MARCO'S BASEBALL
BLOG-O-ROONIE: HOT STOVE MELTDOWN!
Welcome me back
after a relaxing month of basking in the glow of my successful
prediction that Kansas City would sweep the field and take the World
Series. It's so gratifying to be right once in awhile. (Let's not
mention my less accurate predictions that the Washington Nats would
win the NL East over the Mets, that the Astros would finish last in
the AL West, the Twins would finish last in the AL Central...well,
just never mind.... how about those Royals!?)
Now it's the silly
season for baseball rumor and ballpark innuendo... The Hot Stove
Trade/Free Agent Binge wherein all fans worship at the altar of that
one perfect player that will suddenly transform their team into a
world beater.
It's so funny to
listen to GMs and Managers and fans alike all repeating the same
mantra for baseball success...
“We're looking
for a top-of-the-rotation Starter,
a Power-bat for
the middle of the order and some
bullpen
help...especially a Leftie. All with controllable contracts.
That's really all we need...”
Yeah...right! But if
every team is looking for the same thing, how many do you think are
actually going to score it? A few of the rich clubs might get hold of
what they need...while all the rest go begging and wind up with
players like Bartolo Colon in the rotation, Mark Trumbo
in the middle of their batting order and leftie Oliver Perez
coming out of the pen. And then they talk all positive about how
these moves give them a “real shot” at the playoffs this year.
Wrongie wrong wrong.
The big name stars
of this Hot Stove episode were Aces David Price and Zack
Greinke. Everybody was waiting to see where they would go collect
their several hundreds of millions first so the rest of the pecking
order could proceed in an orderly and predictable fashion. Jordan
Zimmerman, Johnny Cueto etc. Then we'd move to the hitters like
Chris Davis and Justin Heyward.
Whoops! The Detroit
Tigers threw a fly into the ointment when they nabbed Zimmerman
early. All the big market clubs were jockeying for position and
telling themselves “if we can't get Price or Greinke we'll just
pick up Jordan Zimmerman for less money and make HIM our Ace.” But
when the Tigres signed Zim for a cool $120 mil or so it scra-zambled
the well-laid plans. Next thing you knew, the Bosox grabbed
Price by overpaying him $27 million more than runners-up St. Louis
were offering (because otherwise Price would have taken $10 million
less just to avoid going to his most hated team! But $27 million? “I
guess I can stand David Ortiz after all!”)
Now Greinke was
looking good and his expected salary ticking upward faster than
Facebook stock. The main players were supposed to be the Dodgers and
the Giants....NL West rivals who would bid him to the sky to
avoid letting the other team have him. In all fairness, Greinke is
probably the best bet of the big free agent pitchers of the last few
years. He's a control artist....(a 'Rembrandt' if you will, in
baseball hip parlance) who paints the corners with breaking pitches
and change-ups to set up his sneaky 94mph fastball. Working in that
pitcher's park at Chavez Ravine last year, his whip was in the .80s.
Unheard of. And even though he's 32, Greinke projects to last a
while...ala his doppelganger Greg Maddux.
So who gets him?
The Dodgers? The Giants? A sneak attack from the Cubs or Yankees?
What??? The Diamondbacks!!!??? Yep. The Arizona Afterthoughts
actually outbid the big market clubs and got back on the map with
this signing. Now they have a good young club with some up and coming
stars like Archie Bradley who can learn from Zack while that
good offense raps the ball in Chase Field. Greinke's ERA will go up a
run, at least, in that ballpark but he'll still be the Ace they need.
Instant relevance! Well done, Diamondhumps!
Now the Dodgers and
Giants, both of whom were desperate for a complimentary starter to
their Big Guns Kershaw and
Bumgarner respectively, are left with only Johnny Cueto to save
them. And Johnny was like the little girl with the curl last year.
