Blame Goldman Sachs For Alex Rodriguez's Last 5 Years With The Yankees
Back in 2007, A-Rod, a star third baseman, opted out of his first contract with the Yankees, which was the richest contract in baseball history.
That news broke when the Boston Red Sox were about to win the World Series and it was a huge ordeal.
Rodriguez later said he wanted to stay on with the Yankees and blamed the situation on his agent Scott Boras. He ended up severing ties with Boras.
A-Rod got the help of a pair of Goldman execs to smooth things over and work out another contract with the team. It ended up being the richest deal in baseball history.
Rodriguez then enlisted the help of John Mallory, a Goldman Sachs wealth management adviser he knew from Miami. Mallory put Rodriguez in touch with his fellow Goldman Sachs financial adviser Gerald Cardinale, who had done work for the Yankees, and the two financial experts began serving as intermediaries between Rodriguez and the Yankees.
Cardinale was the Yankees’ banker. He had worked on lucrative business deals with the team.
Mallory and Cardinale got on a Goldman Sachs phone line and called Randy Levine, the Yankees’ team president. Mallory told Levine what Rodriguez had said to Hank Steinbrenner. He said Rodriguez was sorry, was ready to apologize to the Steinbrenners in person and wanted to return to the Yankees.
They ended up working out a $275 million 10-year contract, which included a $265 million salary and a $10 million signing bonus. The deal also included bonuses tied to passing homerun milestones, according to the New York Times.
Since then, A-Rod has had a series of injuries and trails behind Barry Bonds' homerun milestone. In January, he had surgery on his left hip in and hasn't been to spring training yet, according to the New York Times.
The Yankees, which are reportedly trying to trim their payroll, owe A-Rod $114 million through the end of 2017.
[Hat Tip: @DanDrezner]