For once, I'm excited to be a Pirate fan. I know the Pirates can't afford any big name free agents this offseason and that's going to be a good thing this winter. Look at this free agent class. There's Alex Rodriguez and then there's everyone else. If A-Rod doesn't sign with the Yankees or Red Sox, there's a good chance that whoever signs him will have handcuffed themselves to mediocrity for a decade (like the Rangers did) or until whenever they can dump A-Rod back off on the Yankees. Look at the next tier of free agents. Torii Hunter? Aaron Rowand? Teams are going to break the bank for these guys? Right now we're probably talking $80 million or more for Rowand and probably nine figures for Hunter. They're both nice players and all, but pardon me while I scoff at this insanity. Hunter's only slugged better than .500 twice and he's never had an OBP above .340. Rowand has managed two above average seasons at the plate in his four full years. Both are allegedly good defenders, but David Pinto places them both at the middle of the pack with his probabilistic model of range. Hunter is 31, Rowand is 30. Neither is on the upslope of their career. Whoever pays these guys is going to regret it in three years.
And the pitchers? If JC Romero is worth four million a year, what are Kyle Lohse and Carlos Silva (neither of whom are particularly good at baseball) worth? The top free agents get paid a ton of money even when they're only good in comparison to the rest of the free agency class. Free agency this year is going to hurt more people than it's going to help.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-12-2007 @ 9:14PM
Ralph Garcia said...
Finally a sane person speaking up in the media. The team that signs A-Rod will probably go broke as his agent wants a starting bid of $350 million. That means that they want to get teams involved and have a bidding war. Whatever team A-rod signs with, his teammates will want more money. So will the free agent class of 2009. Brian Cashman was smart to offer arbitration to A-Rod. If he doesn't get an offer, a want a judge to tell A-rod to his face that he's not worth that kind of money. A-Rod you're not A God.
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11-13-2007 @ 10:13AM
JAES said...
The likes of Curt Flood and Andy Messersmith started free agency, but like everything else, in the sports world especially, we have gone to far. When a player turns down 25 million dollars a year, it's time for a change.
Curt Flood sacrificed his career for free agency. It is time for the baseball establishment to say "Enough is Enough" to A-Rod. No one sign him. Let him sit out fo a year. Let him experience life without the GAME. Because that is exactly what we, the normal baseball loving public have had to do for the past 10 or 15 years, because we cannot afford to go to a baseball game.
So, owners, do the right thing. Don't sign A-Rod. And take the 30 Million and pass it on in savings to the fans. Trust me on this, baseball will not miss him. And maybe if all of you can exersize some sort of self-control, saleries will level off, and a father can again bring his son or daughter to a game without taking out a second mortgage.
And while we at it, don't sign Bonds either. The game will truely be better off without him.
JAES
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