Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees are finalizing a $275 million, 10-year contract.  Apparently, A-Rod met Wednesday in Tampa, Fla with the Steinbrenners and without super-agent Scott Boras. 

The news is a not surprising since there were not very many teams that could afford to sign A-Rod and most of those teams including the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers were not very good to begin with.    In the end, that left pretty much the Anaheim Angels, Boston Red Sox, and the New York Yankees.  Where else could A-Rod go? 

It is obvious that A-Rod finally realized that it was a mistake to opt out of his original contract with the Yankees given what few choices he had to sign elsewhere.  In the end, when you are the best player on the planet, these mistakes get resolved easily.   Congrats to the Yankees and Pay-Rod!

In a move that has been rumored for the past few weeks and the news all Dodgers fans have been waiting for,  Joe Torre has finalized a 3-year contract to coach the Los Angeles Dodgers according to ESPN.com.

This move solidify the head coaching position for the Dodgers who now have a coach that is a proven winner who guided the New York Yankees to 12 straight postseason appearances and to 4 World Series championships.  Lets not forget that Torre was coaching the high-spending and super-talented Yankees.   Joe Torre did not make the Yankees, but rather the Yankees made Joe Torre.   With that said, Torre is without question, a significant upgrade to Grady Little who seem to do very little to motivate his players and seemed to lose control of the clubhouse as they struggled at the end of the season and eventually fell out of playoff contention. 

The arrival of Torre alone does not instantly make the Dodgers World Series contenders let alone playoff contenders.  The Dodgers front office still needs to make some personnel moves to improve that horrific lineup that could not score any runs all last season.  The Dodgers lack a legitimate power hitter or rather power hitters in the middle of the order.  You can’t win if you can’t score and that was obvious this past season.   So, I would like owner Frank McCourt to step it up and spend some money on some free agents to try to improve this team.  A-Rod would be nice!

In order to spice up this extremely boring World Series, leave it to MLB super-agent to break the news in the middle of Game 4 to announce to the world that his client, Alex Rodriguez is opting out of his contract with the Yankees to become a free agent.   Despite the efforts of the Yankees to keep A-Rod in New York by extending his existing contract, it was not enough to keep him there.  Why?  Was it the money?  Was it the firing of Joe Torre?  Was it the pressure of performing in NY?  Are the Yankees no longer any good?   What more could A-Rod do?  MVP numbers, but he leaves NY without a World Series ring.   No pitching, no World Series ring. 

on a side note..   Congrats to the Texas Rangers…  As a result of A-Rod’s decision, the Texas Rangers no longer have to pay the Yankees $21 million dollars in the next 3 years. 

So, where is A-Rod going ?   Well, based on his gigantic salary, there are not going to be many choices. 

New York Yankees - Yankee management has made it clear that if A-Rod opts out his deal, then the Yankees will not renegotiate with him.   Bye-Bye NY!

Boston Red Sox - Before arriving in NY, a deal was in place to bring A-Rod to Boston, but we all know that fell thru.  Red Sox have the money and have a very, very good team that should be contending for many more World Series Rings in the upcoming years.  They just won the World Series with a very good 3rd baseman in Mike Lowell, who is also a free agent and will be in big demand by other teams.  My question is do the Rex Sox really need him? 

Long shot … LA Dodgers - they have shown a willingness to spend money in the past and it has always turned out bad for the dodgers.  A-Rod is as sure a thing as there is, but I do not expect this to happen.   

Another long shot …SF Giants - DO NOT count of the Giants.  They just got rid of Barry Bond’s $20 million salary and despite the ridiculous $100 million contract for Barry Zito, they did try to sign Alfonzo Soriano last year before he eventually went to Chicago.  The Giants are in desperate need of bringing a superstar to fill the seats, so a push for A-Rod would not surprise me. 

I think A-Rod ends up here….  the California Angels - This has been talked about for quite sometime that the Angels were going to make a push to sign A-Rod.  The money is there and the Angels are clearly the best team in the AL West which is never very strong.   You have a very big sports market in LA and a competitive team.  What more can you ask for.

 When you are the highest paying manager for the team with the highest payroll, you had better deliver the World Series or you are history.  If George Steinbrenner backs up his words, Joe Torre coached his last game for the Yanks.   4 World Series victories, 6 total World Series Appearances, 12 straight playoff appearances in 12 years is a great accomplishement except when you coach the Yankees. 

What is wrong with the Yankees???  Its frickin obvious.  STARTING PITCHING!!!  You have an incredible batting lineup led by A-Rod and Jeter, but no pitching.  We all know that in the playoffs, starting pitching is what wins and frankly, the Yankees did not have that.  It was obvious throughout the season that pitching was a liability and the front office did nothing.   The “ace”   Chien-Ming Wang was horrible in the playoffs.  His ERA during the season should have made this predictable. 

Do not blame the coach, blame your front office specifically your GM for not making any moves to get the Yankees ready for the playoffs.    Better yet, blame those overpriced players.  If this is the end for Torre, bring on the next coach who will have enormous shoes to fill.  Good luck.