As the day of love draws near, it must be remembered with a heavy heart, that relationships don't always work out. Simply garnering the affections of another does not mean that everlasting love is accorded. This is true in all relationships, and no different in baseball. Players and fans, fans and owners, owners and players all dance to a very delicate rhythm together. The smallest divergence could upset the balance. So it is the case now, with several particular issues in baseball, that relationships are being tested. Some are on the precipice, while others may change for the better. Let's take a look at some of these tumultuous love affairs.
I would have liked to speak about the Michael Young saga once he had been traded, as I don't like to speculate about 'what ifs' too much in this blog. In all actuality, I love doing that, but in my own personal time. I don't want to waste endless blog space trying to figure out who might be traded where and when, because I would essentially be writing about nothing else, and wasting your time. Back to my point, however, it is necessary to discuss Mr. Young's particulars here and now. His dilemma is such that he believes he has been "misled and manipulated" by the ownership and by Jon Daniels, the general manager of the Texas Rangers. While we don't know the intimate details of franchise conversations, it's not hard to see where he is coming from.
For 11 years, Michael Young has been the face of the Rangers organization. Since 2000 he's been, at various times, the everyday 2B, SS, 3B. He's been a five-year 200 hit collector, a six-time All-Star, a Gold Glover at shortstop, and a quiet team leader. He has been asked to do a lot by his team, and he's done so with class, and verve. As I mentioned in a prior blog detailing Adrian Beltre's signing, Young's future is now very uncertain with the Rangers, and as of Feb. 7th, he feels his aspirations lie elsewhere. That's right, Mr. Young requested a trade, and the Rangers agreed to do so, only if the arrangement betters the club.
This fractured relationship is the perfect example of the baseball world. Everyone knows that baseball is a business, and only extremely rarely are players lauded with loyalty contracts. Derek Jeter's new deal is an example of that, as are Todd Helton and Tim Wakefield's 'lifetime contracts', which allows each player to stay with his respective team as long as he wishes to. So an argument can and should be made that Texas is only doing what they see fit, so that they might return to the playoffs, and another World Series bid. Considering that, one has to take into consideration the sacrifices that the player makes as well. Young hasn't just played his position adequately over the years and been paid handsomely to do so. He has been asked to learn a new position, twice. Each time he has done so, he has put up little grief, and has excelled at each position almost immediately. For anyone who doesn't know, this is a very hard feat to accomplish.
However, for all the effort, the Rangers took at look at what they could have, as opposed to what they did have, and decided Michael's future wasn't what the team needed. So they made it abundantly clear that his role would be reduced. How far they planned to reduce that role may be the source of the contention of "manipulation", but we'll probably never know that for sure. All we know now is that Michael Young is unhappy, the front-office seems perfectly fine with letting a franchise face go, and a trade to...somewhere is looming. It's a sad part of the business, and ideally it would have ended more magnanimously for both sides. But few relationships usually end well. They end for a reason, after all.
Michael Young is not the only man who might be switching teams soon. While Albert Pujols has a full no-trade clause in his contract and won't be going anywhere this season, if the St. Louis Cardinals aren't able to agree to an extension before Albert reports to Spring Training, then it's very likely that the face of that franchise, not to mention baseball, will be moving to another team next year. To say Albert Pujols has done a lot for the Cardinals is like saying the drive-thru line at McDonald's at 5pm is a little slow. It's an understatement. Fat Albert is the best baseball player in the game right now, hand's down, and is on pace to be one of the best hitters ever.
To extol his accomplishments is somewhat unnecessary, but let's do it anyway. He's been an All-Star 9 times in 10 years. He's a six-time Silver Slugger, a two-time Gold Glover, he was the 2001 Rookie of the Year, he's won three MVP awards, and finished in the top five voting six other times. He's led the N.L. in homeruns for the past two years, he's never had less than 100 RBI, he owns the 2003 Batting Title, he is a four-time total bases leader... you know what, let's just stop there. The point is, Albert Pujols has a lot of money coming his way. But how much, is the big question.
