ST. PETERSBURG - Back in spring training, GM Brian Cashman made it clear that he planned to wait until the end of the season to discuss new contracts with Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada, two of the Yankees' pending free agents.
So the news that the Yankees were hoping to discuss a contract extension with Alex Rodriguez before the end of the year raised some eyebrows, especially considering both Rivera's and Posada's place in team history.
Would the Yankees really make two players from their championship era sweat it out until the offseason while negotiating with Rodriguez now?
As it turns out, no.
According to a source, the Yankees are quietly reaching out to the agents for both players in an attempt to wrap up new contracts for the pair before the end of the season.
"I don't know anything about that," Rivera said after last night's game. "We'll see what happens."
Rivera seemed open to the idea of discussing a new deal during the season, though Posada was firm in saying he wanted to become a free agent for the first time in his career.
"There's nothing to talk about; I'm going to wait until the offseason, anyway," Posada said. "There's no sense for me to negotiate something now when I can wait and see what happens. I want to wait."
Like Posada, Rivera has never been on the free-agent market. Rivera said he had no problem with the Yankees trying to hammer out an extension with A-Rod, even if the team opted to wait until season's end to work out a new deal for the closer.
"Why should it bother me? It doesn't bother me at all," Rivera said. "They have to do what's best for the team. That's okay with me."
Both Rivera and Posada have expressed their desire to return to the only club for which they have ever played, but there are no guarantees.
"This is the only team I've ever known and the only team I'd like to play for," Posada said. "But if they don't want me here, I'm not going to come back here."
"I don't know what they're thinking, but that's not my business," Rivera said. "I have a job, and after the year, we'll see what happens. All they have to do is talk to me about my season. That's it."
