Originally posted by Phlabibit
Manny is gone.
GOOD RIDDANCE! Copyright © 2001-2008
He didn't want to play anymore, it took him 5.7 seconds to get to first... if he even wanted to play at all. He was at his end trying to get out from under the option any way he could.
He succeeded, he's always got what he wanted or would just 'shut it down'. That is Boston's fault, more so the front office than Tito Francona.
P-
Manny was the epitome of the Boston player. When things are going great, everyone loves them, but when things start to sour, everyone points fingers at someone else as the problem. Manny did the same thing. If you want to get rid of the BS that many of the "superstar" players pull, then you have to do two things. First, you have to get all of the owners educated. Many of them are merely corpoate beancounters who don't have a clue how to handle sports operation. They also want to play one up against Steinbrenner, who is one of the chief reasons that baseball is in the mess it is in now. Ever since Steinbrenner invoked the "I'll just buy a championship" mentality, everyone realized the opportunities and jumped onboard. The agents becames sharks ina feeding frenzy, players wanted long term contracts, up fornt bonuses, special treatment and perks. This has been a downward spiral ever since.
If you want to return the game to what it once was, you have to cut away the fat. You have to restore accountability. To do that, you have to get rid of the egos, and long term contracts. If everyone gets nothing more than a one year deal, no matter what, they are never overpaid (except for the upcoming season at most). Franchises will no longer be handcuffed to the idiotic deals they agree to. Agents will be far less powerful. Players will play when they have a hangnail or a hangover. They will need to send Don Fehr packing, get the union back into reality and that would not be that difficult to do, if they are willing to do it. If the players don't want to accept those conditions, then change the players. Plain and simple. There is a huge talent base to draw from. Granted, you may find yourself without the top 10-15% of the available talent, at first, but so be it. We would see a return to hard nosed play, and we would see players who gave a damn about the game and their job. Once the big boys saw that they were not marketable if they didn't play, then they would play, or change careers.
Sure, the plan is radical, but it is realistic. The players today are coddled. Most managers are powerless against their "superstars". I had a wonderful conversation about 5 years ago with Duke Snider who absolutely said it perfectly. His direct quote was "The players today are a bunch of pussies! They don't play with nicks or bruises or with hangovers. Hell, I broke my hand in spring training in '55 and played the entire season in pain, but you didn't sit unless you couldn't play. First of all, there was somone always waiting to take your job from you. Remember Wally Pipp?" He was, and still is absolutely correct.
There are downsides to the plan, of course. First, you would see a perpetual migration of the best players because there would be no long term contracts. But when you think about it, that really evens out the playing field. There are also a bunch of hungry players wanting to get to the show who would push even harding knowing that now, they had a much better chance of getting there without some 6 year contract blocking their path. Second, players would know, their performance mattered gretaly because their next year's contract will be predicated on it. I believe they should also make most contracts incentive laden to maximize the effort of the players. Now, if the owners want players that will want to play for them, they will have to treat the players decently, and not try to run a sweat shop operation. The owners will also have to defend themselves form their own stupidity which is what got the game to its present condition. With a neutralized union and no staggering salaries, the owners would be wise to share the wealth with the most important commodity in the game, the fans. They could reduce the lavish wastes that are thrown at luxury suites, high dollar digs, and glossy showmanship, and return the game to an affordable form of entertainment for the fans. They would find they would make just as much money with less effort.
Now, this will never happen because it makes too much sense and no one in the game today has much common sense. It is an "I, me mine" world in a "team" game. They two just don't mix.