Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
For some guys, sure.
For marketable personalities? I'm not so certain of that.
Look at it this way - Mike Trout would dwarf Derek Jeter had he come up as a Yankee. There'd be no way of escaping him. He'd be on every commercial during every sporting event you'd ever see.
Instead he's doing ensemble spots for Subway because he's on the west coast and nobody ever sees him.
If you're Bryce Harper and the Cardinals offer you 10/$350 while the Yankees offer you 10/$275 - I honestly think you take the Yankees offer because you'll make that money and then some through mere exposure. It won't end when you retire either - it'll just keep rolling in as you become a Yankee 'ambassador'. There's a significant financial HoF bump as well (can't remember the figures, but they ain't small) and Harper would get a nice little Yankee Kicker from the sportswriters there. I think if NYY gets anywhere in the ballpark, Harper'd be nuts not to take it.
As for Machado - I think he's perhaps not as outgoing as Harper and may just want to get his money on the field. Well the Phillies will oblige him. Besides - y'all just saw the same series I did; you still excited about him? In the middle of a must-win series he was taking plays off out there. And while I won't accuse him of being largely apathetic, I'd say 'flat affect' accurately describes his countenance in that series.
I'd say eliminating Shildt made a difference and a huge one at that, but only because it took our chances of getting one of those guys from 0% to 1%. I mean from a percentage standpoint that's like, infinity times more likely.
It's like playing powerball - the only ticket that appreciably changes your odds is the first one. From that point forward you could by 100 of the damn things and your odds are still so infinitesimally small that it mathematically you haven't made a dent. That's what we're looking at here.
The only realistic chance they had at a big-ticket guy like that was to trade for him, sell him on the experience and maybe they win in FA. You can't get big money vets to do the trade/sign model anymore (Rolen/Edmonds approach) but you can at least take the Holliday model, give them a chance to appreciate the organization from the inside and then effectively offer to match any bidders.
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I agree, there is not a chance in hell of us winning against the Yankees in a FA pursuit. That said.........
We are not the Angels level of TV desert. We are on national TV the maximum allowed times every year because we get better ratings than other teams. Even when we sucked bad, they still put us on TV.
I think Harper can still get his national commercials playing for us. Obviously, not like NY, but still get his share of them.
Harper seems to me that he wants to win. Plays hard. Now, he would fit right in here with our past and finally current culture. He thinks Washington fans are great? He was here recently when a new guy in the OF got a standing ovation for a catch in the OF. He saw the fans into the game. Maybe..just maybe... a fan can hope....
I'm scared off of Manny now. He plays 3B he is a big time difference maker. SS he is okay. He is going to insist being the SS. He is extremely talented but he does take plays off. That fire isn't the same as Harper. I'm afraid that a 10 contract will hamstring us in 5 years. At least with Harper we can get 7 years out of him before the decline.