Look at those goal posts move! I can't wait until after I answer this for the goal posts to move again! First you said: Now I have to find examples of not just any athletes who took less then they could have gotten, but "max deal" eligible athletes! Fortunately for me, that's vanishingly easy. Tom Brady: While Brady routinely took less money than his contemporaries — one analysis by Business Insider estimated he left $60 million-$100 million on the table https://sports.yahoo.com/would-the-...-tom-brady-didnt-take-pay-cuts-181906268.html Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade and Lebron James: LeBron James left $15 million on the table by signing with Miami. Dwyane Wade left $18 million on the table to bring the Big Three to Miami. So did Chris Bosh. https://www.businessinsider.com/14-...n-the-table-to-bring-the-big-three-to-miami-4 That article actually has 14 examples of players who took paycuts and that, assuredly, doesn't constitute the entire universe of such players.
Sure, he didn't sign with those teams. That's the only thing I agree on. Mets ain't winning a WS during JVs time there. Book that ****.
I get why fans are the way they are, they care about their team and nothing else. Baseball has no cap, Jim Crane is a billionaire, there's no reason to expect a player to take a paycut when the billionaire is perfectly capable of matching. All parties involved made a personal business decision. The NBA and NFL have caps, there is some basis for a player taking a paycut for the better of the team. There is no such reason in baseball and the salty fans can't provide one. If the CEO of a multi billion dollar company told you to take a paycut for company loyalty so his bonus would be bigger you would tell them to go f**k themselves
Verlander is a wealthy man many many times over. You'd think he wouldn't chase the absolute max dollar amount and miss out on more WS wins. If I had 300+ million in the bank, I'd gladly agree to 30 mill a year and win me another WS. Plus he got paid to miss the majority of two seasons.
I said the same thing. Yes, JV is still optimizing his earning potential which happens to be at max value. I guess Brady is the only possible comparison… although he did also leave like JV did to try and chase a win elsewhere (and let’s not act like he went to TB for the bare minimum). it’s also funny that Lebron and Wade later on also go on to leave their teams (Lebron leaves two teams) for both high dollar deals and the ability to win elsewhere. Bosh probably does the same if his health holds up. I actually see more examples of athletes willing to leave all teams at the very end of their career… if it keeps them in position to win AND still gets them paid. The team they leave sometimes also makes that decision to let them go and not pay them.
The other element to this is when player negotiate the highest dollar deals, they are also helping set precedents for the rest of the league. I would be willing to bet that the MLBPA puts pressure on players to always negotiate the highest dollars they can get.
I am not happy that JV is hurt, but I am happy the Astros aren't paying him $43 million right now. Also, f*** the Mets.
If Crane is supposed to throw money away to please the fans, then I think Billionaires who own Cable Companies should provide free baseball without blackouts and free streaming. I like spending Billionaire's money too.