After suffering from failure, Alex Rodriguez has signed a 275 million dollar contract for 10 years. Many weren't surprised, but seeing Rodriguez back in New York brings joy to many Yankee fans.

Before Rodriguez signed the deal with the New York Yankees, he decided to depart from them. After seeing no opportunities to sign with another team, Rodriguez realized the only team he'll be able to play for is the Yankees. The Yankees needed a third basemen, but there weren't any available. With Rodriguez having trouble signing else where, the Yankees decided to sign him.

"The meeting was a final get-together," Hank Steinbrenner said. "He wanted to make sure myself and my brother knew that he was sincere and serious."

Rodriguez couldn't get his agent Scott Boras involved, because the Yankees refused to talk to him. Rodriguez handled his contract talk with the Yankees himself, and he had success.

"They were the go-betweens, initially," Steinbrenner said. "That's how he reached out to us."

Boras is probably the reason why Rodriguez opt out with the Yankees, because Rodriguez found his way back himself. Convincing Rodriguez that New York wasn't the right place, and he needed to sign else where is what Boras probably said.

"After spending time with (wife) Cynthia and my family over these last few weeks, it became clear to me that I needed to make an attempt to engage the Yankees regarding my future with the organization," Rodriguez wrote on his website.

"Prior to entertaining any serious negotiations with other clubs, I wanted the opportunity to share my thoughts directly with Yankees' ownership. We know there are other opportunities for us, but Cynthia and I have a foundation with the club that has brought us comfort, stability and happiness.

"As a result, I reached out to the Yankees through mutual friends and conveyed that message."

The Yankees needed Rodriguez, because he'll produce as a third baseman. Two MVP awards in New York, and he brought excitement towards the Yankees. Rodriguez has also suffered from failure, and fans "killing" him because of his inability to be productive in the playoffs. The suffering out weighted the joyfulness, and many understand. Remembering the happiness is hard when Rodriguez gets "pounded" in the New York media.

Many believe it'll change, because Rodriguez is looked at different. Yankee fans don't give Rodriguez problems as much as the past, and his playoff performance wasn't productive but better then before.

"The Yankees have never had a player since Babe Ruth that really had a 100 percent chance" of setting the record, Steinbrenner said. "(Mickey) Mantle should have, but he had too many injuries. It's a historical achievement bonus more than it is an incentive bonus. There is no yearly incentive bonus."

Rodriguez will pass former San Francisco Giant Barry Bonds, and become the all-time home run leader. He has the talent, and Rodriguez will accomplish this in New York. Seeing Rodriguez break the home run record in New York will be great. He wont be getting "pounded" by the New York media anymore, and his legacy will be stronger. Many believe he'll need to win a World Series, but Rodriguez will proceed that in the future.

"Because he's generating such enormous revenue potential, both to the player and the club, there should be some way for the player and the club to capitalize on that achievement in some fashion," said Gene Orza. "The devil will be in the details. The minds of men and women in the sport should be able to figure this out."

Dealing without Boras wasn't hard; Rodriguez did better then what people expect.

"Boras did a lot of good things for Alex through the years, and Alex knows that. I mean, obviously, he's going to look to Scott's advice on everything," Steinbrenner said. "That's not unusual today. It's not like he's the only one. And if an agent gets out of line or makes bad decisions, then that's going to hurt the player. And obviously, that's one of the things that happened here."

Rodriguez has gone through "ups" and "downs" in New York, but his strong personally got him through the top. On February 15, 2004 Rodriguez was officially a member of the Yankees. The Rangers decided to pay 67 million of the 179 million that was on Rodriguez contract.

Rodriguez agreed to play third baseman because Derek Jeter was productive as a short stop. Having Jeter and Rodriguez in the same line-up brought high expectation from many Yankee fans. His first season, Rodriguez performed the best in the Yankees line-up. Hitting 36 home runs, 112 runs, 106 RBIs, 28 stolen bases, and a batting average of .286.

Rodriguez become one out of three players (Babe Ruth and Jimmie Fox) in Major League history to accomplish at least 35 home runs, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs in seven consecutive seasons.

The 112 run marked the ninth straight season Rodriguez had 100 runs or more, which is the longest streak in baseball since Hank Aaron did it in 13 consecutive season from 1955-1967. It was also the longest in the American League since Mickey Mantle did it nine straight season as well from 1953-1961.

Rodriguez become the youngest player ever to reach the 350 home run mark and the third youngest to reach the 1,000 RBI mark as well.

He was elected to the 2004 American League All-Star Team, which was the eighth All-Star selection of Rodriguez career and the first as a third baseman. On defense Rodriguez had the lowest range factor among AL third baseman (2.39), and he finished fourteenth in balloting for the AL MVP Award.

