Nov 17th, 2007
A-Rod to Re-Sign with Yankees
In an interesting turn of events, it now appears that Alex Rodriguez will re-sign with the New York Yankees.
The interesting aspect of the pending 10-year, $275 million contract is that the negotiations have apparently been conducted without the active participation of A-Rod’s agent, Scott Boras.
According to a detailed article in today’s “Wall Street Journal,” Rodriguez (and his wife) desperately wanted to stay in New York City, but A-Rod felt that option had been effectively been burned after he had declared free agency, with the strong urging of Boras. (The WSJ story can be found here; subscription required.)
A-Rod apparently shared this frustration (and love for NYC and the Yankees) with his friend, investing genius Warren Buffett, who advised the slugger to approach the Yankees without Boras’ involvement. Apparently, A-Rod did exactly that, reaching out to a Goldman Sachs personal wealth manager, who in turn reached out to a Goldman exec who had worked directly with the Yankees organization.
Even if an A-Rod/Yankees agreement is reached, it will still need the blessing of Boras. And why wouldn’t Boras agree to such a deal? He still gets his commission on any A-Rod deal.