When he was good he was very very good and when he was bad he was
horrid. Cueto already said no to a $110 mil offer from Arizona
(before they got Greinke) which looks pretty prescient now that's
he's the last Ace (or pseudo-Ace) standing. He'll cash in for some
National League club...I predict St. Louis, who just lost their most
effective starter from last year, John Lackey, to the Cubs.
Maybe the Desperate Dodgers.
Here's a quick
rundown of all the teams and their prospects:
AL EAST:
BOSTON
BOTTOM-FEEDERS: It was probably worth it for the Sox to get Price
because without an Ace last year they never matched up with other
rotations. Of course, it's doubtful that Price, who is now 30, will
last as a winner for the length of this contract. Power pitchers
don't usually last into their late thirties (see
Verlander,Justin...signed through 2019 and no longer an Ace.)
Price is a good citizen who really supports his fellow pitchers on
any staff he's been on. This signing gives the Sox a real shot at
sending Big Papi out with one more playoff appearance before
he makes his last bat flip pose. (Big Papi...the only “Ruthian”
player we've had in baseball in many decades. He created legends.)
Remember that Boston played very well the last two months of 2014 and
their young players Betts and Bogaerts became stars.
New closer Craig Kimbrel will also do well in the AL East.
NEW YORK
YANK-YER-DOODLE DANDIES: Old.
Older. Oldest. I've been saying this for years but even the Yanks
themselves now acknowledge that they have to get younger players. I
think they may bypass the free agent market and “go bad” for a
few years while they retool. Really. Look at the big money DL players
they have on their roster! Sabathia, Beltran, Texeira,
Gardner (who will be traded),
Ellsbury (never the same hitter
after shoulder troubles of a few years ago and his speed is waning).
When your big offensive star is Aging-ARod?
They have a bullpen but with that overpriced, under-productive roster
let's just say Girardi
must be a genius manager to have gotten them into the wild card last
year.
TORONTO ALMOSTS:
Well, at least you went for it
Blue Jays. You rented David Price for a half season and traded the
farm for Troy Tulo.
You just couldn't get past those pesky KC Royals. Now you don't have
any depth in your farm system, especially pitching, and you are
hopeful your starting staff doesn't have injuries, cause if it does
you are screwed. You say you're going to bag a free agent pitcher but
really, Jay Happ doesn't
really count for much, does he? Here is Marco's adage: 'Toronto
will never win steadily because no big free agents will sign in
Canada with the bad exchange rate, higher taxes and lack of Mexican
food.'
BALTIMORE
BORE-RIOLES: Can't afford to
lose Chris Davis, can't afford to keep him. If they do re-sign him
they won't have any money for all the other stuff they need....corner
outfielders who can hit, starting pitching, bullpen. They don't have
much to trade either. “This is the End....my only friend, The
End...of our elaborate plans, The End...”
TAMPA
BAY PRE-SCHOOL FOR YOUNG STARTING PITCHERS WHO WILL EITHER BLOW OUT
THEIR ACL'S OR BECOME STARS WITH OTHER TEAMS: Nuff
Said.
AL
CENTRAL:
CLEVELAND
POLITICALLY INCORRECTS: Supposed
to be on their way into the higher echelons because they have a
Met-like collection of young power pitchers maturing fast. Plus Corey
Kluber as a veteran Ace.
Trouble is, they aren't that good of an offensive club and now their
one big star, Michael Brantley,
has hurt his shoulder. Have you noticed how many everyday players
lose their hitting ability after shoulder injuries? Ellsbury hit
thirty homers once, then hurt his shoulder and never regained any
power to speak of. Hanley Ramirez
was killing the ball last year until he ran into a fence...the rest
of the season was nil power-wise. Matt Kemp
hit 39 homers for the Dodgers in 2011 (should have been the MVP over
steroid Ryan Braun...and no bold typeface for you Ryan)) then hurt
his shoulder (and hamstrings) and has hit just 77 in the four years
after. So anyway, I think Cleveland is in trouble.
