What next for A-Rod?

This from Sports Illustrated:

The baseball players' union is worried commissioner Bud Selig is trying to hold down the price of Alex Rodriguez's next contract and that teams might be sharing information about their free-agent plans.

General managers, in an innovation, each spoke at their annual meeting Tuesday about their offseason goals, and many mentioned what players they were making available. The idea was suggested by this year's co-chairs, Boston's Theo Epstein and Florida's Larry Beinfest, and many GMs said they found it to be useful.

"Over the past few days, press reports coming out of the general managers' meetings relating to the sharing of information between clubs as to their plans regarding players potentially raise serious questions concerning the fairness and integrity of the free-agent market," the union said in a statement Thursday night after the four-day session ended. "Such questions are amplified by reports stating that the commissioner is attempting to influence the market for at least one player."

A person familiar with the union's statement said the player in question was Rodriguez. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the statement didn't refer to A-Rod by name...

Yeah, right, it couldn't possibly have anything to do with wanting a ridiculous and exorbitant amount of money for the next ten years, when A-Rod will be, what, 42 years old? Has anyone ever played third base, nevermind shortstop, into their forties? He sure isn't manager or coach material, since he's never shown any interest in being a team member or of any value in the clubhouse.

Would the GMs even have to have a meeting for the common sense light to dawn on all of them, that this is asking way too much? Does the union think the GMs are stupider than Scott Boras? Maybe the union execs, who are management in their own way despite trying to look like they represent the little guys (which A-Rod isn't close to being anyway), are trying to protect their own jobs. Boras and A-Rod have been all over the news thanks to their exquisite sense of timing and overdeveloped sense of A-Rod's value to any team. It wouldn't be a stretch for the owners and GMs to all be thinking at the exact same time, no way he's worth that much.

I can see some team paying him $200 million for five years, and that is $75 million more than what he would have made in the last five years of the 10-year $250 million contract with the Yankees that he declined to serve out. But that isn't enough, he wants another 10-year deal and a $100 million raise? I think not. I sure as hell hope not.