Loyalty in the MLB

[mexican dodger]

I grew up with guys like Chipper Jones, Craig Biggio, Todd Helton, all sticking with they're teams for the long haul. That's the way it should be in my book.

What is wrong with this generation of players? Are you guys a fan of hopping ships from one rival to another like these guys do today? Guys leaving their teams for more money.

Examples of guys leaving for rivals:

Josh Hamilton to the Angels from the Rangers
Johnny Damon to the Yankees from the Redsox
CJ Wilson to the Angels from the Rangers

Example of franchise players leaving for better money:

Albert Pujols to the Angels from the Cardinals

It seems like the guys that we once cheered and loved always take the money over loyalty these days.

Do you guys have a problem with this or is it just me? Nothing's stranger then seeing your franchise guy leave town for more money.

I'm guessing ur a rangers fan..just a wild guess lol

[GoCrew5]

That's why I love players like Joe Mauer, Evan Longoria, Ryan Braun etc. They take less money to stay with the team that drafted them.

But do you really blame players these days? FA is getting way out of control and you see players getting 150-200 M contracts pretty much every single year. It's only going to get worse as the TV deals continue to kick in.

[Vampirate]

That's why I love players like Joe Mauer, Evan Longoria, Ryan Braun etc. They take less money to stay with the team that drafted them.

But do you really blame players these days? FA is getting way out of control and you see players getting 150-200 M contracts pretty much every single year. It's only going to get worse as the TV deals continue to kick in.

Of course then there are the cases of both.

Joey Votto is a Red for life, but man, his contract is HUGE.

[seikou8]

its a business

[KadoCH]

The fans are fickle and the owners show no loyalty.

Its a cliche but you play for yourself and your team mates.

[scottythegreat1]

You hardly see it....If youre good, and another team is willing to throw the dollars at you, then youre going where the dollars are. It doesnt matter what league youre in, youre going where the money is. If you were to look at who has 10/5 rights...there arent many, and it shows that players move a lot.

[Yankees90.]

While I agree with you about taking the best offer, and the best offer isn't always simply based on finances, the Cardinals offer was not 5 years/100M. It was something like 9 years/200M I believe.

Really? I could have sworn I heard on MLB Network after he signed with the Angels that it was around 5 years and 100 million and that it was one of the main reasons he didn't return. I might be wrong though. Either way if your figures are right, than thats just dick what he did lol

pujols was a going to be a god in st. louis. There is definitely value in being a legend like that. His glory would have lived on forever. But he took the cash option and left. I guess having a few extra bedrooms was worth it to him.

Oh absolutely. You are talking about one of the greatest of all time, and that is saying a lot considering he is roughly half way through his career. I agree that he would have went down as a god, legend, saint, whatever you want to call him, and it is unfortunate he couldn't play his whole career in St. Louis.

I'm someone that has always said I would be loyal to my team if I was going to be big for years to come in that city. As long as I felt the love and got a fair offer.

[mtf]

Really? I could have sworn I heard on MLB Network after he signed with the Angels that it was around 5 years and 100 million and that it was one of the main reasons he didn't return. I might be wrong though. Either way if your figures are right, than thats just dick what he did lol

I do remember hearing that he had $200+M offers from the Marlins and Cardinals in addition to the Angels offer, so I just googled it after I saw your post to try to find the Cardinals offer. 9 years, $200 million was reported number I saw in the first article I checked. Considering Pujols got an extra year and an extra $52m from the Angels, I'd take the offer with 25% more money and an extra year if I were him too.

[gmanthree15]

Isn't the point of free agency that the player is free?

Why should Hamilton have loyalty to a team who he helped carry offensively for half a decade offensively while they did nothing but low-ball him with offers this year.

He found a team willing to pay him what his market value was, and he didn't give the team that yo-yo'd him and low-balled him all winter the chance to match it. I bet Texas learned their lesson on that one, now they'll have to get rid of Profar to get Upton to replace Hamilton.

[Vinny642]

Loyalty.... LMAO

[tripleplay2007]

I'm guessing ur a rangers fan..just a wild guess lol

I'm guessing you saw the Texans logo. More of an Astros fan but I do live in Texas so I'm a fan, not enough to be upset by this though.

I really think Hamilton was extremely loved in Texas.

My mom brought up a really good point to me earlier when I was talking to her about this earlier today though.

She said "I bet it's hell for him just jogging to the outfield looking up at the spot where the man fell over the wall and lost his life when he tossed a ball up".

Makes perfect sense, I really wouldn't want to be out there either. Has to haunt the man.

[Tony Perkis]

Why should Hamilton have any loyalty to the Rangers? They didnt draft him, he played there for only a couple seasons, and they publically called him out in the press for stopping chewing tobacco. The only way I would personally have any loyalty to a team is if they drafted me in the 49th round and gave me a shot, otherwise...Show Uncle Tony The Money!!!!!!!!!!

[Tragedy]

Thats why I love Jeter and Mo so much. It's not easy to find loyal players in the MLB, but there are a special few that are.

Easy to stay on one team when that team is going to guarantee you the biggest contract you can possibly get. Kind of a skewed way to look at it.

[thefeckcampaign]

You guys probably ain't loyal to people when there's no money involved, don't act like you would with millions of dollars on the table

I would not question others' integrity when I do not know them. I own 2 businesses & I am a professional musician and I have yet made a decision against my values & integrity purely for money. They are worth much more to me than that. I need to be able to look myself in the mirror and know I did the right thing.

Now if someone's values are not the same as mine, then what they choose may be perfectly fine for them, though I might not do it myself. As long as it does not hurt anyone, I'm okay with it. I may not respect them, but that is a whole other topic.

[ShockerArt]

It's a business. If you get the opportunity to maximize your earnings and at the same time choose your favorite location to live, I would expect you to take full advantage of that.