MINNESOTA
OVER-ACHIEVING BUNCH OF NICE TWINKIE FELLAS: My
new heroes even though they made me look bad last year by winning
more than they had any right to. Just a hustling bunch of good
players with an inspirational Hall of Fame manager and now a new
Korean power threat (Byung-Ho Park)to
compliment Sano.
CHICAGO
WHITE SUCKS: Really
Chisox...get it together. You have one of the best Aces in baseball
in Chris Sales but
your offense hits like a bunch of wood elves. None of your trades
worked out and the whole team except Sales seems to be under
achieving. Look at Kansas City winning with bullpen, speed and
defense. Hint Hint!
DETROIT
ALMOST-EXTINCT TIGERS: It's the
last gasp of an almost great club. They lost two World Series in the
last decade and won several division titles. Their owner is not
afraid to spend his money. They have had four or five of the top
pitchers in baseball on their roster...sometimes two or three at
once. They have had the preeminent hitter in all of baseball on their
team for a while now and some other worthy studs. But they haven't
been dealt the hero card yet. They remind me of the Seattle teams of
the nineties who had superstars but never won.
Now
they traded Price cause they knew they couldn't sign him, just like
Scherzer before him.
So they got Zimmerman, who is good, to help what's left of Justin
Verlander. They got KRod
to be their closer, but the bullpen is still weak. Their two top
hitters, Cabrera and
Victor Martinez,
should both be DHs now. (Even with that they'll hurt themselves just
running the bases.) All those great young pitchers they got from
Toronto in the Price trade aren't quite ready but if one or two of
them step up... I think they have one more run in them. Go Tigers.
KANSAS
CITY KING-FOR-A-DAY ROYALS: It
seems a shame that they can't keep the old ball team together. What
a glorious year they had! But that's the Hideous Reality of small
market clubs...no way Jose can you keep them down on the farm after
they've smelled the millions waiting for them in free agency. Bye Bye
Big Homer guy Alex Gordon.
Bye Bye Ace-for-a-day Johnny Cueto. But they still have the core and
they have the bullpen and they have speed, defense and confidence.
Let's see how far that gets them in 2016. I say probably to the top
of the division again at least.
AL
WEST IS THE BEST:
HOUSTON
IMPOSTROS: Imposters because
these can't be the Astros we all knew and loathed as existential
losers for all these bitter teasing years? They took us from dubious
(“They can't be this good...they're just on a hot streak and
they'll fold”) to hope (“Wow! Maybe a team that strikes out 14
times a game can win anyway!”) to euphoria (“Now that Chris
Correa is the new Willie
Mays how can we lose?”) to
dashed dreams (“I knew they'd do this to me! Why Oh Why did I buy
in again?”)
They've
dumped Scott Kazmir
who was a dud for them. Also
“Let-me-hit-solo-homers-only-and-strike-out-anytime-guys-are-on-base
Carter. But something
has changed in Houston. They have good young players all over the
place and solid pitching. The bullpen has been addressed with new
closer-type Giles
coming over from Philly via trade. (The Astros were prospect rich but
have spent their dime). I pick them to win the West so far...
TEXAS
REVENGE-OF-THE STRANGERS: Another
surprise. The Rangers showed some real grit and clung to life for
another run at post season glory. Even though they had an ugly
meltdown in Toronto to end the season, they made a good noise. If big
Yu Darvish comes back
strong to go along with Cole Hamels
they have a one-two to match Keuchel
and McHugh down in
Houston. Should be a great battle this year.
LOS
ANGELES FALLEN ANGELS: “First
we had to eat dirt from the Oakland A's and Texas for a few years.
Then we went out and got Pujols and
found a diamond in the draft in Young Trout.
We traded for Josh Hamilton
to put us over the top and he smoked crack until we gave him back at
our expense. Now Pujols has a hurt foot and our erstwhile Ace Weaver
is washed up (and how) and we got beat by Houston of all people and
even got nudged by what's left of Texas. Our defense is shaky so we
got Andrelton Simmons
from the Braves. So can we please win?”
