If A-Rod opts out, Yankees won't chase him
'How can we? We lose all our money from Texas,' GM Cashman says
 | Yankees third baseman has 3 1/2 seasons left on his record $252 million, 10-year contract, but he can opt out of the deal this fall and become a free agent. |
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NEW YORK - If Alex Rodriguez opts out of his contract after this season, the New York Yankees insist they won’t try to re-sign him.
“How can we? We lose all our money from Texas,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Thursday.
Rodriguez has 3½ 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.
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“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.
Rodriguez entered Thursday night’s game against Detroit leading the major leagues with 39 homers and 114 RBIs. A leading candidate for AL MVP, he was batting .307.
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