Hello, my friends! It's been quite a while since I've blogged to you all - it's been a crazy month of March trying to juggle my jobs, my family responsibilities, and my other blogs. I'm still blogging for http://www.prosportsblogging.com/, but I have also picked up a gig with our local paper, http://www.fredericknewspost.com/ (click on BLOGS and mine is the "Nationals Inquirier"). I am strictly a Washington Nationals blogger for both sites, so I'm glad I still have this space to myself, where I can bash, I mean, write, about anything baseball, not just Nationals-related topics.
So what's been going on in baseball land? Spring Training is winding down, and some teams are giddy with excitement over their new acquisitions. The Detroit Tigers are tearing up the Grapefruit League with a 13-3 record, and they like to brag about now having Prince Fielder on their team. The Los Angeles Angels are happy with their acquisition of Albert Pujols, and the New York Yankees have welcomed pitcher Andy Pettite out of retirement.
And how about players who return to last year's teams? Matt Holliday has been tearing it up this year, batting .484 with a nice little 10-game hitting streak to his name. Us Cardinals dis-likers hope that he's peaking too soon.
And what's a Mudville Mom post without a comment about the Phillies? They're struggling so far this year with injuries and they lost some players during the off-season - it seems like Roy Halliday is the only guy who wants to play this season. Let's hope they stink this year - I need a reason to trash-talk with Phillies fans!
In all seriousness, the headline that caught my eye this week was Atlanta Braves' third baseman Chipper Jones announcing his retirement at the end of the 2012 season. I have always liked Larry Wayne Jones - he is the quintessential franchise player who gave his all every day, and when people thought he was done after his 2010 and 2011 injuries, he insisted on not ending his career because of an injury. He will be in the Hall of Fame someday, along with all those other Braves greats like Dale Murphy, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Greg Maddux.
And in case you're wondering what's up with my dear Iván Rodriguez (what's a blog post without my mention of "Pudge!"), he's still technically a free agent, but no one seems to be interested in signing a 40-year-old catcher. The Kansas City Royals had shown some interest, but the last thing I read was that he was contemplating retirement. Poor guy - he just wanted the opportunity to try for 3000 hits, so he could share the honor with fellow Puerto Rican Roberto Clemente, but it doesn't look like it's going to be. If he doesn't get signed and does end up retiring, I guess we can make our reservations for his 2017 enshrinement in Cooperstown.
So the start of the 2012 season is less than two weeks away, and I'm getting excited. We have tickets for 4 Nationals games this year, including the home opener against Cincinnati and an inter-league game against the Yankees - I know, I've said before that I don't like inter-league play during the regular season, but who can turn down the opportunity to see Robinson Canó? Stay tuned for my insight as the season begins, and thank you as always for your support of my blog! :-)
Showing posts with label Prince Fielder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prince Fielder. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2012
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Show me the Money!
The main reason that I chose to get my Master's degree in Sport Management was so I could become a baseball agent. Jerry Maguire was going to have nothin' on me - I was going to be scouting and signing players, going to all kinds of baseball games for free, and meeting all sorts of famous people while traveling all over the country. Life ended up taking me in a different direction, and I'm actually glad that my sports-agent dreams did not come to fruition. The money-side of baseball is very complex, and baseball players make way more money than they need to while sometimes being treated like cattle.
While current events in baseball's off-season are headlined by player trades and team acquisitions, record-breaking contract signings have been the talk of the "Hot Stove Season" (Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder come to mind, with Fielder just committing yesterday to a 9-year, $214-million deal with the Detroit Tigers, where his father, Cecil Fielder played back in the 80s). But did you know that baseball executives also have to renew their contracts during the off-season? Major League Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig, was not spared the joy of signing a new contract recently, with a hefty new pay raise attached to it.
