WHY are they paying Juan Pierre this much money? Is there something in the water here in L.A.? Couldn't they have used this money to sign Barry Zito and give Pierre the $25 mil he deserves? Sigh...
"That's the thing: Maybe he'll be up and down this season, but when he's up, is there another center in the league quite like him? He protects the rim, passes out of double teams, has great hands around the basket, up-fakes on his jump-hooks, rebounds in traffic, even has a motor that keeps going and going (unlike a stiff like Eddy Curry). I'm not sure what's missing here. This is stunning. This is startling. There's almost no precedent for it. Just what the Lakers needed: More obscenely good luck. Meanwhile, I have to watch Al Jefferson whip jump-hooks off the front of the rim for the third straight season. I will now pour scalding hot water down my pants." -Bill Simmons on Andrew Bynum (11/08/06)
A lot of GMs have said it's gonna be an expensive off season. As far as offensive players go, Soriano set the market with 17M per year. Juan Pierre, I can almost see. But Gary Mathews Jr?
I am curious and anxious to see what Zito gets. Also, if Pettitte doesn't retire, they'll be a few teams willing to throw a truckload of money at him.
Rusty Shackleford is just the name he uses to order Pizza with.
This off-season is starting to be reminiscent of what occurred in the early 90's after the collusion era ended and the owners got their hands on the billion dollar plus TV deal with CBS. That is what eventually led to '94 occurring, so it is fortunate the CBA was extended prior to this off-season. Overpaying for quality is the price of doing business. Overpaying for mediocrity is how teams get in trouble.
Forget that. This seems a lot like what was happening in the NHL leading up to its long work stoppage a couple years ago.
Baseball's economics cannot really support contracts like this, only because mediocre players will be making more and more. But there's little the fans can do, other than not attend the games we want to see. Is it time for a cap, if the owners and GMs aren't going to act responsibly?
Word is that the bidding for Carlos Lee's contract is quickly approaching $100 million over 6 years, which is ridiculous for an outfielder with fragile knees who has likely already peaked. Ugh.
It is truly a sad day for one of the classiest people baseball will ever see (and one of the best scouts, he gave the cubs both Ernie Banks and Lou Brock).
Thread rated: 3.02
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