen. He was one of the 4 that I could tell were on a different level live just by the sound off the bat. (Arod, Pujols, Bonds, Sheffield)
Extension!!!!!
I think A-Rod will not only retire at the end of the year, but will do something positive to try and clear his name a bit. He might give the money he is owed back to baseball in some way or defer his last year of salary. I feel sorry for him since he has been the wiping boy for steroid use. Players like Colon and Ortiz are worshiped and also took steroids. The media and ownership has be very hypocritical on this subject. I feel that latino players are mostly misunderstood in the mlb.. All things considered he goes down as one of the top players in baseball history. The only way to end this farce of steroid use and cheating is to let all players in on their ability. Heck,90% of the past players took amphetamines whick is now banned and batting averages have gone down 10 percentage points in the league since they were banned-curious.!
I don’t know if the Yanks would allow him to donate the entire amount owed, but I could see a reduced or settlement of half and the Yanks set up a foundation or donate to an existing one. Nonetheless, I agree that he will most likely end this positively and many people write about A-Rod really don’t know what they’re talking about.
I’ll put in my guess. This will be his last year, and the Yankees will play him enough to get him his 700 HRs. His reason will be his ego is too large to sit on the bench another year.
I’ve been calling this for weeks and just wrote a comment about this on here a couple days ago. It was painfully obvious and I can’t expect everyone to agree or understand why A-Rod would retire and leave money on the table. That’s if, he really does retire before the contract is over. I’m a Yankee fan and have been watching daily for decades. A-Rod still is one of my favorite players (and I’m 39 so it’s not a young age thing). A-Rod has made many mistakes along the way (hasn’t everyone, including other players?), and I just think this comes down to two options for him. 1. Be released and a dejected cast off and in a way, forced retirement. He’ll go down as a side note, at least in the short-term this way. All of us know, including A-Rod, if released, no one is picking him up. 2. He retires end of the season admirably, on his own terms. He has really built up some good will these last couple seasons since the suspension and it did seem like he appreciated the opportunity to play last year and this year. When you’re done, you’re done, and you can see it in his face. Two things will likely happen: 1. The Yanks give him a few more ab’s so he can try for 700 homers. 2. He leaves the remaining $20mm or $21mm for 2017 on the table.
It’s worth discussing, then, if he does retire, was his contract actually a good one instead of 10 years $250mm, it will be 8 years and $200mm spent and many of those years were very good.
And just to be sure, I checked and I know for a lot of people, they won’t like telling themselves this, because many want to believe A-Rod’s contract was the worst ever, but as it turns out, A-Rod’s contract might go down as one of the best of the “big contract” types. Funny how this works. Sure, there is a lifetime of agita attached with it. Looking at his numbers, and based on total dollar spent, outside of 2013 and 2016, he was pretty much an AS every year and MVP for several of those. You got 6 above average seasons out of 8. It’s been a rocky road for sure, but from a financial standpoint, it hasn’t actually been that bad for the Yanks. There have been far worse contracts in comparison.
Arod will retire and forfeit the rest of his contract, but the Yankees will sign him to a personal services contract for 7 years at $3M a year. Rodriguez will be a roving instructor and a Yankee ambassador for the term of the personal services contract.
No DFA or placed on Wavierscsnd hope gets claimed.
With him gone people might start liking the Yankees again.
Retiring today?
Fickle Yankee fans. Cheer the man when he hits game wining HRs ( see just last season ) but vilify him when he can’t hit anymore. Most Yankees fans are fake front runners. Cheer the cheats as they succeed and turn on them the minute they can’t help win anymore. See Giambi Clemmens A-Rod. The reason A-rod is not playing is because they don’t want to pay his escalating bonuses for HRs. 700 714 ect. Seems like it could be considered a type of collusion.
Oh, please. Where have you been? Fans are the same everywhere–they want to win. They don’t care much about cheating, about domestic abuse or other forms of violence, about players just being cruds–unless those players are on another team they happen to dislike.
Goodbye and good riddance, steroid-using douchebag.
Ha! Well said.
It’s on to ESPN for A-Rod, or maybe the MLB Network, he is an expert on baseball stategy.
I think Rodriguez would rather buy ESPN or MLB Network.
It was a bumpy road in NY for Alex but I am happy he seemed to find himself as a man the past couple of seasons (humbled a bit on the field) and turned into a good teammate.
Yankees seems to be in a mood to clear the decks. They don’t really need to cut him loose, because the rosters are going to expand in a few weeks, unless they need a 40 man roster spot. And I don’t see A-Rod taking the Teixiera road–few players know when to walk away, especially high-achievers (Jeter couldn’t). But, you could see a way where there’s some sort of cosmetic split, with A-Rod directing some of his salary to some charitable foundation, he’s released, and maybe he catches on with someone else, or does post season commentary.
Fantastic news! Good riddance.
Maybe the Yankees will Bobby Bonilla him!!! But, I just want to stand on my soap box for a minute…every generation has its way of being “smarter” than the game. Whether that was the old days of stealing signs from the outfield stands with binoculars, or coke highs and adrenaline of the 70-80s. To the roids of 80-2000, to laser pointers and video cameras for field placement and signs today. Every competitor is always going to look to get an advantage. What sets arod apart from any other (along with Clemons and bonds and manny and Braun and palmero) is that they lied about it. Over and over and over again. There have been several player caught, and if they owned up to it, they are pretty much forgive and forgotten (big sexy – Bartolo, Andy p). There was a comment earlier about him being young and pressure and all of that. Tough! Trout and Harper (even though I can’t standdddd Harper) are and we’re young and the face of mlb. They are clean (to the best of our knowledge). Arod got caught up in the era and got stuck in his world of lies to the point where his lies became his reality. He seems like a baseball lover and a great on the field mentor and coach but nobody should feel bad for this man who took advantage and lied about it over and over again and nobody should feel bad for the Yankees for getting stuck with his contract as they knew what they were getting and doing. They hoped aroid would outlast Father Time and the stresses on the body that roids create. They lost. Arod lost his chance for the “record books”. Ok I’m done. Lol
Bye Felicia
I assume they’re buying him out to retire a Yankee… so adios MF!