With no team willing to splash the cash on A-Rod, agent Scott Boras has whispered the dirty word.
Just as I expected! It only took until the second weekend in November for this headline to pop up:
PLAYERS' UNION WORRIED ABOUT COLLUSION OVER A-ROD
This is when we find out just how powerful Scott Boras truly is. Clearly, the $30 million a season proposal that he's dropping on the owners is gathering a universal response. No thanks.
So Boras responded by getting the Players Association to hiss the C-word. Collusion, the word associated with the darkest days of the player-owner relationship.
For those of you kids who are a generation behind me, the last time collusion was spoken was back in the mid-80s when it was proven over a three-year period that the owners worked in concert to keep player salaries down. The ruling resulted in players’ contracts, signed during this period, to be voided and they were awarded "second-look" free agency. And if that wasn't bad enough for the tight-wad owners, they were levied fines over $280 million as punishment.
Now, I realize that their original indiscretions occurred over 20 years ago, but the ownership would never be stupid enough to get caught doing that again. That's why it would be very hard for Don Fehr and the MLBPA to prove that's the case in regards to Rodriguez and his free agency. Overpaid in the first place, and now seeking even more despite zero World Series titles, even the richest of teams can't fit contractual demands into their payroll. Not without actually weakening the team by dealing current contracts. It just can't be done.
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| Has agent Scott Boras been left out of A-Rod's negotiations with the Yankees? (Getty) |
Maybe for the first time in his Hall of Fame career, A-Rod is having a moment of clarity and is telling Yankees ownership, without the aid of Boras, that he'd like to stay in New York. Could it be another negotiating ploy by an agent who may still have several cards up his sleeve? Perhaps, and I'm cynical enough to believe that is likely what is going on. But you would also hope A-Rod realizes that no matter how high his stats stack at the end of his career, not having a ring trumps all else. He'd be the Ernie Banks of the slacker generation.
Playing with the Yankees appears to be the best situation to remedy that. After all, in the four seasons that A-Rod has played in pinstripes, they have made the playoffs each season. Making it to the World Series has been the tough part. And he has had a major hand in the team's shortcomings, batting just .245 over 24 playoff games with the Yankees, driving in just nine runs. That's hardly worth the gobs of cash that he's paid. And this is why the Steinbrenner brothers, who now run the team with their father's health in question, aren't willing to pony up the cash that Boras thinks his client is worth.
This also opens up another legal avenue for Boras if he can prove that indeed A-Rod is meeting with the Yankees without representation. That circumvents the basic agreement; by rule, the agent must be involved in negotiations between the player and the ball club. Stay tuned on this front.
As usual, anything and everything involving Alex Rodriguez has taken on a soap opera-like quality. This is one of the reasons why, despite being the best player that game has likely ever seen, teams that could find the money to sign him aren't interested.
It's got nothing to do with collusion and everything to do with not needing the headache. And for those of us who loathe Boras and the way he goes about his business, no tears will be shed.
This & that
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If A-Rod re-signs with the Yankees, look for the Marlins to deal Miguel Cabrera -- who would have been high on the Yankees list to fill the hole at third base -- to end up with either the Angels or Dodgers. The key will be which team is willing to give up the best package of prospects. For the third time in the last 10 years, the Marlins are conducting a fire sale ...
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Watch for the biggest bidding war to take place for the services of centre fielder Torii Hunter. With Andruw Jones on the market, it seems like the Braves would be the best fit, but look for the White Sox to make the biggest ($$$) pitch for the seven-time Gold Glover.
