On 11th December 2000, Alex Rodriguez (A-Rod) inked an agreement to join the Texas Rangers, worth at $252 million, making it the biggest contract in American sports history at the time. This signing, unsurprisingly, attracted a lot of attention and mixed reviews from the baseball world and the media. In this paper, we aim to examine and analyze the negotiations between A-Rod and the Rangers and its implications in the world of baseball, and sports in general. In 1993, A-Rod began his career with the Seattle Mariners, after being drafted first overall in the Major League Baseball draft. In his seven years there, A-Rod played as a shortstop, hitting 189 home runs, an average of 0.309 and 595 RBIs. Over these years, the Mariners paid him $12 million in total, with his last season salary being $4.25 million. After the 2000 season, he became a free agent, and therefore gained many suitors. Being rather young – only 25 years of age – and a devastating power hitter, he was a Gold Glove caliber shortstop. Therefore, A-Rod had several sources of power and a strong leverage going into a negotiation. With Scott Boras – one of the legendary sports agents even at the time - as his agent, A-Rod was expected to sign a lucrative contract. A-Rod, unsurprisingly, had a strong BATNA, or BATNAs to be exact. Many franchises wanted to recruit him and were willing to invest a significant amount of money. “His suitors included the Mariners themselves, along with the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Atlanta Braves, …show more content…
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