It's only Spring Training, but Jerry Dipoto's new additions looked good in the Angels’ exhibition contest today, as Mike DiGiovanna of the LA Times explains. Albert Pujols collected two hits, C.J. Wilson and Brad Mills each pitched two scoreless innings and Chris Iannetta homered. Here are today's links…
- Prince Fielder told Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com that joining the Tigers was 'a dream come true' that he didn't even dream about. GM Dave Dombrowski says owner Mike Ilitch's aggressiveness made the $214MM Fielder deal possible. "He is in a situation where he wants to win,'' Dombrowski said.
- Mets owner Fred Wilpon will have to pay as much as $83.3MM, a court ruled today, according to ESPNNewYork.com's Adam Rubin. Irving Picard seeks to recover that sum for losers in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme. All but $1.7MM of that amount is associated with Wilpon's other businesses and charities, so in theory the Mets won't be affected substantially.
- Agent Scott Boras suggested the Mets would be better off if their current owners are replaced, Vincent M. Mallozzi of the New York Times writes. "There has to be an equation where there are requirements for ownership to perform at certain levels, and if they don’t, they would lose their right to own a club and be replaced," Boras said.
- Bryce Harper still has his doubters, but he's clear about his goals for the 2012 season, as Yahoo's Jeff Passan writes. The outfield prospect wants to push his way onto the Nationals’ roster by performing well this Spring Training. Once he gets there, he's "poised to take the mantel from [Alex Rodriguez] as the ballplayer simultaneously most respected and loathed," Passan writes.
“It’s only Spring Training” – that’s the key.
“poised to take the mantel from [Alex Rodriguez] as the ballplayer simultaneously most respected and loathed,” Best part of the article.
That definitely confused me.
I’m thinking that Passan meant at that point in his career, or is talking in a business sense, maybe? Not even Yankee fans seem to respect Arod any more. At least, that’s the general vibe I get from here and around where I live.
I’m guessing he meant Arod pre-2008.
pre ” i didnt know what my cousin was injecting me with”
pre ” 3 time MVP, 12 time all-star”
Fred Wilpon’s total finances is in crisis, so whether or not the money comes out of left pocket or his right one, he’s still in a world of trouble. He owes several hundred million coming due in June 2014 and before that $75m this year is due to BOA. And let’s not forget the unpaid load from MLB.
I don’t see any way he gets out of all of this without selling the Mets. If his debts and whatnot keep exploding, MLB will force him to. Whatever happens, it’s a bomb on the horizon.
Scott Boras’s heartfelt concern for Met’s fans is touching. Perhaps next he’ll find a way to return his portion of the 36 million dollar contract he negotiated for Oliver Perez
Report just came out saying he might only have to pay $30 million rather than the $300+ million they were originally asking for- I’d wait till the trial on the 19th to try to play any guessing games about Wilpon and the Mets
Report just came out saying he might only have to pay $30 million rather than the $300+ million they were originally asking for- I’d wait till the trial on the 19th to try to play any guessing games about Wilpon and the Mets
Arods not really all that respected anymore.
Fred Wilpon should sell the team.
Now theres an idea! I wish he would have been on the hook for 1 billion +
Scott Boras should buy the Mets and show us all what he means by ownership performing “at certain levels.”
I was going to post that, exactly. See how he enjoys the other side.
But that would ruin the surprise of the “Mystery” Team every year!
But that would ruin the surprise of the “Mystery” Team every year!
$214M and now Fielder “wants” to win ? Brewers fans must love hearing that.
That quote was about Illitch
That makes sense. The paraphrasing of the article didn’t make it terribly clear.
Yeah I initially thought it was about Illitch, then went back and re-read it after seeing your comment and can see how it could get mixed up. I had to read the article to be totally clear.
Same here.
“position where he wants to win”
Translation: He’s 82 and his time is short. He’s got billions, and he doesn’t care if he loses money that would otherwise be split among his heirs and the government in a few years.
There’s no better example as to why baseball needs a salary cap. Here you have an owner that really has no qualms about overpaying a player based on his (the owner’s) age, and his enormous wealth.
