Afternoon Baseball

Let's not buy the lie that Alex Rodriguez is truly unhappy with Scott Boras. While Wallace Matthews is never my muse, he's right to see through this.

Baseball teams cannot bar a player from being represented by a particular agent (or other representative). Rodriguez does not have to fire Boras, or even be truly unhappy. He merely must, for appearances, act as if he's been misrepresented to draw the Yankees back into negotiations from their tough, unfortunate, but correct stance of "opt-out, you're out."

Now, maybe his wife, Cynthia, is pulling a Laura Pettitte and threatening his wealth should A-Rod skip town. Even then, it's tough to trust A-Rod, because a gift of some jewelry (a la Kobe Bryant after his Colorado incident) could change his wife's mind overnight.

And hey, it could simply be a personality disagreement. Andruw Jones and Boras survived a similar situation (though one involving $200 million less). But the Yankees can't take that chance.

The Yankees have time on their side. Make A-Rod sweat. Call his bluff; see if he'll really can Boras or cave even further on his money demands. Who else is out there? No one, apparently. It's not collusion, where owners are calling each other and saying, "Let's freeze A-Rod out." But it's clear Boras-style collusion -- that of blatantly lying about other team's offers -- isn't working. That is, unless the Yankees fumble their next move.

It's a matter of starving the beast. It's not for the weak-willed or compassionate. Lord knows that's not what Scott Boras or Alex Rodriguez are. A bit of the flip side may be exactly the medicine needed to bring the slugger back to the Bronx -- with lighter pockets.

Labels: A-Rod, Yankees