It's a bullshit move on his part! If it's team first, the team is much better off with him as a guaranteed part of the line-up beyond two weeks from now...
Negotiations will really hamper his on-field performance? Well... His agent has also been talking about A-Rod being the first $30 million man in sports... That screams "ME first!" and if the first is a distraction, the second is an arrogant and far more self-centered version (as both could gain from the first, the second is strictly about Alex's $$$).
The Yankees already spend a shitload compared to just about every team, baseball is already penalizing them-- and only them, maybe the Red Sox and a few others-- and they have Texas on the hook for, I believe, $18 million more. A new contract, that goes out the window. After what his first contract did to Texas-- so bad they're still paying him-- I'd tell him to go see who'll give him $30 million a year. Boston does, you're screwed. But the hope would be to work out an agreement where the Texas money could still serve as a cushion.