Nope. They called your number a few years ago Angels, and you forgot
to step to the front of the line. Welcome to Hell.
SEATTLE
RHYME-OF-THE-ANCIENT MARINERS: They
must have screwed up and killed an albatross to incur this much
decades-long bad fortune. They hocked their future payroll to get
Robbie Cano and he
(predictably) wasn't the same hitter in that lousy home ballpark that
he was in Yankee Stadium where his pop flys were all homers. They
never got pitchers who could compliment the Great Felix
Hernandez and they don't seem
to realize that outside of Nelson Cruz
nobody is going to be a fearsome slugger in Safeco. If they paid any
attention they would realize that teams in big ballparks have to win
with pitching, defense and team speed ala the Royals. Wake up
Seattle!
OAKLAND
TRADING-BEANEHEAD IDIOTS: Billy
Beane: You used to be a genius and they made a movie out of your
brilliant career and you don't even look like Brad Pitt. So now you
think any trade you make is just groovy. What? Did Josh Donaldson
break your daughter's heart or something? Who'd you get for him
again? Three guys in A ball?
SENIOR
CIRCUIT: Where people applaud
pitchers who manage to hit a ground ball the other way instead of
striking out. Oh God, the purity of it all! Well, was baseball pure
back in 1912 when they used one mashed up spit upon blackened
baseball per full game and everybody bunted every other at bat? Sure
it was. Let's not change for God's sake! It might disrupt the boring
purity of it all!
NL
EAST COAST BIAS:
NEW
YORK METROSEXUALS: (I don't
know why I call them that. Maybe it's all the long hair?) This is
what is wrong with baseball in the free agent era. The Mets came
blasting out of the pack and knocked off the favorite Nationals and
then steamed through the playoffs and into the World Series largely
because two hitters...first Cespedes
and then Murphy...got
insanely hot at crucial times and carried their otherwise pathetic
offense. Now the Mets don't expect to keep either one of them.
Loyalty is a dollar bill in this era.
They
somehow screwed Pittsburgh out of Neil Walker
and also got Asdrubal (strangest
name in baseball) Cabrera.
That gives them an impressive keystone combo. Too bad they're too
cheap to keep Cespedes. (Rumors of a trade for the Rockies' Carlos
Gonzalez. Do it Mets!)
WASHINGTON
UNMENTIONABLES: What terrible
team chemistry! Maybe the new manager Dusty Baker
can get these bozos on the same page. Papelbon
actually choked Brash Boy Bryce
in the dugout. Harper is a prodigy, but they need some kind of
veteran on that club that Bryce will respect and listen to so he
matures just a little. The Nats have lost about half of the team.
They lost half of their pitchers including Zimmerman,
Thornton, Jannsen and
Fister. The starting shortstop
Desmond is gone and
the center fielder and leadoff hitter Denard Span.
Werth, Ryan Zimmerman and Rendon
are all coming off serious injuries. Their once vaunted rotation is
now suspect after Scherzer.
They'll sign somebody I guess but that's a lot of holes. Baker,
remember, absolutely ruined the careers of his two Chicago Cubs stud
pitchers Kerry Wood and
Mark Prior with high
pitch counts. Prior was averaging 126 pitches a game from September
2003 through the playoffs and was never the same.
Get
ready for trouble if he pulls that with Strasburg.
ATLANTA
DISMANTLERS: What the fuck are
they doing? Rebuilding is one thing, but trading every decent player
they have for prospects that need 2-3 years to mature? They trade
Andrelton Simmons,
the best fielding shortstop in baseball? They traded Kimbrel?
Justin Heyward for Shelby Miller
and now they trade Miller? They got some real good prospects from
Arizona but they better hope those prospects include some Mike Trout,
Bryce Harper type stars or
they'll lose their fan base. Would you buy a season ticket to see
what's left of that roster?
