By David Rubin
When you hear the name Stan "The Man" Musial, right away you think "St. Louis Cardinals." When you hear Lou Gehrig, you think "New York Yankees." When you hear Tom Seaver, you think "New York Mets." The only problem is, Seaver didn't spend his entire career as a Met- but Gehrig and Musial spent their entire careers with one team. Of course, the advent of free agency changed the entire landscape of player movement, making the days of "one player, one team" a thing of the past. That hasn't wiped the one-team-player out of existence; it's simply made them fewer and further between, which means that they tend to stand out even more to both fans of their respective team as well as within the baseball community.
If you look at the 2010 rosters, you'll note a number of such players,
including Albert Pujols (Cards), Derek Jeter (Yankees), Mariano Rivera (Yankees), Jorge Posada (Yankees), Chipper Jones (Braves), Todd Helton (Rockies) and Mark Buehrle (White Sox). Pujols, Jeter, Rivera and Jones all will be first-ballot Hall-of-Famers; Helton and Buehrle will be on the all-time best lists for their respective clubs; Posada needs a few more years of performance before the jury is out on his candidacy. Each of these players has driven merchandise sales with their respective clubs and have made it easier for their clubs to continue to develop new fans. It's much harder today, in all sports, to develop fans who are loyal to a single team when the majority of their favorite players change teams, sometimes a number of times, before their careers are over. There were never as many Miami Heat lovers (and haters) as there are this season, the first of the "LeBron Era." Therefore, not only should the fans cherish these players while they are still part of the team, but the organizations need to ensure that these type of players stay with their teams, if not forever, at least for the majority of their time in the major leagues.
Pujols becomes a free agent after the 2011 season; Jeter and Rivera are currently free agents, but betting money says both will finish out their careers as Yankees; Posada is tied up through the 2011 season; Helton's 9 year, $140+ million contract ends after the 2011 season, with 2 team-held options that could keep him a Rockie until age 40; and Buehrle is also free after the 2011 season. Jones is a unique case- if he wasn't injured in 2010, missing a majority of the season, there's a good chance that it would have been his last as a major leaguer. He does have a contract that will take him through 2013, including an option, but there's a very good chance that 2011 will be his last season. Therefore, Pujols is the only "long-term" member of this elite club, which grows smaller by the season. (The Cardinals and Pujols are said to be in negotiations on a long-term contract that would keep him a Card for life.)
Ichiro Suzuki technically doesn't count, because he came from organized baseball in Japan, but he has only played with the Mariners, so for argument's sake, if he was included in this discussion, I wouldn't have any objections. The Phillies have 3 long-term, home-grown stars in Jimmy Rollins (SS), Chase Utley (2B) and Ryan Howard (1B), but none have been major leaguers for at least 10 years, the oldest being 31, and Rollins is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2011 season, so it remains to be seen if these infield partners will end up as one-team stars after all. Joe Mauer is all of 27, although he's signed to a long-term contract that should keep him a Twin for the remainder of his playing days. There are also a number of younger players, like Tim Lincecum, who could conceivably remain with a single club, as long as their stats continue to be reasonably consistent, and certainly if their teams remain in contention for the better part of their career.
The New York Mets have one player who fits this mold- one David Wright. Wright, at age 27, has already won 2 Gold Glove Awards, 2 Silver Slugger Awards, been selected to 6 All-Star games, hit 169 homers, knocked in 664 runs and posted a .305 batting average. If Wright played another 8-9 years, and remained reasonably healthy, he'd likely add 250+ homers and 800+ RBI's to those totals, giving him career numbers similar to that of Jones, and making him Hall-worthy, at the least. Wright has been a star during a tumultuous time for the Mets (and when isn't it) and his candor and honesty has been refreshing. He's grown through adversity, coming back from a Matt Cain fastball to the head, along with learning to hit in a distinctly pitching-friendly ballpark, and has just about bounced back to pre-injury numbers in 2010.
Since Sandy Alderson has taken over the GM role a few weeks ago, it was speculated that every player on the roster was available for trade, if the right offer came along. While they acknowledged that they'd have to be blown away to include Wright in any deal, I'd tell them that any deal that they made that included Wright would be the wrong deal. Need I remind the team about how long it took until the team finally solved the mystery of "who could play the hot corner"? Do the trades of Nolan Ryan and Amos Otis mean anything (both being traded for third basemen who were far from the answer to that question)? Wright has been the face of the franchise, almost since his first day in the majors. He loves New York, and drives the majority of team merchandise sales - a winning combination! Therefore, allowing him to play out his career in New York creates a culture that shows fans that performance and loyalty is rewarded, and watching him walk into the Hall of Fame as a Met, and ONLY a Met, adds luster to an organization that has less Hall-of-Famers then the defunct Montreal Expos and as many World Series victories as the 17-year old Florida Marlins organization. The rabid fans of the Mets deserve to walk into the hall along with Wright, should he make it that far, and anything short of that would be another black mark on the organization.
Let's hope that, in another 15-20 years, we're able to revisit this as Wright's name is called to the hallowed halls of Cooperstown, to wear the pinstripes and blue hat once more!
