World Series Results -- Notebook

Oct 29, 07:09 PM

Current Headlines: Oct. 24: Boston 13, Colorado 1

Oct. 25: Boston 2, Colorado 1

Oct. 27: Boston 10, Colorado 5

Sunday: Boston 4, Colorado 3

A-Rod opts out: Alex Rodriguez opted out of his $252 million, 10- year contract with the Yankees on Sunday in what appears to be the end of his career with New York.

Rodriguez's decision, announced by agent Scott Boras during Game 4 of the World Series, makes him eligible to become a free agent.

Rodriguez loses the final $72 million in guaranteed salary in the contract, of which $21.3 million was to be covered by payments from the Texas Rangers to the Yankees, and becomes eligible for free agency. New York had said it would not attempt to re-sign A-Rod if he opted out.

Boras said during a telephone interview that Rodriguez made his choice because he was uncertain whether Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and Andy Pettitte would return to the Yankees.

"Alex's decision was one based on not knowing what his closer, his catcher and one of his statured pitchers was going to do," Boras said. "He really didn't want to make any decisions until he knew what they were doing."

Boras said he attempted to notify Yankees general manager Brian Cashman of the decision Sunday but couldn't reach him, so he left a voice mail.

"He was traveling and I was traveling," Boras said.

A-Rod, likely to win his third American League Most Valuable Player award next month, made his decision before the Yankees announced a replacement for departed manager Joe Torre. Broadcaster Joe Girardi and bench coach Don Mattingly were the top contenders, and the team also interviewed first-base coach Tony Pena.

Texas turns out to be the biggest winner, saving the remaining money it would have had to pay New York as part of the 2004 trade. Boras said the Rangers remain responsible for $3 million in annual deferred money A-Rod is owed in the next three years under the contract.

"We're going to wait until we hear officially, but obviously it would be welcome news on our end," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Rodriguez hit .314 this year and led the major leagues in home runs and RBI. He was announced as a winner of a Hank Aaron award for offensive achievement before Game 4 but was not on hand to receive it. Boras said Rodriguez had a family commitment.

The new Yankees?: Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein doesn't mind being compared to the New York Yankees, as long as it's in the context of winning.

"They've set an incredible standard throughout the history of the game," Epstein said prior to Sunday's 4-3 Boston victory that closed out a four-game sweep. "If our names comes up in the same sentence, that's fantastic."

Just don't compare Boston to the Yankees when analyzing philosophies.

"I'd say that's a little more off base," Epstein said. "We have our own philosophy, our own beliefs, our own process that we believe in. The Yankees have their own way of doing things. We could probably learn a lot from them, maybe they could learn something from us. If you don't dig deeper and look at how teams operate and just lump them together, you miss something along the way."

Dice-K at the bat: Daisuke Matsuzaka's two-run single in Game 3 was his first hit on these shores, but he fancies himself quite the hitter back home.

Matsuzaka was 4-for-19 with three RBI during his career in the Japan, including a homer. That's a .211 average - not batting title territory, but not bad for a pitcher.

"I think it goes to show that they're pretty good athletes," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "You can never bank on a guy getting a hit that hasn't batted since June."

Matsuzaka struck out swinging in his first at-bat Saturday, then came up again in the third with the bases loaded and three runs already in. He singled to left to give himself a 5-0 lead.

"I can't quite say that I'm a confident hitter," Matsuzaka said through a translator. "But I love hitting."

- From Our Press Services

Originally published by From Our Press Services .

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