mikesmate
Piazza'a Southern Bell
USA
Posts: 1103
(12/25/03 5:34 pm)
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 Players union kabloshes a good thing
I don't usually read the Atlanta Journal Constipation...er Constitution sports page but I thought this was amusing.
Players union kabloshes a good thing
Given the financial strain of the 11 years and $72 million (give or take a Pop-Tart) remaining on my original 25-year contract, I understand there's a possibility that the Journal-Constitution might be forced to trade me. Therefore, I have informed the AJC that I'm amenable to restructuring my deal if it helps clear a trade to another newspaper, preferably a contender.
See, when it comes to determining salary, I have this warped way of looking at things. Only two people should get votes: 1) The person writing the check; 2) The person cashing the check. And an aside to baseball's Players Association: Collectively bargain this.
In case you missed it, an anvil is falling on the players union. Two weeks ago, 139 free agents were not offered arbitration because teams did not want to pay the potential salaries. This past week, 58 players were dumped onto the free-agent market because their teams viewed them to not be worth a contract tender. Only 93 of 210 players who filed for free agency had signed deals as of Monday.
To put it another way, if you shop today between 8 a.m. and noon and you clip the 15 percent off coupon on page 12, you can land yourself a serviceable outfielder for roughly $1.27.
Please. Don't all cry at once.
There is panic at the Union for Oppressed Millionaires, but you're never going to hear that officially. The worm has turned -- no offense, Gene Orza -- regarding players' salaries. Just the other day, the P.A. rejected the Texas-Boston swap of Alex Rodriguez for Manny Ramirez because Rodriguez made the outlandish decision to give some of his money back.
Next thing you know, somebody might actually try to bunt the runners over. Then you've got total chaos.
Rodriguez agreed to a restructuring that would cut $28 million from his absurd 10-year, $252 million contract so that a trade to Boston would go through. But the union's No. 2 man, Gene Orza, said Rodriguez couldn't do that because, well, it violated the spirit of the Collective Bargaining Agreement. Besides, you would never want the best player in baseball to go to one of baseball's most storied franchises (Boston), thereby setting up a compelling pennant chase with the New York Yankees. That would be too healthy for the sport, the athletes and the networks. Bad trend.
Maybe baseball players aren't headed for financial ruin, but it's clear now that there's at least a chance for some fiscal sanity in the sport. The union isn't taking that very well, and if this trade indeed dies -- Texas owner Tom Hicks has set today's 5 p.m. deadline -- cracks are going to start showing in the membership.
Actually, the first crack already is showing. When Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling spoke out, it was like Zell Miller jumping parties. "As a player, if Alex Rodriguez wants to go to the Boston Red Sox, I can't imagine the players union stopping him from doing that. . . . God forbid if he [accepted a deal] and the players union said, 'No, you can't.' The last time I checked, I pay money to pay the salary of Don Fehr and Gene Orza."
Trouble in paradise.
Vladimir Guerrero, Gary Sheffield and Greg Maddux weren't offered arbitration. Kevin Millwood decided to accept arbitration from Philadelphia because, like Maddux the year before, there wasn't a decent multiyear offer on the globe (notwithstanding the claims of Scott Boras, the occasionally lucid agent).
The Mets are trying to shave 25 percent off their $120 million payroll, can't find a taker for the overpaid Roger Cedeno and are considering just releasing him with a buyout. (It might help if the Mets sweeten a trade offer by throwing in a bail bondsman: Cedeno has been arrested twice in the past 13 months, for speeding and DUI.)
The Dodgers gave pitcher Kevin Brown $120 million, got nothing out of it and dumped the contract on the Yankees (the only full-retail shoppers remaining). The likes of pitcher Damian Moss (Baltimore) and outfielder Jay Payton (Colorado) didn't even merit a contract tender. Florida just said goodbye to Ivan Rodriguez, who only just helped them win a World Series.
If the Red Sox don't get A-Rod, they've already shown what you can do with marked-down players. First baseman David Ortiz was released by Minnesota, signed with Boston for $1.25 million and hit 31 homers with 101 RBIs. Esteban Loaiza was dumped by Toronto, signed with Chicago for $650,000 and went 21-9 as a Cy Young runner-up.
The union can't do anything about a player being released.
It can't do anything about a player not being offered arbitration or not being offered a tropical island.
Soon, it may not be able to do much about anything.
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
Robert A. Heinlein
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