La Russa: MLBPA forcing Pujols to ask for a record-setting contract
Tony La Russa doesn’t believe that Albert Pujols is all about the money. He thinks it’s that damn Major League Baseball Players Association that is making Albert Pujols be all about the money.
From ESPN.com:
St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa said Tuesday that he believes the Major League Baseball Players Association is attempting to “beat up” Albert Pujols and his agent in an attempt to get Pujols to sign a record-setting contract.
And that, La Russa said emphatically, “is bull—-. That’s not the way it should be.”
“I’m not saying that if I was a union representative I would do it differently,” the manager said. “I’m just saying I think it diminishes the other factors that a player looks at. … I think each negotiation should be based on what’s the best decision — taking everything into account, not taking one thing into account.”
But because the union sees Pujols as a player who can raise the salary bar, he’s under more pressure than your average player, La Russa said.
This sort of pressure has gone on for years, with many high-profile players, La Russa went on. But in Pujols’ case, he said, this was “not just arm-twisting. It’s dropping an anvil on your back through the roof of your house.”
La Russa said he had no specific evidence that Pujols was being pressured by the players union. But he said his many years in the game have made that “a guaranteed assumption. It’s gone on since I started managing. And I don’t think they’d deny it.”
I think the first sentence in that last paragraph sums up this situation nicely: La Russa has no evidence that the players union is pressuring Pujols.
Who knows, maybe La Russa is right and the union is pressuring players to get the most they can. But it’s not a stretch to think that the players and agents want to soak every last penny out of teams. Why wouldn’t they? If they’re lucky, players are able to land one, maybe two big contracts throughout their playing career, so you better believe they’re going to stretch the dollar amount as big as possible.
Besides, I don’t really see a benefit for the union to demand that players ask for as much money as possible. There’s already a natural order to the way contracts are done now. Player A makes X amount in 2010, then Player B makes a little more than what Player A made in 2011. Player C then makes a little more than Player B and the cycle never stops.
The union already has what it wants, so there’s no real need to put pressure on players. I think La Russa has just grown frustrated that this Pujols contract situation hasn’t been resolved and the players are set to report to spring training.
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“The union already has what it wants, so there’s no real need to put pressure on players.” Are you serious? Contracts for players like Pujols are landmarks that can cause a ripple effect across the market. The MLBPA is not going to allow this cash cow to give a home-town discount just to stay in St. Louis, when he can set the bar for next year’s big name free agents. I think LaRussa is right on in this case…he’s been around the game long enough to know how the system works.
Let me clarify my thoughts.
The union already knows that the prices of contracts are going to keep going up no matter who the player is. As long as there are teams like the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs and Dodgers willing to spend every year, the prices of contracts will always increase. It’s just the natural order of things.
“Contracts for players like Pujols are landmarks that can cause a ripple effect across the market.”
Then why aren’t more players making $33 million a year like A-Rod is? Sabathia made $24 million last year. Jeter $22 million. Teixeira, Santana and Cabrera made $20 million. They’re all making a ton of money but they’re not making $33 million. If a contract like A-Rod’s was supposed to cause a ripple effect across the market, then why is the next player only within $9 million of the landmark when he signed that deal in 2000? That was 11 years ago.
I see what you’re saying: the union needs Pujols to make $300 million so the next superstar can make $325 million. But this is what I’m saying: the natural order of things is already playing to the union’s favor. Contracts are going to go up no matter what, so forcing a guy to do something like La Russa is suggesting doesn’t make sense.
And again, it’s not hard to believe that players and agents want as much money as humanly possibly, so it’s not like the union has to hold a gun to anyone’s head to ask for trillions of dollars. Surely someone like yourself who hates today’s athletes can agree with that.
I think La Russa is talking out of his ass and you’re just there to scoop it up. Get yourself a bowl and a spoon, T-Bone!
ha! Touche! Contracts will continue to increase as long as the union continues to create competition by publishing what every player is making. There’s nothing natural about it. Every new contract signed is a new starting point for a similar player looking for a new contract. Without that information going in, the basis for negotiation would be the players last contract. Advantage, player.
Regarded as the best offensive players, nobody is going to make more than A-Rod and Pujols, and if someone does, expect a contract re-negotiation. But as each landmark contract is signed, they pull the rest of the market up comparatively. When A-Rod signed his record contract with Texas in 2001 of 10 years/$252M, the Yankees were “forced” to sign Jeter to a then team record contract of 10 years/$189M. Before A-Rod’s contract, Jeter was expected to sign for about $70M less and 3 fewer years. Just one of many ways the union manipulates the market.
There are players that just want the most money (A-Rod to Texas) and players that want the best situation (Cliff Lee to Philly). But if someone is in line to sign a record contract, I doubt that the union will allow that opportunity to slip by without intervention.
As always, good points, T-Bone.
It sounds like I’m making the union out to be a bunch of angels, but I’m not. I get that they benefit from players asking for the most money possible. But again, under the current structure where, as you pointed out, the contract numbers are already released, they don’t have to put pressure on the players.
And that takes us back to my original point: I don’t think the union is putting pressure on anybody; or at least not like La Russa is making it out to be. They already have players and agents asking for max value.
I made an error when I wrote this:
Besides, I don’t really see a benefit for the union to demand that players ask for as much money as possible.
And that’s your biggest beef, T-Bone. I get that, and I should have worded it differently. There is a benefit. I’m just not buying that it’s happening the way La Russa is saying.