Alex Rodriguez: Is His Contract with the Yankees the Most UnTradeable in MLB?

10 years, $275 million.

That's the contract the Yankees gave Alex Rodriguez after the 2007 season when he was 31 years old.

By the time the contract is set to expire, the third basemen will be 42 years old.

A-Rod got the contract after he opted out of his first 10-year deal that he got when he signed with the Texas Rangers.

As of the 2011 season, it's the highest contract in all of baseball, pending that Albert Pujols and Price Fielder don't get a massive payday this winter to top him.

So far, A-Rod has played through four years and $110 million of that contract, leaving the Yankees to pay out six years and $165 million to their third basemen until 2017.

Now, my first question. Did the Yankees make a mistake by giving A-Rod this contract?

At the time, he was one of the best players in the game, and without him in the lineup at the time, it would have depleted it.

Mark Teixiera wasn't signed yet, Curtis Granderson was still on the Tigers and Robinson Cano hadn't  developed into the feared hitter he is now.

So after A-Rod opted out on the advice of his former agent Scott Boras, Yankees GM Brian Cashman said he wasn't negotiating with A-Rod.

When A-Rod realized that not many teams were going to hand over what the Yankees would offer, he went to the team with hat in hand, and practically begged the Yankees to re-sign him, which they did.

How has A-Rod's production been since signing that contract?

In the 2007 season, he totaled 54 home runs and 156 RBI, while hitting .314 and won the 2007 A.L. MVP.

After that, in 2008, he compiled 35 home runs and 103 RBI.

In 2009, he hit 30 home runs and had 100 RBI.

In 2010, he hit 30 home runs with 125 RBI.

And in 2011, he hit 16 home runs with 62 RBI.

In February before the 2009 season, it was made aware that A-Rod had failed a drug test in 2003 testing positive for steroids.

A-Rod admitted that he took them while he was in Texas, but insisted that he never took them while with the Yankees.

Nobody really knows if Alex is actually telling the truth or was lying through his teeth to make the steroid allegations go away.

But his admission of guilt puts that doubt into everyone's mind.

And the drop-off of home runs has to be alarming. From 54 to 35 in just one season.

Was his 2007 numbers a product of juicing? Honestly, we will never know.

Another alarming number you have to look at is A-Rod's number of games played since signing the contract.

In his first four years with the Yankees, A-Rod played in 155, 162, 154 and 158 games.

In all those years A-Rod was very durable and was a given in the lineup.

Since then; 138, 124, 137 and 99 games played.

Before the 2009 season, A-Rod needed arthroscopic surgery on his hip and forced him to miss the first month of the season.

During the 2011 season, A-Rod needed arthroscopic surgery on his knee and was forced to miss over a month. He also missed time at the end of the season with a nagging thumb injury, which is why he only played in 99 games.

Year by year, A-Rod is slowly breaking down and getting injured a little more than the Yankees would like.

Some have wondered if the Yankees will need to keep the designated hitter spot open for A-Rod when he is unable to play third base regularly anymore.

It's a lot of baggage for a player who was supposed to be the best player in the game at one time.

But right now, A-Rod looks like a shell of his former self.

2011 was the first time in 13 years where A-Rod didn't hit at least 30 home runs and 100 RBI.

Even when the 2011 season was going on, A-Rod went through an 84-at bat streak without hitting a home run. His average was up, but he wasn't driving the ball like he usually did.

Now you really have to wonder if the Yankees are getting what they paid for with A-Rod back in 2007.

When they re-signed him for another 10 years, they thought they were getting Hall of Fame-type production.

After the 2011 ALDS against the Tigers, many Yankee fans called for A-Rod's head, especially after he hit .111 in the series and went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Game 5. The second strikeout was with the bases loaded and one out and the third strikeout was the one that ended the Yankees' season.

The term "trade A-Rod" and "get A-Rod out of New York" was used all over the place, whether it be on the streets, the Internet blogs, chat rooms, story comments; people were looking for a scapegoat and put A-Rod as Public Enemy No. 1.

Sure, A-Rod is frustrating, especially when he doesn't produce in the postseason and is becoming more injury prone.

And the whole steroid thing really put a stain on his reputation because of his ties to the Yankees.

But when you look at the contract, and his sudden drop in production, can the Yankees really even trade him if they wanted to?

First off, who can even afford an aging 36-year-old third basemen who will eventually be bound to DH duties until he is 42?

The Red Sox? Not likely.

The Mets? No chance.

The Angels? Can't see it.

The Cubs? Doubt it.

The Phillies? Doesn't make sense.

The Dodgers? Can't see that one either.

Right now, it looks like Yankees are the only team who can afford A-Rod, and essentially, are stuck with him.

Now, A-Rod could bounce back in 2012, if healthy, and have a productive season and try to shut all of the critics up.

But with his decline in production, his sudden case of being injury prone and his continuing cases of underperforming in the postseason (except for 2009), not too many people are counting on A-Rod like they used to.

Maybe giving him 10 years was a mistake. Maybe seven should have been the cut-off point.

We all used to point at Vernon Wells and Barry Zito as having some of the worst and untradeable contracts in baseball, though Wells did get traded from the Blue Jays to Angels, while Zito remains in pitching exile in San Francisco.

But in reality, A-Rod may have them beat with his deal.

So unless A-Rod decides to retire, Yankee fans all over need to realize that A-Rod will be on this team for the next six seasons and have to deal with the consequences if his production really drops off and/or he can't stay healthy enough to be on the field.

Think about it. Would you want to invest $27.5 million on one player with declining skills and a ton of baggage? Didn't think so.

The Yankees could never trade A-Rod if they even wanted to.

Once upon a time, A-Rod was the most indispensable player in the game.

Now, he has become the most untradeable player in the game.

And he belongs all to the Yankees. So from now until 2017, enjoy.