Turn Back The Clock: December 13th, 2007-Alex Rodriguez Remains A Yankee

In an event that will go down in infamy in the history of the New York Yankees, the Bombers bid against themselves, afraid to take a stand against one of their biggest stars, and instead handcuffed the franchise with distractions, embarrassment, and controversy for the foreseeable future. After winning what can only be assumed was his third and final American League MVP award, Alex Rodriguez and his agent, Scott Boras threatened to and eventually opted out of his MLB record-setting, 10-year, $252 million contract that he signed with the Texas Rangers. Rodriguez was dealt to the Yankees prior to the 2004 season, and the Rangers were paying a portion of that deal prior to the opt-out. 

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The problem, is that the Yankees felt cornered and threatened that they would lose Rodriguez to the Anaheim Angels, who were rumored to be heavily interested. Rather than letting him test the market and perhaps sign with another team, A-Rod and the Yankees committed to a new pact, one that would outdo his original deal. Rather than telling Rodriguez to hit the bricks for his greediness, and look for another big bat to replace him, the Yankees rewarded him, handing out a new 10-year, $275 million dollar deal along with a no-trade clause. Basically A-Rod will be a Yankees until HE DECIDES not to be.

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Since the signing of the new deal, A-Rod has only broken the 30+ homer plateau three times, same goes for 100+ RBI seasons. The Yankees are going into year eight of this deal, as the 39-year-old missed all of 2014 while serving a PED suspension. Give Rodriguez credit however, without his heroics during the 2009 postseason, I know sounds funny right, the Yankees probably don’t win their most recent title, the 2009 World Series against Philly.

Had the Yankees called A-Rod’s bluff, they could’ve signed him to a shorter-term deal or allowed him to walk away. They didn’t, and now the team is tied to him for a few more years. It sounded, looked and felt like a George Steinbrenner move, and years after his passing, it’s still haunting this franchise. That’s today’s Turn Back The Clock, for December 13th, 2007.