Oh haha, that’s just Manny being…a little bitch. This may turn into a rant so buckle up. His complaint about the Sox not ‘respecting’ (or whatever) player such as Pedro and Nomar is seen purely from a player’s point of view. Being the large money business that it is, the correct decision seems to have been made in both cases. These were not guys making the league minimum for years and then getting offered a junk contract. Pedro was the highest paid pitcher at the signing of his contract. And where are those two now? Pedro broke down as I assume the Sox expected, and Nomar? Well, he was never the same after his wrist injury. Could the Sox have done better with Pedro in '05/'06? Would they have won in '07 if he was on the payroll? I’d say evidence points to doubtful.
Okay, then we’ve got Scott Boras, the scourge of baseball. This guy has created the money grubbing atmostphere that fans should be outraged at. Yes, there’s a ton of money in the game which should get to the players’ pockets. But do we really need to be gouging the fans to do so, especially with the amount of merchandising and TV contracts that inhabit today’s game? Maybe I’m entering ‘curmudgeoney’ but I remember $6 bleacher seats at Fenway. Granted they have the smallest available seating in the league, but now it’s something like $25 just to get in the door, and if actually would like to see some of the action you’ll be shelling out $60+. I think we can safely attribute this to player’s contracts as seating prices went up when we signed both Pedro and Manny. So after the Sox okay the trade, Boras comes back and says Manny will ‘behave’ if the Sox void the two club options and negate the trade. WHAT?!?!?!??!?!??!?! So the player (and his Scrooge-like agent) are trying to hold the team hostage, as the highest paid player on the team? WHAT?!?!?!?!?! The Sox clearly feared that Manny woulkd take off the end of the year, like he already did in 2006. What does that say about his psyche? That he’s a frickin’ child and was ready to take his ball and go home. Much of this was a ploy by Boras to make some more coin, as he was not Manny’s agent when he signed his contract, and thus was not making money off of the club options. But wouldn’t you know, he certainly would get a cut IF Manny got a new contract. Coincidence? I think not.
I loved watching Manny hit for us, as I’m sure Indians fans once did, and am glad that he went to the NL, but W.T.F. is that all about. I couldn’t imagine findind the love for this game as a kid nowadays. All you are really rooting for is laundry (footnote Tony Korheiser I think), and the players rarely live up to the role models that we pretend they should be–I know that’s a whole other argument.
So fans of so-called small market teams will be up in arms saying that they get by without paying these monster contracts. Kudos. Teams that pack 'em in make the money to pay the players, but we’ve gone way beyond any semblance of sanity. My uncle’s an A’s fan from the days of their 3-peat (send check to Phil Jackson). They play competitive ball with a total payroll of that only slightly larger than the 3rd Baseman from the Bronx. The union doesn’t help out at all with their desire to have contracts grow as large as possible. Until marketing sponsors are subsidising contracts directly, the fans are the one’s who fuel this fire. Will the fans ever strike? Doubtful. Is a salary cap the answer? Potentially, but there are a ton of kinks to work out, what with the amount of players in the leauge including farm systems.
So Manny’s a Dodger. Have fun amigo. I hope you have your payday next year with a brand new contract that you’ll try to walk out on once your career nears the end. Have fun not competing for a title again. You say that you love the atmosphere in L.A. and hope to move your family there (but not before a guaranteed contract, because that would cause you too many problems $160m-Man). I guess you’ve just not been paying attention after the 7th inning when the wonderful L.A. fans have left to beat traffic. And you know who hasn’t left? That kid and his family who might be able to afford 1 or 2 games a year and want to savor every moment at the ballpark, because they don’t know when they’ll be back. You know, the real fans.
I just may
have fun watching Bay,
whaddaya say?
[/rant]
