Loyalty is a rarity in sports these days.
In the new age where free agency and greedy agents rule the sports universe, demanding players to make career moves just to grab the extra bundle of cash, to treat franchises as toys in your game of Pass Go and Collect $200, one familiar face steps out of the pack and forgets the money in honor of unity, loyalty and a drive towards a common goal.
You know the baseball goal: win the World Series. We did that just this past October in case anyone forgot. Mike Lowell was on that team. It coincided with the biggest season of his career: his walk year. Following the long months of the season, Mike Lowell could become a free agent and sign with the highest bidder. Lowell had a career season and a great reputation around the league to boot. He was set to cash in.
Buster Olney reported this morning that Lowell had re-signed with Boston for three years and 37.5 million dollars. In todayǃÙs market that is a very reasonable agreement for a 34-year old playing a premium position coming off a year in which many labeled him the team MVP on the field and in the clubhouse. There is no statistic to measure the influence Mike Lowell had on the Boston Red Sox drive to the World Series title in 2007. He was the biggest surprise of the season, a guy who overcame not only testicular cancer back in his Marlin days, but overwhelming waves of doubt that he could ever hit at a high level again.
Mike Lowell has transformed from a “salary dump” to a World Series MVP. Now he happens to be the toast of the town.
Reports then began to surface this morning that Lowell was aware of an offer from the Philadelphia Phillies: a four year, $50 million dollar contract to play third base. With the Theo-imposed deadline nearing, Lowell had a decision to make. He could sacrifice a greater chance at another ring and move to a new city while collecting $13 million more over another guaranteed year, or remain in Boston where the stadium is packed every night and you have an uncontested bond and familiarity with teammates, fans and the area, granted for slightly less money.
ItǃÙs refreshing in the current state of free agency, in the current world of Scott Boras and Alex Rodriguez, that Mike Lowell sticks to his guns and stays with Boston. ItǃÙs not like Mike Lowell will suffer from any financial difficulties with the contract the Red Sox offered him and he ultimately signed.
From a pure analytical standpoint, the deal will probably be an issue in the last of the three years. That is the risk you have to take in todayǃÙs market. The same goes for the last two years of deals signed by Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera in New York. LowellǃÙs BABIP was insanely high in 2007 but nobody truly expects him to match those numbers once again. Improvements in players like J.D. Drew, Julio Lugo, Ellsbury over Crisp and Manny Ramirez will make up for any slight decrease in production.
By Theo Epstein and owner John Henry convincing Lowell that Boston was the place for him, Epstein was able to keep top prospects Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury rather than trade them for Miguel Cabrera. He was able to sign the 34-year old Lowell to a reasonable contract and keep the glue of the team around for three more seasons.
Consider me pleased with the final result. Consider me impressed with the loyalty of Mike Lowell in the face of a few million more.
Consider the Boston Red Sox the favorites to win the World Series again in 2008.
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This article makes me laugh as a fan of a team from a smaller market for a couple of reasons.
1. getting paid 13 million dollars for playing a game that i played as a 12 year old should never be confused as loyalty. that’s an insane amount of money that 99% of people reading this article will never see in their lifetime, and this was just for 3 years. let’s not give lowell too much credit.
2. saying that the deal will be an issue in the last year of the contract (as will posada’s in NY) is the reason that the smaller markets bitch about teams like NY and boston. you guys can easily eat that year (or the whole contract if that’s needed) and not have it affect anything. you would just move on and buy the next guy. if lowell signs this deal with a smaller market club and then craps out (or gets hurt) it would cripple that organization for years to come.
big market vs. small market isn’t about being able to sign free agents. all these owners are super rich and can afford it. however, there are some teams that can afford it and can also afford it if it doesn’t work out. there are very few of those teams around and that is a competitive advantage.
happy thanksgiving to all, can’t wait for spring training
Gee, 12.5 mil per year for three seasons?
I NEVER [ http://mvn.com/mlb-redsox/?comments_popup=2084#comment-23944 ] would have expected that.
welcome back mike lowell!
kevin, exactly right.
Which is why MLB needs to implement stricter salary budgets and increased revenue sharing. We’re already seeing the positive impact that limited revenue sharing is having on the growth and competitiveness of many of the smaller market teams.
Some teams are probably never going to be able to compete because of massive local mismanagement though.
And meanwhile, pardon me if I enjoy the championships that the separate and unequal MLB salary structure is providing to my hometown team.
Ok, let’s do this again:
1). Boston is the 11th largest metro area in the country.
2). Boston spends more on baseball tickets, just at home, than any other team.
3). Boston has the 1st or 2nd greatest road attendance each year.
4). Boston spends the most or 2nd most on merchandise.
5). Boston has the smallest ballpark in the majors, by far. Oakland doesn’t count.
We have a large payroll not because we have a 25m metro area like NY, but because we are willing to drive 3-4 hours for a game and pay more than anyone else. If you’re in KC, I’m sorry, but if you’re in Philly or St. Louis, you have nobody to blame but your fellow fans.
Sean,
valid points. i’m not really arguing how a team gets the money it spends, i just think their should be an overall limit to that spending. a multi-billionairre could buy the royals and decide to spend 500 million on their payroll. i still think that would be unfair.
and you forgot to add to your list: “boston is on TV every other day and is the media darling and every game against the yankees is made to seem like the end all, be all of the sports universe”.
it must have been an oversite on your part. that “little” point right there adds to the payroll a bit, don’t you think?
i also think their should be a spedning minimum to prevent greedy owners from buying a frnachise and sitting on all their money. this is a business, but it’s also imperative to give the fans something to root for.
by the way, i don’t live in (or root for) KC, st louis, or philly.
“and you forgot to add to your list:
I was just looking for a theme and loyalty fit. I realize its a ton of money either way, but most players will take the highest bid no matter what the situation and I commend Lowell for ignoring that.
good discussion sean, but i think we will have to agree to disagree. i think it’s very easy to have a “smart organiztion” and “rabid fanbase” when you have a huge payroll at your disposal.
you can sign people others can’t, you can retain your own guys at any cost, you can draft the higher profile guys that are paid above slot money.
i will agree that a high payroll will not guarantee success IN the playoffs, but it will guarantee that you will GET TO the playoffs every year (or at least in contention).
that is not true for the clubs that have one or two years of competitiveness, then lose their best players to outrageous offers, and have to rebuild from within for the next 5 years.
your lack of world series titles is not because of lack of talent or money. it’s because you couldn’t play the bully game better than the yankees.
zach,
i do agree with that. he is more loyal than someone like manny who took every last dollar to go to boston. insert several other examples as well at your convenience.
Don’t forget that fairy-boy Damon.
Great News!!!
Boy, if that’s Mike’s mom, she’s gonna be super pissed with me soon.
Classic comment Sean O!
In case anyone wants to know the backstory behind Sweet Caroline…
http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/32627863
(Yes, I have nothing better to do right now than randomly surf news websites for articles like that.)