Yanks Offer Girardi Job; A-Rod Is a Big Question

The champagne-soaked carpets in the visitors' clubhouse at Coors Field had not yet dried, and the Boston Red Sox, with the World Series trophy in tow, had scarcely landed back at Logan Airport when the new champions ceded their space at the center of the baseball universe to their familiar rivals to the south, the New York Yankees.

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With one oddly timed announcement late Sunday night from departing third baseman Alex Rodriguez -- smack in the middle of Game 4 of the World Series -- and a second tumultuous decision yesterday to offer their vacant manager's job to Joe Girardi, the Yankees launched the process of recasting the sport's signature franchise, at a time when the threat from Boston has never seemed more dire.

Girardi, the National League manager of the year for the Florida Marlins in 2006, was close yesterday to finalizing a three-year contract worth a reported $6 million, with an official announcement coming as soon as today. Girardi, who turned down an offer from the Baltimore Orioles this summer and an opportunity to interview for the Washington Nationals' job last winter, will succeed Joe Torre, whose 12-year tenure as Yankees manager ended when he declined an offer of a one-year extension earlier this month.

"These guys were put through the wringer," Hank Steinbrenner, one of the sons of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, told the Associated Press yesterday, in regards to an interview process that also included Yankees coaches Don Mattingly and Tony Pe¿a. "I think we're ready to make an informed decision."

Meantime, Sunday night's bombshell came from Scott Boras, Rodriguez's agent, who informed the Yankees that his client was exercising the opt-out clause in his contract, walking away from the final three years and $72 million of his record-setting 10-year, $252 million contract, and choosing to become a free agent. The timing irked some Red Sox and Major League Baseball officials in attendance at Coors Field.

"Kind of strange timing," Red Sox President Larry Lucchino told reporters during the team's celebration following the Game 4 victory.

With the Yankees adamant they will no longer negotiate with Rodriguez, the great A-Rod Experiment of 2004-07, which was likened in the beginning to Elvis Presley joining The Beatles, is effectively over, with Rodriguez likely to win a second most valuable player award in pinstripes this year, but no World Series titles during his stay in the Bronx.

Rodriguez, 32, apparently chose the opt-out clause without so much as listening to a first offer from the Yankees, who held exclusive negotiating rights until Rodriguez opted for free agency, or until 10 days after the end of the World Series. The Yankees were believed to be preparing an offer that would give Rodriguez a raise beyond the $25.2 million average annual salary he made under his previous deal, which he signed with the Texas Rangers in December 2000.

In comments to members of the New York media late Sunday night, Boras said Rodriguez chose free agency in part because he was not prepared to negotiate with the Yankees without knowing the status of pending free agents Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte.

"He was just too unsure, with new ownership talking about a transition, where the organization is going right now," Boras told the New York Post. "He is not sure what is going to happen with Mariano and Posada, and if Andy Pettitte is coming back. He needs more time to assess where the Yankees are going in the future."

However, Boras's announcement led to speculation that Boras may already have another offer already in hand. Boras worked a similar deal for client J.D. Drew a year ago, as Drew opted out of the last three years of a five-year, $55 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers to sign a five-year, $70 million deal with the Red Sox.

The Dodgers, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants could all be possible landing places for Rodriguez, who this season became the youngest player in history to reach 500 home runs.

And then there are the Red Sox themselves. Would they seriously entertain thoughts of signing the polarizing Rodriguez, particularly at a point when the franchise is trying to tout its devotion to homegrown player development while playing down the increasingly prevalent comparisons to the high-revenue, high-payroll Yankees?

As if aware of the temptation, hundreds of Red Sox fans clustered around the team's dugout at Coors Field late Sunday night chanting, "Don't sign A-Rod!" followed by "Re-sign Low-ell!" -- referring to third baseman and World Series most valuable player Mike Lowell, who is also eligible for free agency.

If nothing else, signing Rodriguez would get back the spotlight that was so rudely stolen from them.