Yankees Will Not Try To Re-Sign Rodriguez if He Opts Out of Contract

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If Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract after this season, the Yankees insist they will not try to resign him.

“How can we? We lose all our money from Texas,” the general manager of the Yankees, Brian Cashman, said yesterday.

Rodriguez has 3 1/2 seasons left on his record $252 million, 10-year deal, but he can opt out of the contract this fall and become a free agent — a decision the slugger would have to make within 10 days of the end of the World Series.

Rodriguez is owed $24 million in each of the next three seasons by the Yankees, with Texas offsetting about $21.3 million of that.

He is guaranteed an additional $3 million annually by the Rangers, the original deferred money in his contract that was converted to an assignment bonus at the time of his trade to the Yankees.

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.


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