Mariano Rivera, my second-favorite baseball player of all time, supposedly is holding out on the Yankees until they can provide a guaranteed fourth season on a new contract. Their current offer stands at 3 years, $45M - an offer which puts him roughly $5M per year ahead of anyone else in the highest-paid-reliever-in-baseball race. In fact, if they Yankees left the contract as-is and simply tacked on a fourth season, he would still average more money per season than any other reliever in the game.
I don't see any reason why the two sides can't work something out. My guess is the Yankees will lower the salary per annum but wind up paying Mo more money overall, so I'm guessing they'll wind up agreeing on something like $50M over four years, or maybe a tiny bit less. I'm not sure how much money Rivera thinks he's worth, but he has to realize that the Yanks' original offer was extremely generous, and that a fourth year will require a slight annual reduction. However, a team like the Dodgers might be willing to offer Rivera something in the range of $48M over four years, and if Mo really wants to stick with Joe, that type of an offer might just get it done.
In short, I think the Yankees close the deal, but they priced everybody else out of the market with their first offer. Adding a fourth year for less money per season might bring a few other contenders into the field. I know, I know, Mo said he only wants to play in New York or LA, but money talks, and at some point Cashman might decide he doesn't want to get stuck paying an average 42-year-old guy more than 13 million dollars to pitch 60 innings. If he comes to that conclusion, I'll understand.
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