FREE AGENTS...THE RUMOR MILL

I just don't understand what is going on in some of these guy's heads when it comes to free agency. I know that most of these guys are very prideful and when it comes time to finally cash in on a period in their life they've been waiting for, that nothing is going to get in their way when it comes to cashing their golden ticket. However, I just can't get over the fact that they could just up and leave places that signed them and gave them the opportunities that made them major league ball players.

Now I know that all things being equal, these players would never leave the teams that brought them up and gave them these great lives. I know that loyalty doesn't always go both ways. I know that if a player has moved past that small window of production, that the team will cut them loose and throw them away like it's garbage pick up day. There are defiantly a lot of factors in play here so I know I have to tread carefully and be specific in what kind of player I'm talking about. It just has me increasingly dazed and confused as to how some players who have already made fortunes and spent so many years nurturing relationships within the cities they've played for, could just up and walk away for what seems like a little extra spending money that they'll never live long enough to even spend.
Today we learned that Albert Pujols has left the Cardinals and signed with the Angels. WHAT?! No way. No frigging way! How could that possibly happen? The Cardinals must not have offered him anything, right? WHAT?! They offered him 200 million dollars? And he still walked away?
That right there is what I'm talking about. Now I know a lot of you are going to say this is all just sour grapes because Jose Reyes has just left the Mets for a bigger contract in Miami, and while that might have some logic to it, all it really did was get me thinking. How could a player who has already made so much money as never want for anything else ever again, just walk away from a team and city that he has spent over ten years playing for. A team he has not only won two championships with, but also one that offered him yet another 200 million dollars to stay. I mean, this is a place that he and his family live. A place where the fans consider him to be the best player in their storied franchise. A franchise that has had many great ball players and teams, and this man was more loved then any one who has ever played there. His life, family, charities, restaurants, investments, and legacy were all there in St. Louis. And he just up and left for the chance to make an extra fifty million! I know, it seems like a big gap, but when you think about the total earnings over his career playing baseball would have still been over 300 million if he stayed in St. Louis, how can you justify it?
I had heard that before the 2011 season, before they won another championship, the Cardinals offered him the same deal plus a piece of the team. Now, you can't for a second say they was any doubts about whether the Cardinals wanted him back like with the Jose Reyes situation. This is a team that wanted him. A team that loved him. A team that made him wealthy beyond most people's wildest dreams. A team that has constantly been competitive, and a fan base that loved and adored him and at this moment are scratching their collective heads right now going, "why didn't he stay? I thought that he loved us back enough that 200 million would've been enough for him to stay no matter what." At which point in all the money making is enough, enough? I mean, doesn't the past and the relationships and being able to keep your family in a place that they love and that loves them, mean anything anymore?
Or do these players really have an absolute binding obligation to their agents, for the sake of their agents earnings and reputations, that they must go to whatever place the agent gets them the best deal? I would have to think that the player has the ultimate and final decision as to where they want to play. What place is best for themselves and their family. I've heard it many times when a player says that they had to do whats best for their family. It the usual excuse for a player when asked why they left the team that signed or drafted them and gave them their first chance. Well, you can't tell me that uprooting your family from a place and moving them across the country, when you could have stayed put and still been insanely rich, was in the best interest of their family.
This has more to do with pride I would have to assume. These players want to be the highest paid because it strokes their massive egos. I almost can't blame Albert for that. If I was him, I'd want to make more then A-Rod. There is no comparison that Pujols, right now, is better then A-Rod and I'm sure he wanted to be paid as such. All I'm saying is that the cost sometimes might not be worth it. Those fans that used to look at him, look up to him, right now probably wouldn't even ask for his autograph right now. I'm sure in the press conference he'll thank them and say they mean more to him then anything, but how are they supposed to believe that? When it comes down to it, he left them for nothing...for his own personal pride.
This happens a lot in sports nowadays and it's pretty sad. The Mets used to be on the receiving end of such deals, but not anymore. Hopefully, ten years from now when "GEN 2K" are at the negotiating table, the Mets will be in a better place financially. Because I don't want to watch any more of our homegrown stars leave for reasons that will make me think bad of them. You just can't justify to me, that the need to be even more richer is worth the sacrifice of so many even richer relationships and bonds that one makes over time.
ON ANOTHER NOTE:
Recently, the rumor mill has been abuzz over whether some of our homegrown pitchers might be being dangled in the faces of other, more fortunate, franchises in the hopes of possibly being blown over with a possible trade package. Jonathon Niese and Bobby Parnell are the two pitchers. Well, this wouldn't be good if it came to fruition for so many reasons.
First, Jon Niese is a excellent pitcher. He has more then enough velocity on his fastball, one of the better curves in the game, and a great cutter that he uses much like Al Leiter did for the Mets nearly ten years ago. I believe Niese is going to be a much needed left handed starter for the Mets when Gen 2k is ready in 2014 and possibly one of the better pitchers of the bunch. He as the potential, possibly even this year, to be our Cliff Lee. If he could only get in better shape and master his arsenal, Jon is going to be great. Right now you would probably be selling way too low and couldn't get a package good enough in any trade.
Parnell is a flame throwing reliever who some thought could be the Mets' closer some day. He flamed out while trying last season, but with the revamped bullpen, he could be a great piece coming into the less pressure packed sixth and seventh innings, where he just might blossom into the dominant pitcher he has the potential to become. There are not many guys that can hit triple digits at will, so I hope that this is just a rumor and not anything that should be expected.
Fortunately, Sandy and the front office are pretty bright and know what these guys are capable of, so anything that might happen concerning them are in good hands. However, it is important to know exactly what these two bring to the table both this year and potentially in the future, that way if anything is done on the trade front, we can decide for ourselves whether it was a good deal or not.