PHILADELPHIA
DECONSTRUCTORS: Cliff
Lee is coming back. One of my
favorite players but he's 37 and his arm is glass. Hell, maybe they
can do an arm transplant on Roy Halladay
and re-trade for Utley and
Rollins. Give Mike
Schmidt some Viagra and haul
his ass out to third base. I bet they'd draw fans. I hear Steve
Carlton isn't busy. Anybody got
Greg Luzinski's number?
MIAMI
(OR SHOULD WE BE FLORIDA THIS YEAR?) SCHIZOPHRENICS:
Ugga wugga! Me start ball team in Florida! Me build shitty ballpark!
Me sign Giancarlo to lifetime contract and promise pennant
push! Me get new GM and manager every other year! Me hire Barry Bonds
to create new era of good feeling and lovie dovie public relations.
Now me trade all other stars. Listen to deals on Dee Gordon
and Jose Fernandez and Ozuna. Me still got Ichiro
so what problem is? Me go back to crooked Jai-Alai games!
NL
CENTRALIA:
PITTSBURGH-THE-ACCURSED: The Buccos can't catch a
break. They are the ultimate fan tease, playing great all year and
roaring into the playoffs but only as a wild card. Then one hot
pitcher shuts them out for two years in a row. The apocalypse is
coming in the form of free agency for Andrew McCutcheon and
others. They'll have to start trading people before they all walk
away. Really a shame. They were out of it for what, thirty years? I
think they have to break through this year or forget it but now they
have the Cubs to deal with as well as the Cardinals.
Pirates, I suggest you buy a few pitchers, don't trade Neil Walker
and make sure you replace Alvarez with a good hitter...it
may be awhile before you pass this way again.
(*New Development...the Pirates just traded Neil Walker to the
Mets for spare change. Bad move...he had one more year before free
agency and the Bucs could have used him to try to win once before the
apocalypse. Walker was killer in the clutch for them last year.)
CHICAGO
CUDDLIES: Finally, a team that
seems to know what it's doing! Epstein
and friends have guessed right on a bunch of young players who are
now productive and exciting. They made that great trade that got them
Arietta and he turned
into Sandy Koufax.
They went out and signed John Lackey which
helps them back-up Jake and John Lester
while simultaneously damaging St. Louis by taking away the man who
was their number one starter by the end of last season.
They
signed Ben Zobrist to
(probably) play mostly second base for them and they traded Starlin
Castro who has been behaving
himself lately but has been a real attitude problem in the past. They
will still likely add pitching and a center fielder but it all seems
well thought out and it seems like they are getting the right kind of
players to go with their very young team. Seasoned vets who want to
win. I'm pickin' 'em this year.. (for the NL Central at least!)
(*New
Development...the Cubs seem to
be challenging St. Louis to get Justin Heyward. The Angels are in it
too. Wouldn't it be devious of Epstein to not only take Lackey away
from their Central rivals, but Heyward too? It would be even smarter
if they were trying to bid St. Louis up and bleed them of extra
money.)
ST.LOUIS
DISABLEDS: Wow! The Cards must
be thinking ...Holy Shit! We lose half the team to injury and still
kick ass the whole season and win the division going away before
what's left of our starting staff disintegrates and we can't put it
away. AAAAARGGHHH! Now, as usual, the Cards retool and get what they
need via a combo of great minor league call-ups, shrewd trades and an
endless supply of good arms. They have two new outfielders (Randall
Grichuk and Stephen
Piscotty) who look pretty good.
If they sign Chris Davis
to play first base and hit homers and the young outfielders are good
enough to make people forget Justin Heyward
they'll probably contend again...although Pittsburgh and especially
Chicago have closed the gap. At least, St. Louis is a welcome anomaly
in this era because they are a (very) small market club who has
expanded their fan base with good public relations, a winning
attitude and consistently competitive teams. Thank God for the
Cardinals.
