First I would like to start by giving credit where credit is due. Congratulations to Alex Rodriguez, Scott Boras, and The New York Yankees for working out the details of the biggest contract in sports history. Every one is a winner here. Alex gets to play in a market where he can be promoted as the greatest living player and be surrounded for years to come by great talent, which gives him the chance to win it all.

Scott Boras gets to add another notch on his belt for being the greatest agent out there after everyone tried to knock him down by saying he could never get anywhere close to what he was asking ($350 million/ 10 years). Although he was never even allowed in the room during the negotiations, he can still take the credit for it as he finishes the details, for his client. He will also get what matters most to him, another big commission on another historical contract.

The New York Yankees are winners as they are able to keep the most dangerous bat in baseball in the middle of their order for years to come. They make themselves look good by defeating the evil agents demands, and they will take solace in thinking they are big winners in the deal. They might be, but they might be hurting themselves down the road.

The way the contract sets up looks like this. Ten years at $275 million as a base salary. Then there are bonuses of $6 million for the following home runs: Willie Mays (660), Babe Ruth (714), Hank Aaron (755) and Barry Bonds (762), as well as an additional $6 million for breaking Bonds' major league record. He could theoretically gain a $12 million bonus in one season if he hits numbers 762 and 763, pushing the total value of his contract to $305 million.

That's fine by me. How ever the Yankees want to compensate him is their business. They don't have to do it, but they have decided to. I'm sure they could sign him to the $275 million base salary and that would most likely be a strong enough offer if indeed he does truly want to be a Yankee. And again, congratulations to Alex for getting all the money he can. It might seem unfair, but don't tell me if you could get that kind of money that you would turn it down. "I would play for free just cause I love the game." Please, don't kid yourself. There isn't one of us out there that would turn down the money if it were offered to us.

But to me this contract sets a dangerous precedence for the future of free agency. The Players Union will love it if this deal goes through, but owners should be worried. Especially the "small market" franchises. From here on out any free agent can try to get one of these clauses negotiated into their contract. If a team like The Minnesota Twins or The Florida Marlins already has a hard time holding on to its own players how is this going to help them? How will they be able to entice a big time free agent to join their club?

If they offered you an $18 million/season contract with no clauses to cash in on, and another club offered the same base salary with bonuses close to A-rods, what team would you sign with? And where does it end? 2,000 and 3,000 hits? 500 homers? Stolen bases for lead off hitters? Let's not forget pitchers here, they deserve to cash in on their 3000th strike out, or their 500th save right? Why not 200 wins? Provided we ever see another one, can you imagine what you could ask for a bonus for your 300th win?

So how does this affect the Yankees? Well it's simple really. They have a history of signing big name free agents. Most of the time when they sign these players, they are usually 7-10 years into their careers. Almost all of them will be some where near a milestone, or could potentially reach a major one during the 4-5 years over their next contracts. The Yankees will not be able to get off the hook since they have seemingly created this clause. It's hard to tell one player your not as special as another one, that you don't deserve to be treated the same.

Perhaps I'm making to big a deal out of this. Maybe I'm the only one who's given it any thought. But I have a hard time believing that if I picked up on it that there isn't someone out there, like an agent, who is salivating over this news. It could very well end up being nothing and getting swept under the rug. But it could very well change the landscape of free agency, as we know it.