Editing Alex Rodriguez (section)

====Opt-out controversy====
The 2007 season marked the last year of Rodriguez's 10-year, $252&nbsp;million contract before he opted out and became a free agent again. Rodriguez had repeatedly stated during the [[2007 MLB Season|2007 season]] that he would like to remain a Yankee for the rest of his career.<ref>{{cite news|date=April 24, 2007|title=A-Rod doesn't want to leave NY next season|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2848306|access-date=August 4, 2010|website=[[ESPN]]|agency=Associated Press}}</ref> On October 28, 2007, Rodriguez's agent, [[Scott Boras]], announced that he would not renew his contract with the Yankees citing that he "was unsure of the future composition" of the team. Because of the opt-out, the Yankees also lost $21.3 million in remaining payments from the Rangers as part of their agreement from the 2004 trade.<ref>{{cite news |title=Rodriguez opts out of $252 million, 10-year contract with Yanks |url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3084583 |access-date=29 October 2022 |work=ESPN.com |date=29 October 2007 |language=en}}</ref> Rodriguez received a slew of criticism from fans and writers alike not only for opting out, but also for not meeting with Yankee management before he did. He was further criticized for the timing of his announcement, during the eighth inning of Game 4 of the [[2007 World Series|World Series]], as the [[Boston Red Sox]] were wrapping up their victory over the [[Colorado Rockies]]; even MLB's chief operating officer, Bob DuPuy, called it an attempt by Boras to "try to put his selfish interests and that of one individual player above the overall good of the game."<ref>{{cite web|date=October 29, 2007|title=Yankees bid farewell to A-Rod after likely MVP opts out|url=https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=3085166|access-date=July 7, 2013|website=[[ESPN]]|publisher=}}</ref>

Teammate [[Mariano Rivera]] convinced Rodriguez to contact the New York Yankees ownership.<ref>{{cite news|last=Waldstein|first=David|date=March 30, 2013|title=Hitched to an Aging Star: Anatomy of a Deal, and Doubts|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/31/sports/baseball/yankees-hitched-to-alex-rodriguez-an-aging-star-anatomy-of-a-deal-and-doubts.html|access-date=August 13, 2013}}</ref> He contacted them directly, bypassing Boras (Boras also apologized for the timing of the announcement). Subsequently, Rodriguez issued a statement on his website, saying that he wished to stay with the Yankees.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://arod.mlb.com/players/Rodriguez_alex/article.jsp?story=111407 |title=Official statement from Alex Rodriguez |work=[[MLB.com]] |date=November 14, 2007 |access-date=January 24, 2019 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102160513/http://arod.mlb.com/players/Rodriguez_alex/article.jsp?story=111407 |archive-date=January 2, 2008}}</ref> On November 15, 2007, the New York Yankees and Rodriguez agreed on the "basic framework" of a 10-year, $275&nbsp;million contract that would have him playing until he was 42.<ref>{{cite web|last=Barra|first=Allen|date=March 10, 2009|title=A-Rod, Superscar|url=http://www.observer.com/2009/rod-superscar?page=1|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626060214/http://www.observer.com/2009/rod-superscar?page=1|archive-date=June 26, 2009|access-date=March 11, 2009|website=[[New York Observer]]}}</ref> The contract, finalized December 13, included various multimillion-dollar incentives for breaking career home run milestones.<ref>{{cite news|last=Blum|first=Ronald|date=November 26, 2007|title=Home runs could net A-Rod up to $30M in incentives|work=[[USA Today]]|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/yankees/2007-11-25-arod-incentives_N.htm|access-date=April 28, 2010}}</ref>