Alex Rodriguez's stunning 10-year, $275-million contract with the Yankees is almost complete. All that remains is putting the deal on paper and getting his signature. That shouldn't be too hard, certainly not after what he went through to get to this point. It started with the strong sense of regret he couldn't shake after opting out of his contract Oct. 28, a move that prompted the club to say his Yankees' career was over. A person who has spoken with A-Rod said the regret got worse each day, to the point that "he woke up one day and asked himself, 'How did this happen?"' So Rodriguez tried something nobody could have envisioned him doing. He went behind the back of the most influential agent in baseball, Scott Boras, to maneuver his way back into Yankee pinstripes. A critical moment in the negotiations was the first time A-Rod spoke with the Steinbrenners. According to another person who was briefed on the conversation, Hank peppered him with questions about whether he wanted to be a Yankee. Each time Rodriguez said he did, and once Hank accepted the answer, the negotiations began. Cardinale continued to act as the intermediary between A-Rod and the contingent of the Steinbrenner brothers and Levine. "There was some back-and- forth conversations, and then there was an intensive burst of activity for two or three days, and it all of a sudden came together," the person said. "It wasn't something that dragged on." The intense negotiations took place last weekend, and by the early part of this week, the two sides had agreed to the financial terms: $275 million over 10 years. At this point, Boras still wasn't directly involved. "This was really Alex just taking control of the situation for himself," the person said.