Jason bay turns down 4 years 60mil. I never realized jason bay could command more than that. I wonder how much a guy like cliff lee, lackey, or holiday will ask for. I am shocked people would pick football over if they had the talent to do either.
I've heard that it's about years, not necessarily money, for Bay. He wants a 5th year. BoSox reportedly didnt offer the 5th year.
Not a lot of people have the ability to hit and/or pitch well at the professional level in baseball. It is also tough to move up and make a major league roster. The NFL has twice as many players, and even if you are dumb as a rock you can make a squad for a year or two assuming you have some talent/athleticism ... in which case you make a few hundred grand at the league minimum. Of course if you have the talent to be another Adrian Peterson in the NFL versus an Alex Rodriguez/Tim Lincecum in MLB, you would be dumb to turn down baseball. But in general if you are not great at either sport but very good at both of them, you can make good money immediately in the NFL ... in baseball you're going to have to work your way up and hope to stick with a major league roster.