When you hear the name Stan "The Man" Musial, right away you think "St. Louis Cardinals." When you hear Lou Gehrig, you think "New York Yankees." When you hear Tom Seaver, you think "New York Mets." The only problem is, Seaver didn't spend his entire career as a Met- but Gehrig and Musial spent their entire careers with one team. Of course, the advent of free agency changed the entire landscape of player movement, making the days of "one player, one team" a thing of the past. That hasn't wiped the one-team-player out of existence; it's simply made them fewer and further between, which means that they tend to stand out even more to both fans of their respective team as well as within the baseball community.
If you look at the 2010 rosters, you'll note a number of such players,
including Albert Pujols (Cards), Derek Jeter (Yankees), Mariano Rivera (Yankees), Jorge Posada (Yankees), Chipper Jones (Braves), Todd Helton (Rockies) and Mark Buehrle (White Sox). Pujols, Jeter, Rivera and Jones all will be first-ballot Hall-of-Famers; Helton and Buehrle will be on the all-time best lists for their respective clubs; Posada needs a few more years of performance before the jury is out on his candidacy. Each of these players has driven merchandise sales with their respective clubs and have made it easier for their clubs to continue to develop new fans. It's much harder today, in all sports, to develop fans who are loyal to a single team when the majority of their favorite players change teams, sometimes a number of times, before their careers are over. There were never as many Miami Heat lovers (and haters) as there are this season, the first of the "LeBron Era." Therefore, not only should the fans cherish these players while they are still part of the team, but the organizations need to ensure that these type of players stay with their teams, if not forever, at least for the majority of their time in the major leagues.Pujols becomes a free agent after the 2011 season; Jeter and Rivera are currently free agents, but betting money says both will finish out their careers as Yankees; Posada is tied up through the 2011 season; Helton's 9 year, $140+ million contract ends after the 2011 season, with 2 team-held options that could keep him a Rockie until age 40; and Buehrle is also free after the 2011 season. Jones is a unique case- if he wasn't injured in 2010, missing a majority of the season, there's a good chance that it would have been his last as a major leaguer. He does have a contract that will take him through 2013, including an option, but there's a very good chance that 2011 will be his last season. Therefore, Pujols is the only "long-term" member of this elite club, which grows smaller by the season. (The Cardinals and Pujols are said to be in negotiations on a long-term contract that would keep him a Card for life.)
Ichiro Suzuki technically doesn't count, because he came from organized baseball in Japan, but he has only played with the Mariners, so for argument's sake, if he was included in this discussion, I wouldn't have any objections. The Phillies have 3 long-term, home-grown stars in Jimmy Rollins (SS), Chase Utley (2B) and Ryan Howard (1B), but none have been major leaguers for at least 10 years, the oldest being 31, and Rollins is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2011 season, so it remains to be seen if these infield partners will end up as one-team stars after all. Joe Mauer is all of 27, although he's signed to a long-term contract that should keep him a Twin for the remainder of his playing days. There are also a number of younger players, like Tim Lincecum, who could conceivably remain with a single club, as long as their stats continue to be reasonably consistent, and certainly if their teams remain in contention for the better part of their career.
The New York Mets have one player who fits this mold- one David Wright. Wright, at age 27, has already won 2 Gold Glove Awards, 2 Silver Slugger Awards, been selected to 6 All-Star games, hit 169 homers, knocked in 664 runs and posted a .305 batting average. If Wright played another 8-9 years, and remained reasonably healthy, he'd likely add 250+ homers and 800+ RBI's to those totals, giving him career numbers similar to that of Jones, and making him Hall-worthy, at the least. Wright has been a star during a tumultuous time for the Mets (and when isn't it) and his candor and honesty has been refreshing. He's grown through adversity, coming back from a Matt Cain fastball to the head, along with learning to hit in a distinctly pitching-friendly ballpark, and has just about bounced back to pre-injury numbers in 2010.
Since Sandy Alderson has taken over the GM role a few weeks ago, it was speculated that every player on the roster was available for trade, if the right offer came along. While they acknowledged that they'd have to be blown away to include Wright in any deal, I'd tell them that any deal that they made that included Wright would be the wrong deal. Need I remind the team about how long it took until the team finally solved the mystery of "who could play the hot corner"? Do the trades of Nolan Ryan and Amos Otis mean anything (both being traded for third basemen who were far from the answer to that question)? Wright has been the face of the franchise, almost since his first day in the majors. He loves New York, and drives the majority of team merchandise sales - a winning combination! Therefore, allowing him to play out his career in New York creates a culture that shows fans that performance and loyalty is rewarded, and watching him walk into the Hall of Fame as a Met, and ONLY a Met, adds luster to an organization that has less Hall-of-Famers then the defunct Montreal Expos and as many World Series victories as the 17-year old Florida Marlins organization. The rabid fans of the Mets deserve to walk into the hall along with Wright, should he make it that far, and anything short of that would be another black mark on the organization.
Let's hope that, in another 15-20 years, we're able to revisit this as Wright's name is called to the hallowed halls of Cooperstown, to wear the pinstripes and blue hat once more!
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