Alex Rodriguez started the ball rolling when he accepted a record-breaking 10-year $250 million contract from the aforementioned Texas Rangers in 2001. The reason being because, well Texas offered it, but also he was a phenomenal power hitter at the premium fielding position of shortstop. That monstrous contract has set the bar for baseball stars for the past decade as everybody has wanted to reach or exceed the $25 million/year mark. Still, though, no player makes as much per year as A-Rod, who resigned with the Yankees in 2008 with a 10-year $275 million new deal. Albert is looking to exceed that.
Of course we don't know Pujols' personal motivations or what he actually 'wants', but all indicators are pointing to him expecting a 10-year $300 million contract. The Cardinals are not the biggest spender in the game, but certainly aren't poor. They didn't help their Pujols situation by purchasing Matt Holliday's services at an exorbitant rate of $120 million over 7 years last year. Meanwhile, the team has other big fish to consider, like ace pitchers Adam Wainwright and Chris Carpenter, not to mention putting an entire team on the field (St. Louis has merely four players locked up after 2011). So the Red Birds presently look like they are balking at such a deal. Some say they have reason to, as A-Rod's deal was unique to his position, while Albert is one of many outstanding first-basemen in the game today. But I digress.
So unless Cardinal's GM John Mozeliak can put together a miracle in the next week, it looks like Albert Pujols might be hitting the free-agent market for the first time in his career. What that will bring him is still uncertain, as the biggest spenders out there, (Boston and the two New York teams) either have long-term options at first-base, or are going into ruin, and/or litigation. Maybe a surprise team like the Dodgers will get into the mix, but the money that Pujols is looking for might not be there from any tam. In the meantime, the joyous relationship the fans and owners had with Pujols is on the skids, and that romance may never come back. We'll have to wait and see on that one, though.
But bad blood doesn't always come from huge, record-breaking contracts or lengthy service. Sometimes just a few dollars can cause hard feelings. Take Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels for instance. The righty starter was arbitration eligible, meaning that the player and owner have to agree to a contract, and if not, that dispute goes to an impartial arbiter to decide. This is often a last ditch resort, because it means that both the player and team have to attend what is essentially a court proceeding, and they have to bad-mouth each other in order to win their argument. In Weaver's case, he lost, meaning the Angels had to tell Weaver everything he's not, right in front of him, and then walk away victorious. This is like sitting through divorce proceedings while being forced to stay together.
What could possibly have brought these two sides to such an ugly disagreement? Less than $1.5 million. That's right, Jered Weaver asked for $8.8 million, and the Angels countered and won with $7.365 million. And in case you haven't heard, Weaver is the ace pitcher of that club. Not only did he lead all of baseball in strikeouts in 2010, but he had a better ERA than C.C. Sabathia, Tim Lincecum, Justin Verlander and Chris Carpenter, all of whom make more than him. He pitched more innings than Zach Greinke, Cliff Lee or Ryan Dempster, all of whom make more than him. He also only walks 54 batters last year, meaning 80 other starting pitchers walked more guys, and guess what, a ridiculous percentage of those 80 starters make more than him.
My point isn't to pity Jered Weaver, because in the end he'll sign a big long-term deal and will eventually have more money than I can ever dream of. The point is to explain how relationships in baseball get so easily tattered. Players fight with owners for pay. Owners kick out fan-favorites for new blood. Fans turn on players who get paid a ton of money and then don't perform. (Think Carl Pavano in his Yankees years.)
Baseball is all about emotion, and when money gets mixed in with passion, things get screwy. I don't expect that to change, and quite frankly I don't want it to. It's just one of the aspects that makes the game exciting. The passion we feel is palpable, and courses through us as if we were in love. Whether that love goes awry or stays true is a matter of time and perspective. So even if you don't have somebody to hold onto this St. Valentine's Day, take some comfort in the fact that baseball will always be there for you. And that pitchers and catchers report in about a week. Boo-yah!
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