homegame

Satan's 10 Percent

Things aren't going real well for Yankees fans nowadays. Their best hope for the 2008 season is to root for the possibility an agent is lying. Worse yet, the agent in question is Scott Boras.

Boras announced last night that his client Alex Rodriguez has elected to opt out of the remaining three years of his Yankee contract to become a free agent. The sinister but effective mastermind stated that A-Rod wasn't leaving to get more money, but because he was worried the Yanks wouldn't resign free agents Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and Jorge Posada.

"It's not the money" is a lie so routine it's always ignored. But Yankee fans can't ignore Bora's explanation. It's too dangerous.

If Boras was fibbing, and A-Rod simply wants a bigger deal than the biggest one in the history of baseball, then there's a chance, however small, that Brian Cashman can hook up the Pretender to the Boss Hank Steinbrenner's genitals to a car battery and gently explain that while the Yankees have an unlimited supply of money, they're running a little low on American League MVPs. If Rodriguez's only motivation is cash, well, nobody can outbid the Yanks if the team really wants a player.

If, however, Boras was telling the truthg about his client's thinking, then the Yanks are screwed for the foreseeable future. While A-Rod would not be my first choice as a clubhouse confidant were I Yankee, we must assume he is a better position to know what the three veterans are thinking than almost anyone else. If Pettitte, Mo, and Posada are looking for the exits, then New York is doomed with a capital D. Money or no, we're talking Oriolesland in 2008.

Ah, Boras probably is lying. But if he's just shading the truth, it still sucks for the Yankees.

posted by Michael Gee @ 3:59 PM