A-Rod, Yankees get back together

Big A-Rod? L.A.-Rod? Southern California fans pining for baseball’s elite slugger wound up with No-Way-Rod, as a nasty split between Alex Rodriguez and the New York Yankees gave way to a lucrative reconciliation this week.

Any hope the Angels and Dodgers had of signing the star third baseman were dashed when Rodriguez -- minus agent Scott Boras -- initiated talks that, according to a baseball source, will return Rodriguez to the Yankees under a 10-year, $275-million contract and produce a new round of tabloid headlines in New York:

Stay-Rod.

“The past is the past. I don’t know what brought about him approaching us,” Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner told the Associated Press on Wednesday. “I guess you could say things didn’t go before the way he intended and weren’t handled properly or whatever.

“But the bottom line, the only thing that really matters, is he wants to stay a Yankee. And it could very well be that he’s always wanted to stay a Yankee and we just didn’t know it.”

If that’s true, Rodriguez and his agent had a strange way of showing it.

With Boston en route to a World Series-clinching win over Colorado on Oct. 28, Boras confirmed -- during the game -- that Rodriguez, who hit .314 with 54 homers and 156 runs batted in, would opt out of the final three years of a 10-year, $252-million deal and become a free agent.

The timing of Boras’ announcement angered Commissioner Bud Selig and many in and out of the game, and the Yankees, already put off by Boras’ demands that any negotiations begin at $350 million, vowed not to pursue Rodriguez.

Two weeks of media attacks portraying Rodriguez as greedy and selfish followed, and Rodriguez, stung by the criticism and damage to his reputation, decided to do something about it. On his own.

Instead of looking to Boras, perhaps pro sports’ most powerful and influential agent, Rodriguez had a third party approach the Yankees about a new deal.

“After spending time with [wife] Cynthia and my family over these last few weeks, it became clear to me that I needed to make an attempt to engage the Yankees regarding my future with the organization,” Rodriguez said on his website. “Prior to entering into serious negotiations with other clubs, I wanted the opportunity to share my thoughts directly with Yankees’ ownership.

” . . . As a result, I reached out to the Yankees through mutual friends and conveyed that message. I also understand that I had to respond to certain Yankees concerns, and I was receptive and understanding of that situation.”

The Yankees were receptive.

“Part of it is obviously him proving he really wants to be a Yankee, and I think he’s doing that,” Steinbrenner said. “He is willing to make some sacrifices to do so.”

The Angels, considered the front-runners to acquire Rodriguez, and the Dodgers, who thought their chances of signing him improved with the hiring of former Yankees manager Joe Torre, reacted with ambivalence.

Though it would seem a preemptive strike in the form of a massive contract offer early Wednesday would have been the only way to get Rodriguez’s attention, Angels General Manager Tony Reagins and Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said they did not extend offers to Rodriguez.

It wouldn’t have mattered. Rodriguez and the Yankees were in the final stages of negotiations Wednesday night, and his deal is expected to be announced today or Friday.

“I think, definitely, we would have been involved,” Torre said Wednesday night. “The McCourts are committed to helping this ballclub . . . to winning championships.”

Torre, who managed Rodriguez in New York the last four seasons, said the two haven’t spoken since the end of the season.

“He left me a message and I left one for him,” Torre said. “I’m with another team . . . so I really didn’t reach out that much, just tried to keep track of him through other people. He seemed very comfortable [in New York]. That’s why I was surprised he opted out.”

The Yankees were set to offer Rodriguez a five-year extension worth about $150 million -- on top of the three years and $91 million remaining on his previous contract -- a deal that would have guaranteed him $241 million, an average of $30.125 million, for eight years.

When Rodriguez opted out of the contract, the Yankees lost a $21.3-million subsidy from Texas, which the Rangers agreed to pay when they traded him in 2004.

The Yankees, according to reports, made it clear that Rodriguez, 32, would have to take less in average annual value than they would have offered because they are no longer receiving that subsidy.

Rodriguez, though, will still end up with another record-breaking contract, leaving the Angels and Dodgers to focus on a trade for Florida Marlins third baseman Miguel Cabrera.

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com