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http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/b ... index.html

DENVER -- Alex Rodriguez notified the Yankees on Sunday that he's opting out of his record $252 million contract, SI.com has learned.

Rodriguez's decision means he will become a free agent and be able to negotiate with all clubs. Rodriguez's bombshell move will shake up the entire winter for the Yankees -- who had hoped to retain him with a big extension -- as well as other big-market clubs that will now pursue him.

Rodriguez's agent Scott Boras said he sent word of the opt-out in writing Sunday and left phone and text messages for Yankees general manager Brian Cashman. The Yankees have said that once A-Rod opts out, they wil not pursue him, since they will lose the benefit of the Texas Rangers' $30-million subsidy.

"Alex made the decision today,'' Boras said. "I thought we should notify the club.''

Yankees = owned.

This is great news.



...come on in A-Rod

Hendry needs to be fired if we don't end up with him

I think the Boras-ARod team are going for the proverbial "grand slam".

Boras knows his client will make the most money and will efficiently succeed in his career if he plays in a smaller bark park for a franchise starving for a world championship.

If A-Rod wins a championship in Cubbie Blue and also breaks the all-time HR record as a Cub...

=

God x Beatles x Oprah

Hopefully Selig and MLB don't hinder our efforts to spend this much money with our uncertain ownership situation. You gotta think having A-Rod on the team massively increases the franchises value.

Just an update. Ken Rosenthal just confirmed this right now on FOX.

Yea A-Rod would deff make the asset list a lot more desirable. I would assume if the Cub Franchise increases in value, that only helps the other franchises' value's.

Get what I'm sayin?

SportsWorld wrote:Hendry needs to be fired if we don't end up with him

He already needs to be fired.

But he is fat enough to get in a bidding war with other teams so maybe I'm glad triple chinned Jim is still in service.

This was great news.

"Mr. Rodriguez... you have a phone call from a Mr. Hendry in Chicago."

"..."

"Oh, you also have a Mr. Cuban on line two."

Yeah I know A-Rod will help but how much? No one on the yankees is going to be weeping over him going and the Rangers got better after the soriano trade. Soriano who is already on the cubs was more of a winner than A-Rod. Now is A-rod the most talented player in baseball? What does that mean though for a team? Overpaying him and crippling your team for any future moves has to be considered.

Also how classless was announcing it during the world series.

i did a lot of thinking and i say stay the heck away from A-rod... we don't need another star that can't do anything in the playoffs.

We could be talking about Jesus Christ and you'd still find a reason to complain about him coming to Chicago.

We get it. You complain. Whee.

2poor wrote:We could be talking about Jesus Christ and you'd still find a reason to complain about him coming to Chicago.

We get it. You complain. Whee.

please don't compare A-rod to the almighty. i like a-rod, but he would just cost too much money. We already have the right players that can consistently get us to the playoffs every year. What we need are players that know how to get it done in the playoffs.

IbreakNeckZ101 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-




please don't compare A-rod to the almighty. i like a-rod, but he would just cost too much money. We already have the right players that can consistently get us to the playoffs every year. What we need are players that know how to get it done in the playoffs.

This made me laugh.

I love how he acts like he's the one cutting the checks.

You do realize that there is no salary cap right? And that the Cubs are one of the most profitable organizations? Right? Enjoy the perks of being the fan of a team with deep pockets.

Your reasoning sucks too and I've called you on it before, but whenever presented with stats and other factors you just blow them off. How about you do some research maybe? Does Jeter suck too now because his postseason was worse than A-Rod's? Do you realize that A-Rod put up sick postseason numbers in Seattle? Under none other than Lou Piniella? Does this do anything for you?

Calm down. It's just his opinion and I don't think break is being obnoxious. I know you guys have argued a lot, but there's no need to insult him after every post.

There is some validity to the train of thought that we shouldn't go after A-Rod. First off, though there's no salary cap, every team does have a budget. Companies don't randomly add $30+ million long-term contracts if the budget doesn't allow it. And I while I don't think our lineup is good enough to guarentee the playoffs, it is good enough to keep us compeititive for them for a long time without him.

Having said that, I still think we need to be in on the bidding. Adding A-Rod absolutely would guarentee us the division for the next few years. By then, Milwaukee's young guns will be out of arbitration and it's unlikely they'll be able to keep them all and honestly, the rest of the divisions long-term prospects are pretty dim. Adding A-Rod could start us on a dynasty of sorts in terms of the NL Central. And I still believe that the playoffs are largely luck and we should plan to make them, not build a team exclusively for playoff victories. Moves for the playoffs are deadline deals to get a couple last pieces.

1. Soriano LF
2. Pie CF
3. Lee 1B
4. A-Rod SS
5. Aramis 3B
6. Murton RF
7. DeRosa 2B
8. Soto C
9. Pitcher

How can you not love that lineup and hopefully Lou will take Soriano out of the leadoff spot and put Pie there.

I don't love Pie batting that high up before he demonstrates plate discipline and good contact at the major league level. Switch him with DeRosa, move Soto up a spot and I'm in love.

I think the money angle with A-Rod is fairly moot, by geting him the franchise's value would rise exponentially, even more so if such things as him breaking the HR record as a Cub or the Cubs simply winning it all with him on the roster occur. Hell, with him plugged into this existing lineup he could probably make a run at Bonds' single season HR record as well.

It is simply unfair to completely disregard everything he's done in the past because of his struggles in NY...it wasn't as if he was the only one struggling.

.313 in the 97 ALDS
.308 in the 00 ALDS, .409 in the ALCS
.421 in the 04 ALDS

Selective attention at its finest. If one chooses to badmouth his struggles in NY, least don't give the impression that he's been that way all along, or that he was the only one struggling. He was made a pariah by the NY media, which is pretty standard for high-profile professional players on any NY sports team. To act like this didn't affect him is a gross oversight and displays a thought process that equates professional athletes to emotionless drones. Maddening really.