Star-Ledger: Yankees, A-Rod close to deal

From Ed Price and Dan Graziano:

According to a person who was briefed on the discussions, Rodriguez and the Yankees are already in negotiations on a 10-year contract worth approximately $280 million.

The person, who requested anonymity because he is not directly involved, said the deal would be heavily backloaded, with only about $50 million of it coming in the first three years.

The Yankees made it clear to Rodriguez that the only way they would do the deal is if he agreed to a much lower salary in 2008, 2009 and 2010. When Rodriguez went back to the Yankees and told them he wanted to come back, he agreed to essentially make up for the Texas money by accepting a lower salary for the next three years.

After 2010, Rodriguez's salaries would increase to an average of more than $30 million per year. The deal would also include incentive bonuses that could push Rodriguez salary higher, even in the first three years, if he met certain performance thresholds.

The average annual salary of $28 million would be more than $27 million a year he would have made in the peak-salary years of his previous contract and would match Roger Clemens' record salary of $28 million from 2007.

The person said the deal was complicated and could take a few days to finalize, but that both sides seemed confident it would eventually get done. (Ledger on the Yankees)

It looks like this thing is really going to get done. All of a sudden, 2008 isn't looking terrible, even though I didn't mind the loss of Rodriguez.

Personally, I hate backloaded contracts. See: Jason Giambi. He made $8 million in 2002 and is making $21 million this year. He got paid the least during his most productive years as a Yankee.

However, with Rodriguez's reported contract, it's all relative. I can't see Rodriguez having a "Giambian" decline in the near future.