A-Rod Seals the Deal

Lost in yesterday's hoopla was the finalization of Alex Rodriguez's contract. He held a brief news conference afterwards, with the prerequisite that he would not answer any steroid related question. He did try to do some damage control to his image, which took a hit in the days following the end of the season and during the World Series.

"I was very angry about the whole situation," Rodriguez said. "I was very upset. I voiced that to (Boras). The one time we spoke I conveyed that message."

"That (announcement during the World Series) was handled extremely poorly," Rodriguez said. "It was my understanding that the letter wouldn't go public until a day or two after the World Series concluded. The whole thing was distasteful and very inappropriate."

"It (the criticism) almost seemed like a nightmare," he said, "and I don't know how I got there."

While Rodriguez took the blame upon himself, saying, "I take that bullet," he also pointed to Boras.

"When I realized that our goals were not aligned," Rodriguez said yesterday, "that's when I had to step in and get my voice heard."

"If he (Hank Steinbrenner) hung up on me, I wouldn't have been surprised," Rodriguez said. "I thought that my career was over with the Yankees.

"It was important for me to make that call to close a chapter or open a chapter. I needed to express to Hank how important the Yankees were to me. ... I'm glad I made that phone call, or I wouldn't be here today."

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Whether he's sincere or not, it was important that A-Rod said what he did. Now he has to get it done on the field to justify his big new contract.

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