A Rod

9-203-047

REV: JANUARY 27, 2003

RANDOLPH B. COHEN JASON WALLACE

A-Rod: Signing the Best Player in Baseball

Introduction

In December of 2000 Alex Rodriguez, perhaps the best young player in baseball, became a free agent. Tom Hicks, the Chairman of Southwest Sports Group; Mike Cramer, the President and COO of Southwest Sports Group; and Doug Melvin, the General Manager of the Texas Rangers, faced a major long-term investment decision. They were on the verge of offering Rodriguez a 10-year contract to leave the Seattle Mariners and play shortstop for the Rangers. Rodriguez became a free agent at the end of the 2000 season and was able to negotiate freely with any of the 30 teams in Major League Baseball. Hicks, Cramer, and Melvin knew that the bidding would be fierce, and believed the competition was willing to offer contracts well over $100 million. They wanted to offer a contract that would be accepted, but only if it was at a price that was justified financially.

Alex Rodriguez

At the age of 17, Alex Rodriguez became the first overall pick in the 1993 Major League Draft. He broke into Major League Baseball one year later, and quickly developed into one of the game’s best players, exhibiting a rare combination of stellar offense and defense. By his third full season in the majors, Rodriguez won a batting title and became just the third man in baseball history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same year. He also set the American League record for home runs by a shortstop.1 (See Table A.) Table A

Year 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

Alex Rodriguez key offensive statistics

Team Seattle Seattle Seattle Seattle Seattle Batting Avg. .358 .300 .310 .285 .316 Home Runs 36 23 42 42 41 RBI 123 84 124 111 132 Stolen Bases 15 29 46 21 15

Source: www.espn.com accessed on May 5, 2002

1 Major League Index of Player Pages (ML-IPP)

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