When I heard that Mr. Selig signed a new contract, first I was disappointed (it should come as no surprise to my blog readers that I am not a fan of Mr. Selig). Then when I found out how much money he was and will be making, I almost fell over in disbelief. Each baseball team had been paying Bud $600,000, which multiplied by 30 teams means that he was making $18 million a year! Who knew? I thought maybe he made a million or so, but eighteen??? Well now that he has a new contract, that 18 million has gone up, and now Mr. Selig will be making $22 million a year! That is just unheard of! The only good thing about that is that maybe now he can buy himself a personality!
There have only been nine Commissioners in Major League Baseball so far (though it seems like Bud has had the job forever!), and I guess they've all been paid a hefty salary (Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, MLB's first Commissioner, was paid $42,500 back in the 1920s). But you just don't typically think of these guys making a lot of money - they don't wear a uniform, they don't appear on cereal boxes, and they don't hit home runs. But they do help keep the game of baseball going, and they have implemented policies and procedures that have preserved the integrity of the game (like Selig's harsh ban on performance-enhancing drugs - you get caught with some of those in your system and you're out for 50 games). Don't get me wrong; Commissioners have come up with some pretty dumb ideas too, like inter-league play and the lifetime ban of Pete Rose (he shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame, but he would make a pretty good hitting coach!). But overall, Commissioners have brought us baseball fans a lot of pretty good things, like the Wild Card playoffs, the home-field advantage for the World Series to the League that wins the All-Star Game, and the realignment that brought the Atlanta Braves back to the National League East. Of course, I could do a way better job than Mr. Selig for way less money, but I don't think the opportunity will ever come up.
Oh, and speaking of money and contracts, did you see that pitcher Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a two-year, $40.5 million deal? Perhaps Tim can now afford to cut his hair!
While current events in baseball's off-season are headlined by player trades and team acquisitions, record-breaking contract signings have been the talk of the "Hot Stove Season" (Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder come to mind, with Fielder just committing yesterday to a 9-year, $214-million deal with the Detroit Tigers, where his father, Cecil Fielder played back in the 80s). But did you know that baseball executives also have to renew their contracts during the off-season? Major League Baseball Commissioner, Bud Selig, was not spared the joy of signing a new contract recently, with a hefty new pay raise attached to it.
When I heard that Mr. Selig signed a new contract, first I was disappointed (it should come as no surprise to my blog readers that I am not a fan of Mr. Selig). Then when I found out how much money he was and will be making, I almost fell over in disbelief. Each baseball team had been paying Bud $600,000, which multiplied by 30 teams means that he was making $18 million a year! Who knew? I thought maybe he made a million or so, but eighteen??? Well now that he has a new contract, that 18 million has gone up, and now Mr. Selig will be making $22 million a year! That is just unheard of! The only good thing about that is that maybe now he can buy himself a personality!
There have only been nine Commissioners in Major League Baseball so far (though it seems like Bud has had the job forever!), and I guess they've all been paid a hefty salary (Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, MLB's first Commissioner, was paid $42,500 back in the 1920s). But you just don't typically think of these guys making a lot of money - they don't wear a uniform, they don't appear on cereal boxes, and they don't hit home runs. But they do help keep the game of baseball going, and they have implemented policies and procedures that have preserved the integrity of the game (like Selig's harsh ban on performance-enhancing drugs - you get caught with some of those in your system and you're out for 50 games). Don't get me wrong; Commissioners have come up with some pretty dumb ideas too, like inter-league play and the lifetime ban of Pete Rose (he shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame, but he would make a pretty good hitting coach!). But overall, Commissioners have brought us baseball fans a lot of pretty good things, like the Wild Card playoffs, the home-field advantage for the World Series to the League that wins the All-Star Game, and the realignment that brought the Atlanta Braves back to the National League East. Of course, I could do a way better job than Mr. Selig for way less money, but I don't think the opportunity will ever come up.
Oh, and speaking of money and contracts, did you see that pitcher Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants agreed to a two-year, $40.5 million deal? Perhaps Tim can now afford to cut his hair!
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