As a Brewer fan, I don’t think we ever would believe Fielder didn’t “want to win” in Milwaukee. He never left the lineup. So that statement was clearly about Illitch.
Its made clear in the actual article that it was about Illitch. The way it was paraphrased above is misleading.
From what I’ve heard, Harper has some growing to do. His head is huge, his ego is enormous and it doesn’t sound like he respects the game all that much. Maybe a humbling act like being sent down to the minors (AA?) will go a long way to help.
You’re exaggerating it a little.
every single thing I said I took from different things that I’ve read. Maybe I didn’t convey that properly.
every single thing I said I took from different things that I’ve read. Maybe I didn’t convey that properly.
spoken like a true braves fan.
he’s 19 years old and you say he has some growing up to do.
well gee golly thats a stretch
Too much leniency? Many 19 year-olds find their way to the bigs (not every year, but plenty enough), and they arrive with the mindset of a rookie, not an entitled “been-there, done-that” vet. Let’s hope he does adjust his attitude, but if not, someone will certainly adjust it FOR him after a bit.
not too many players come with his backround. comparing him to joe schmoe doesnt work.
I wouldn’t say that the fact that lots of people are immature at 19 excuses anybody else from also being immature. Whether he’s ready for it or not, he is now a professional and he should be expected to conduct himself like one — especially on the field.
The good news is that very few people in MLB are going to care who he is or thinks he is, so the humbling that should give him the push he needs in that direction is pretty much built in.
spoken like a usual commenter that doesn’t think before they post. Everything I said was from different articles that I’ve read about him. Obviously I didn’t convey that properly even though my post begins with “From what I’ve heard”. I do not know the guy nor do I have anything to do with him other than the fact that he plays my favorite sport. Maybe the articles are the ones exaggerating.
spoken like a true braves fan.
he’s 19 years old and you say he has some growing up to do.
well gee golly thats a stretch
From what I’ve heard, Harper has some growing to do. His head is huge, his ego is enormous and it doesn’t sound like he respects the game all that much. Maybe a humbling act like being sent down to the minors (AA?) will go a long way to help.
Maybe I´m wrong but I don´t see the Angels making the playoff this year
They finished 5 games out of the single wild card last year. They add Pujols, CJ and get healthier, add in another wild card and they still don’t make it? I really disagree.
They finished 5 games out of the single wild card last year. They add Pujols, CJ and get healthier, add in another wild card and they still don’t make it? I really disagree.
Basically what he was trying to say was, “You know at first they offered me like $180 million and I was like I don’t know about that. Then they offered me $214 million and it was a dream come true.”
Bryce Harper is 19 years old, barely “wet behind his ears” and he is being brought up comparatively in sports articles involving A-Rod? Give the kid a break will ya!
Harper hasn’t been around MLB long enough to form any valid opinions about any players who have established themselves for a long time in MLB. When Al Kaline came up as a 19-year old, he was not exposed to this kind of nonsense by the press. Let Bryce give his best shot at making the Nats before setting him up as a political football for sports writers (who make their living creating dirt and doing character assassinations).. to write about. Why isn’t Manager Johnson shielding this lad from the drivel already being written about him? He is not even old enough to buy a beer in most states. Still a kid. Come on!
he’s being compared to other players who came up 19…most players who make the majors at 19 become stars. perfectly valid comparison
you expect harper to grow up by being shielded from the big bad media? how is he going to mature if they do that?
Like every other 19 year old….watching, listening, and learning, over time, how not to get baited into say ridiculous things by sly, smooth talking members of the press and media corps, who are looking to capitalize on his youthful naivety and lack of experience… for their own gain. This kid is in camp to play baseball not to entertain sports media camp followers. I don’t think he should be totally isolated from the press/media but his exposure to that side of baseball should be in a controlled environment established by the Nationals front office and manager Davy Johnson.
Bryce Harper is 19 years old, barely “wet behind his ears” and he is being brought up comparatively in sports articles involving A-Rod? Give the kid a break will ya!