By the way, not resigning Heyward is a wise decision. His asking
price is in the $200 million range. For what? A great fielding right
fielder (note that last: RIGHT FIELDER...the next to last most
crucial fielding position.)
Right fielders don't change the whole team with their defense, they
only get about 3 or 4 plays a game...once a week they have to make a
sliding catch. Twice a week they have to make a strong throw. That's
not enough to justify a huge contract for somebody who can't hit for
power. Okay, he's a good base runner. That's worth $200 million?
(WHAT
USED TO BE)CINCINNATI REDS: The
Reds probably wish they could just swallow a handful of reds and
sleep through the next few years and wake up with a good team again.
They are in serious trouble.
They have no money to fix it and nobody they can trade. (Vuotto
loves The Natti and refuses to leave...and his contract lasts forever
so even though he's good, he's gonna play out his career on a loser.
Why couldn't he allow himself to be traded to Boston say, where the
Sox would gladly give up 3 or 4 hot young prospects to get Vuotto and
his huge contract and his high on-base percentage? Which always gives
the Red Sox a hard on.)
MILWAUKEE
WHY-BOTHERS: Brewers...you
don't realize it but you are cursed. As long as Ryan Braun is your
big star you won't win. Why? Because he has angered the Baseball
Gods and he must ATONE! You shouldn't be able to cheat your way to an
MVP. (Wonder where Sammy Sosa is right now?) Trade Braun instead of
Lucroy. Then we'll
talk. Seen any pictures of Braun with his arm around Robin
Yount or Paul Molitor
or any of the other Brewer greats of the past? Didn't think so. He is
shunned by all true baseball fans, as is Barry Bonds and the other
Mega-Cheaters of the medicinal era.
NL
WESTERLIES:
L.A.
WE'RE DOING-YOU-A-FAVOR-BY-LETTING-YOU-BE-IN-THIS-LEAGUE-WITH-US
DODGEHEADS: Oh you handsome
Dodger Devils you! How could anybody have the nerve to turn down your
dollars? You decided Greinke wasn't worth an extra year and a few
extra million on his contract and let Arizona steal him. Your payroll
was already an absurd $240 million and you have the money and Greinke
was going to get paid one way or another anyway and you needed him
bad. Greinke was almost a sure thing every game out last year. There
is no replacement for him. Hope you enjoyed saving your money. Maybe
you can spend it on Hyun-Jin Ryu's
next arm surgery.
I
often mention the Philadelphia Phillies' huge mistake of a few years
ago when they signed Roy Halladay but traded Cliff Lee at the same
time to “rebuild their minor league system”. So instead of
keeping two Aces for long enough to win a couple of titles, they
remained just good enough to lose out on a couple.
You
got your foot in the door Dodgers...do you have the guts to close the
deal?
SAN
FRANCISCO IF-IT'S-AN-EVEN-YEAR-WE-WON'T-STINK GIGANTES:
They
need a true power hitter. They really, really need a number two
starter behind Bumgarner, yet they won't re-sign Leake...
who everybody else seems to covet... but
hang on to Peavy at
$9 million a year and pay $10 mil a year for Samardzija
(He of the 4.99 ERA last year!)
I
am willing to concede that the Giants front office is smarter than
me. They have a winning track record (in even years) to prove it...I
guess. You got to like their shortstop/second base combo of Crawford
and Panik. But this
team is injured and stays injured. Almost every star is down for
significant time every season. They're always plugging holes with a
Blanco or some other
non-hitter. And Bumgarner is pitching too many innings. I know he's a
Bear but preserve him just a little bit, Bruce Bochy!
ARIZONA
COMPRESSED-COAL-INTO-DIAMOND BACKS: The
Dodgers and
Giants better get serious
'cause the Humps are coming! Tony LaRussa and
Dave Stewart are making a
splash in Phoenix. The Greinke deal was awesome for their morale and
even though they gave up a lot in that trade for Shelby Miller, they
needed starters to be relevant and they have to win now while they
still have Goldschmidt and
Pollock signed. (What are those
guys going to bring in free agency?)
