Rangers SS Alex Rodriguez said on ESPN Radio yesterday
that his record ten-year, $252M contract with the Rangers is
"going to be hard to break because of my age and my talent
at such a young age." While he discounted the chances of
Yankees SS Derek Jeter topping him on the salary chart, he
said Braves CF Andruw Jones or Red Sox P Pedro Martinez "may
be" worth similar money to his deal. Rodriguez: "I don't
know who it's going to be" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 12/20).
Meanwhile, Rodriguez said he would not "agree to a salary
cap. But if [the players] were to agree to a salary cap, if
the owners would put a salary cap on the ticket prices and
suite boxes, then maybe it's a win-win situation and the
beneficiary becomes the fans. If they would put a salary
cap on the players and increase prices, increase cable
revenue and increase suite-box sales, who's winning? The
owners ... and the fans ... are the big losers" (AP, 12/19).
ASTROS FORCED TO PAY OUT: USA TODAY's Mel Antonen
writes that one week after Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker said
that MLB "moved a step closer to bankruptcy" with the
Rodriguez deal, the Astros re-signed 1B Jeff Bagwell
yesterday to a five-year extension worth $85M. Hunsicker
said, "This was absolutely critical for us, but not easy to
make, financially speaking" (USA TODAY, 12/20).