In the 2004 AL Division Series, Rodriguez was productive against the Minnesota Twins. His batting average was .421, and his slugging was .737, and Rodriguez had two important extra inning hits. After beating the Twins, the Yankees went up against the Boston Red Sox in the AL Championship Series. Rodriguez tied the single game post-season record with five runs in game 3 at Boston. The Yankees couldn't succeed, because the Red Sox out played them and gotten the victory.

The 2005 season was even better, because Rodriguez brought more excitement. His batting average was .321, leading the AL with 124 runs and 48 home runs while driving in 130 runs. Rodriguez become the first Yankee to win the AL home run title since Reggie Jackson 41 home runs in 1980. He also become one of only two players (Jimmie Fox) in Major League history to accomplish at least 35 home runs, 100 runs and 100 RBIs in eight consecutive seasons.

Rodriguez established the franchise record for most home runs in a single season by a right-handed batter, and broke Joe DiMaggio's mark of 46 in 1937. His 47 home runs from third base are a single-season AL record. Rodriguez hit 26 home runs at Yankee Stadium in 2005, and establishing the single-season Yankees record for right handed batters. It was previously held by DiMaggio in 1937 and Gary Sheffield in 2004.

On August 6, 2005, Rodriguez become the youngest player in MLB history to reach the 400 home run mark. Also 2005 marked the tenth consecutive season that Rodriguez scored at least 100 runs. He continued to fail on defense; Rodriguez had the lowest range factor in the league at third baseman for the second straight season.

In April 26, Rodriguez hit 3 home runs against the Los Angeles Angles pitcher Bartolo Colon, and drove in 10 runs. The 10 RBIs were the most by a Yankee since Tony Lazzeri established the AL record with 11 on May, 24, 1936. Rodriguez also won his first AL MVP Award with the Yankees, and second in three seasons. He become the fifth player to win an MVP Award with two different teams, joining Mickey Cochrane, Jimmie Fox, Frank Robinson, and Barry Bonds. Rodriguez was also named the shortstop on the Major League Baseball Latino Legends Team in 2005.

In 2006, Rodriguez struggled horribly. He was selected into the All Star game, and was fourth in the league in RBIs with 121, fifth in runs with 113, eighth in home runs with 35, and in walks with 90, and ninth in on base percentage with .392. Rodriguez struggled a little, but still managed to have all-star numbers. He lead AL third basemen in errors with 24, and had the lowest fielding percentage for the third straight season with .937.

On July 21, 2006, Rodriguez hit his 2,000 hit and it was also his 450th home run. Six days before his birthday, Rodriguez become the youngest player in baseball history to reach 450 home runs. He also become the eighth player to reach 2,000 hits before reaching 31 years old. Rodriguez become the second player (Jimmie Fox) in Major League history to have at least 35 home runs, 100 runs, and 100 RBIs in nine consecutive seasons. 2006 was Rodriguez eleventh consecutive season with more then 100 runs scored; which is the longest such streak in AL history since Lou Gehig did it in 13 straight seasons in 1926-1938. 2006 was Rodriguez toughest season, because criticism and poor performance in the post-season.

In 2007, Rodriguez was looking forward to succeeding. He wanted to recover from his poor performances in 2006. Rodriguez entered training camp and reduced his body fat from 16% the year before to 9%. He also reduced his high leg kick at the plate, increasing his bate speed, and made smarter decisions at the plate.

His fourth season with the Yankees started great. Rodriguez hit two home runs against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium which were his fourteenth career grand slam. The walk off grand slam was third of his career, which tied the MLB mark for game ending grand slams shared by Vern Stephens and Cy Williams. Rodriguez also started the season by becoming the ninth major league player and first Yankee to hit six home runs in the first seven games of the season.

On April 23, Rodriguez become the first player in Major League history to hit 14 home runs in 18 games, and he also tied the MLB record for most home runs in April. Many remember it as the greatest April in the MLB, and we expected Rodriguez to continue that success. His total of 34 RBIs in April was one short of Juan Gonzalez MLB record.

On June 12, Rodriguez hit his twenty fifth home run on the season in only 63 games. He toped his record of the 2006 season, but it took Rodriguez 113 games to reach 25.

Rodriguez hit his 500th home run on August 4, against Kansas City Royals pitcher Kyle Davies. He became the youngest player ever to reach 500 home runs; Rodriguez is only the second Yankee (Mickey Mantle) to hit 500 at Yankees Stadium.

He lead the AL in home runs with 54, RBIs with 156, slugging percentage with .645, on base percentage slugging with 1.067, total bases with 376, and times on base with 299. On October 24th Rodriguez was named Outstanding AL Player of the year.

Quotes from Yahoo Sports