Yankees plan to name manager, meet with A-Rod
DENVER - The Yankees, as usual, have sparked most of the chatter here at the World Series, given the many issues they need to resolve over the next few weeks.
New York is trying to wrap up its managerial situation in the next few days. George Steinbrenner's son, Hank, was quoted in yesterday's editions of the
According to the Associated Press, the Yankees also are trying to meet with Alex Rodriguez's agent, Scott Boras, to put their best contract offer forward. Rodriguez has an out clause he might execute if the Yankees don't enhance his average annual salary; the record $252 million, 10-year pact has three years remaining.
The AP said the Yankees are preparing an extension that probably will run four or five years, and have an average yearly salary of $25 million-$30 million. The Yankees are trying to get Rodriguez signed in advance of the 10-day period they have after the World Series before A-Rod can opt out.
Yankees sources indicated yesterday that there is an offer forthcoming, though no one seemed to know exactly when a face-to-face meeting with Boras and the brass would take place.
But the offer, also reported on ESPN.com, might not get it done. In fact, it probably won't.
Boras has been quoting analysis that suggests the third baseman brings the Yankees close to $50 million per year through marketing, higher advertising on the YES network, and other sources. Yankees officials don't agree.
It would not be out of the realm of possibility that Boras could ask for about $40 million per year over 10 years for his prized player. If that's the case, the Yankees will be out and Rodriguez will go to the open market, where the Red Sox could become a player. The Sox, however, likely would not pay that type of money, and if they don't it's likely nobody else would, either.
The Yankees have been convinced all along that if they cannot sign Rodriguez it would be difficult for any other team to disrupt its salary structure to such a degree. The Sox do have the option of more easily making it happen - if they lose some significant payroll. They could save $13 million on Curt Schilling, and $9 million on Mike Lowell.
The Yankees do not want to forfeit the $21.3 million subsidy the Rangers owe on A-Rod's contract the next three years (plus $3 million in deferred money). One Yankees official indicated the figure is closer to $30 million, and there's no way they'd let the Rangers off the hook by terminating the contract.
Boras has great leverage because the Yanks can ill afford to lose A-Rod with their new stadium opening in the Bronx in 2009. Boras usually makes out very well in these situations. He had J.D. Drew opt out of his five-year, $55 million deal with the Dodgers and parlayed that into a five-year, $70 million deal with the Red Sox.
It'll be interesting to see whether the Sox are, indeed, major players with Lowell also available for them to sign. Just how much the Sox want to tweak a possible world championship team also could be fascinating. Since the 2004 season the Red Sox have let go high-priced players such as Pedro Martínez, Derek Lowe, and Johnny Damon. Stay tuned.
Catching their eye?
Are the Yankees really interested in Tony Pena as manager? The former Red Sox catcher and current Yankees first base coach is probably the most qualified of the three candidates. Pena was the American League's Manager of the Year in 2003, leading the Royals to an 83-79 finish, but then had a poor season before resigning early in 2005 to take care of a personal matter.
Pena told this reporter recently, "I want to manage again. I think I can be a good manager. I learned a lot from those years in Kansas City." Pena is terrific with younger players, and Latin players really love playing for him. But he has much to overcome with Don Mattingly's popularity and Joe Girardi's ex-Yankee status and 2006 NL Manager of the Year award.
"It's hard to get back to managing," Pena said. "There are a lot of good people looking for those jobs. There are only 30 of them, so if you have one you're very lucky. I'm very happy here [in New York]." Pena is also very proud of sons Tony Jr., who is the starting shortstop for the Royals and Francisco, who is a catcher in the Mets system and considered an excellent prospect.
A good scout
Joe Garagiola Jr., senior vice president of baseball operations for Major League Baseball and the former general manager of the Diamondbacks, related one of his favorite Schilling stories. "Curt always had an opinion on things and players, and so one time I offered him an opportunity to do some evaluating for us. I dropped off about five tapes of pitching prospects that we were considering in the college draft and told him I wanted a report on each one. I never expected to hear from him, but less than a week later he had reports, double-spaced and typed, on each kid. They were unbelievable. They were so detailed in terms of breaking down mechanics and technique. I showed them to our scouts, who were completely blown away."
Follow the rules
If Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell is to become the manager of the Pirates after the World Series, a process has to be adhered to. According to Garagiola, who was speaking in general terms, the Pirates would have to receive formal written permission to interview Farrell. Apparently, in the old days, if a coach was going after a managing job there was no formal avenue, the coach would just interview. The Red Sox actually could deny Pittsburgh permission on Farrell, although that would seem unlikely. One situation in which the Sox might deny permission, however, is with bullpen coach Gary Tuck. If the Yankees hire Girardi, and he wants Tuck, his former bench coach in Florida, to fill the same capacity with the Yankees, the Sox would have the right to say no. There also could be a financial deal made between the teams to allow Tuck to go, however.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com.
