After MLB criticizes A-Rod and his agent over timing of announcement, Boras apologizes

"It doesn't matter to me," he said. "But I'm sure there's a lot of people that aren't very happy about it. Other baseball people, the commissioner's office, the Red Sox."

Hank Steinbrenner said the team left messages with Rodriguez, and "we really wanted to meet with him."

"We wanted him to stay a Yankee. We wanted to let him know how much we wanted him," he said. "The bottom line is ... do we really want anybody that really doesn't want to be a Yankee? How the heck can you do that? Compare him with (Derek) Jeter. Jeter, since he was a little kid, all he ever wanted to do was play shortstop for the Yankees. That's what we want."

New York was preparing to offer Rodriguez a four- or five-year extension worth between $25 million and $30 million annually and had hoped to meet with A-Rod to present the offer.

"We expressed our interest in keeping him in pinstripes, and requested the opportunity to convey those feelings to him directly with the Steinbrenner family in an open, face-to-face dialogue," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said in a statement.

Cashman sounded as if Rodriguez's stay in the Bronx was over.

"Alex was a key part of our success over the last four seasons, and I appreciate having the opportunity to work with him," he said. "I only wish we could have raised a championship trophy together during his time here, which was the ultimate goal we all shared."

Notes: Also among the 57 players who filed for free agency on the first possible day were Yankees P Mariano Rivera, C Jorge Posada and 1B Doug Mientkiewicz; Minnesota OF Torii Hunter; Colorado Ps Jeremy Affeldt and Jorge Julio; Mets C Paul Lo Duca; and San Francisco OF Barry Bonds.

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AP freelance writer Mark Didtler in Tampa, Fla., contributed to this report.