Former New York Yankees Star Refuses To Play For Minimum in Free Agency

A former New York Yankees star who the team parted ways with says he will not play for the veteran minimum salary despite a brutal season.

Michael Brauner | Feb 25, 2025

Oct 29, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo (48) reacts after striking out against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning during game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

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New York Yankees

A former New York Yankees star is still looking for a job but may be willing to walk away if it's not the right fit or price for him.

Despite the last two seasons being filled with both injuries and poor production from Anthony Rizzo, the three-time All-Star says he does not want to retire.

But during an interview discussing his career and current situation with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required), Rizzo opened up about the fact that he will not play for the veteran minimum and gave an eyebrow-raising reason as to why not.

"The fact that teams want you to play for basically league minimum ($760,000), I’m like, you guys are crazy," Rizzo said. "You’re almost trying to ruin the market for the next guy."

Rizzo's stance on not wanting to put his body on the line for a minimum salary is understandable, though for him to say it's because of "ruining the market" for the next aging and non-producing veteran is a bit laughable.

Spending three and a half years with the Yankees following a trade from the Chicago Cubs in the middle of the 2021 season, Rizzo really only had one productive campaign for New York coming in 2022.

The two years since have been nothing short of disastrous for the former superstar however, playing less than 100 games in each and struggling mightily when he was able to stay on the field. Over the last two seasons, Rizzo has slashed .237/.315/.358, bottoming out with just eight home runs in 92 games in 2024.

Even though things have gone bad however, the 2016 World Series champion is still hungry to compete and land with a team.

"I want to play. I want to win," he said. "And I love talking the game with pitchers, with hitters. There’s so much to dive into. Everything that goes into it, on the field, off the field, I’ll still be talking about it with guys. We’ll just see if I continue playing."

Whether or not Rizzo continues to play baseball is not of major consequence to Yankees fans given the way his final season in the Bronx played out.

For as highly as the slugger may have been thought of during his 32-home-run performance in 2022, he was a black hole in the lineup most recently and that perception will be tough to shake when it comes to evaluating his career in New York.

If he were able to make a return to an MLB team — something which appears contingent upon him getting a contract offer nobody with any sense is going to extend — Yankees fans would certainly follow what he does closely and see if the mess of a last two years were because of injury, or truly a representation of the kind of player Rizzo is at this stage of his career.

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