The
thing I like about the Diamondhumps is their cool names. Tuffy
Gosewisch, Socrates Brito, Gabby Guerrero, Yasmany Tomas...
If they win they'll be a publicist's dream...and they just might win
this year.
SAN
DIEGO DEFROCKED PADRES: How can
a team makeover fail so spectacularly? Well, your three big gets last
year were Justin Upton, Matt
Kemp and
Will Myers. Trouble was, all of
them had to play in the outfield and they couldn't hack it. You need
a speedy center fielder out there to cover for the slow guys in that
huge ballpark. So they had 3 slow guys and they got burned.
Also,
Matt Kemp had a pretty good year statistically by the end, but
started off so cold that they never recovered. The Padres were buried
by May and it didn't matter what Kemp was hitting anymore.
Myers
failed to launch. Upton was pretty solid all year but his power was
also muted by Petco. Will Middlebrooks
was a disaster at third...they had to flat out release him. They will
lose Upton to free agency. They traded Kimbrel for prospects so they
now suck in the bullpen. Their starters might have done well if they
had some defense behind them but the Padres tried to win without a
shortstop. They still need one.
Even
with a new manager, this team is adrift on a Sea of Pain.
COLORADO
ROCKY MOUNTAIN DUDS: Boy, this
is getting to be a sorry excuse for a franchise. No matter how much
they freeze the baseballs, they still can't get anybody who can pitch
to play for this team. And they don't have enough offense to
compensate and outscore people. Dozens of Rockies get hurt every
year. Watch out or they'll move this franchise to San Antonio. (Hey!
Good idea!)
Let's
think of something nice to say about the Rockballs. Oh Yeah, Nolan
Arenado can really play.
Thus
ends my acid-tongued thesis on the state of baseball here on the last
day of winter meetings. If I seem to be remarkably sour on the
prospects of so many teams, it's because I get frustrated by the
constant moving of players and the imbalance between large and small
market clubs and the seeming impossibility of anybody keeping any
kind of team together for more than a year.
It
was a different era in my youth. Every year you knew who the Dodgers
were going to be...Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Jackie
Robinson, Carl Furillo, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese...maybe
they'd get a new left fielder once in a while. The Yankees would have
Mickey and
Yogi and Whitey...the
Braves would have Aaron, Mathews and
Spahn.
Yeah,
I know...the teams stayed consistent because of the reserve clause
forbidding players from being free agents and letting teams bid for
their services and that wasn't fair...but free agency has cost us the
pleasure of consistent rosters of stars staying with teams so the
fans could really take them to heart. That aspect of the modern game
depresses me.
What
could possibly cheer me up? How about a Stan Musial
story? That always seems to work...
Stan
had the habit of always signing his contract before the Cardinals
entered a dollar figure. (I know...hard to imagine today!) He said he
trusted the front office to pay him what he was worth. He was always
one of the highest paid players in baseball and was the first
$100,000 a year player.
Stan
had his first ever bad year in 1959, hitting .255 while playing hurt
in only 115 games. (This after 16 years of hitting around.350 every
year with 30 dingers and 100+ RBIs). So in 1960 Stan signs his blank
contract and the Cardinals give it back with the salary line filled
out with the same amount he got the year before...$100,000.
Stan
tells management that he'd been overpaid in 1957 and 1958 and his
salary should be based on what he did in 1959. (In 1957 his stats
were .351/29/102 with an on-base of .422 while slugging .612. He
finished second in the MVP voting that year. In '58 he only batted
.337)
Stan
crosses out the $100,000... and puts in $80,000.
Then
he goes on a fitness program and by 1963 he's back up to hitting
.330.
Thank
you God, I just want to play baseball in the sun.
“Those
were the days my friends...we thought they'd never end...”
Happy
Holidays!---Marco
