As I watch some of the baseball free agent activity you just wonder if some of the contracts being dealt out will really give the players everything they want. The biggest example is Johnny Damon moving from the Red Sox to the Yankees. The difference was $40 million vs. $52 million over four years. He goes from being in a place that embraced his personality to a place where people of his ilk have a lot of problems (ever hear of George Steinbrenner?). On the other hand Trevor Hoffman left about $10 million of guaranteed money over three years on the table so he could stay in San Diego.
Jeff Weaver, recently of the Dodgers, is a free agent but seems to want to stay with the Dodgers. Weaver's problem is he has Scott Boras as an agent (same as Johnny Damon). Boras only seems to think that money is all the player needs to be happy and it's just not the case. Weaver might have to leave $4-8 million on the table over four years to stay with the Dodgers but where does he really want to play? If he gets $32 million over four years instead of $40 million is he going to really miss the gap?
I doubt that Trevor Hoffman will have any regrets about staying with the Padres but Damon will be kicking himself a lot and if Weaver just goes for the bucks he will do the same.
Posted by Tim at December 22, 2005 10:09 AM