Harper hasn’t been around MLB long enough to form any valid opinions about any players who have established themselves for a long time in MLB. When Al Kaline came up as a 19-year old, he was not exposed to this kind of nonsense by the press. Let Bryce give his best shot at making the Nats before setting him up as a political football for sports writers (who make their living creating dirt and doing character assassinations).. to write about. Why isn’t Manager Johnson shielding this lad from the drivel already being written about him? He is not even old enough to buy a beer in most states. Still a kid. Come on!
It’s a really terrific post that manages to conflate past, present, and future loathing. A-Rod, Boras, and Harper. To be fair, A-Rod and Boras have many years toiling in the vineyards of fan dislike. Let’s give Harper a chance to grow up a little before relegating him to that status.
I never realized A-Rod was that disliked. I mean there will always be people that hate him for the contracts he has commanded, but it takes two to tango. He got those contracts because owners thought he was worth them.
Is it the PEDs? I don’t approve of them, and it certainly puts his entire set of career accomplishments in question, but I wouldn’t say I dislike him for it. It was just too widespread for me to attach that kind of emotion to it. Bonds, A-Rod, Sosa, Palmeiro, McGwire — heck, even if those accomplishments are now completely in question those guys gave us some of the greatest baseball moments of the late 90s. There is a not-unsubstantial portion of people who credit the Sosa-McGwire home run derby known as the 1998 season for reviving baseball after the strike.
I don’t know, maybe I just don’t get worked up enough about these things to say I dislike players, much less declare them the most disliked person in baseball.
I’m indifferent to A-Rod (and I’m a Yankee fan). I think there’s a lot that goes on with A-Rod that makes him a lightening rod for critics. Some is jealousy-in his uninjured prime, he had to be among the top three players in baseball. Some, unquestionably is the contract-and I think more the first one, which seemed so outlandish, than the second one, which just seems a silly George overpay. The steroids don’t help. But, I think that at the end of the day, his personality is hard to like-he’s got a tendency to come off the wrong way, say the wrong thing. For a guy with a mountain worth of talent, and one who clearly works hard, he’s never seemed comfortable in his own skin.
Fair enough. I’m not a Yankee fan, so I don’t get to hear anything from him that often. He seemed likable from afar, aside from the whole cheating/steroids thing.
I’ve obviously seen Arod quite a bit and years ago I used to feel bad for him, as the media in NY (as everyone knows) is brutal and he would get ripped apart. I honestly thought that he was one of those guys that had good intentions but was just………dumb. Nothing more, nothing less, just not a very intelligent individual. However, that view has changed over the years, and now I just think he is a jerk (granted he’s been quiet the past year or two). He just never comes off as sincere, always has that weird smirk in his interviews and seems very “ego-inflated” if that makes sense.
Just personal opinions here
I’m going to try to re-post what I attempted about five hours ago. Maybe we expect far too much of these players-we want them to win the triple crown each year, and be a great guy as well. But at the end of the day, it’s runs and wins that count and put fannies in the seats. The fans know it as well-even the best loved player is eventually shown the door if he doesn’t retire first.
Mets will settle the day before trial like most civil cases. Great chance it settles.
Boras is a pile of crap- he is lucky all these owners want to win soo bad. The payrolls should be half of what they are. The Wilpon’s are suffering the full brunt of the Madoff ponzi scheme. The investors have been repaid by the government in full with interest. Nobody innocent loses a penny in situations like this due to the overly generous U.S. Federal Government.
wait…payrolls should be half of what they are? just what needs to happen…MLB owners make another billion and a half or so in profit
For his own sake, I hope Harper does make the Nats out of camp and then struggles mightily for a month or two. I would imagine that nothing is more humbling for a pro ballplayer than a demotion from MLB to AA.
This kid needs to realize that despite all of his talent, all of the media attention and all of the money, he’s still just a prospect. And prospects, regardless of where they were picked in the draft, burn out and fade away more often than they succeed.
or wait till he starts acting up and the pitchers start throwin some high heat his way, thatll humble him up real quick i bet. although I do like your method better.
well at least Harper won’t have to worry about the Mets. None of their pitchers can throw heat or even get it close to the plate 🙂
position players as hyped as harper dont burn out
You just keep on believing that, friend.
Mark Prior. Need I say more?
Mark Prior. Need I say more?