Extra MustardSI On CampusFantasyPhoto
GalleriesSwimsuitVideoFanNationSI KidsTNT  A Bronx Tale (cont.)
Posted: Friday March 7, 2008 2:47PM; Updated: Friday March 7,
2008 9:06PM Free E-mail AlertsE-mail ThisPrint ThisSave ThisMost
PopularRSS Aggregators Alex Rodriguez A-Rod won his third AL MVP
award in 2006 after hitting .314 with 54 HRs and 156 RBI.  After
A-Rod opted out of his original record $252-million contract, he
still wasn't thinking much about the six teams that were chasing
him. He mostly worried that his chance to remain a Yankee was
gone, and that he was again being portrayed as a money-hungry
mercenary. "I'm getting buried in the press. Everybody's saying
I'm greedy. The MVP will mean nothing,'' A-Rod would tell
friends at that time. To the surprise of some, he didn't have
the unyielding gut it would take to carry out the entire opt-out
strategy.  "Proving my loyalty to the Yankees was very important
to me,'' Rodriguez said to SI.com.  A-Rod took the biggest hits
for the timing of his opt out (w