When Posey got the Snell question (about re-signing) at the press conference I didn't think he sounded too enthusiastic about it, and I'd figure that Buster didn't care for Snell declining to pitch.
I take your point. He prioritizes self-care. I wish he had more character. The dude can pitch amazingly well (when he isn't walking peeps), and if his market somehow falls back to earth may be we manage him a bit better in the future.
I was so glad to read your column. When I read that he chose not to play because the game didn’t matter, I was shocked and disgusted. Who gets to make those choices? What about everyone else? So glad to know your opinion matches mine!
I understand your and J.T.’s viewpoint. True Snell has only pitched one 9 inning game, however very few starters complete games anymore. Gone are the days when Juan Marichal won 25 games and completed 25 games. Blame analytics, pitch counts and frequent injuries for lack of complete games. What brings me to the stadium —-quality players. Yes, the Giants need to get younger, but signing Soto and Snell makes the Giants must see baseball and brings sell outs back to Oracle.
Kinda the way I felt when Christian McCaffrey opted out of the bowl game for Stanford because it wasn’t a major bowl game. Sure, he was going to the NFL and one more college game meant nothing. But for plenty of his teammates — guys who had had his back for years — it was their last time on the field and the game meant a lot. But welcome to high level sports, where it’s me first all the way.
I see this a bit differently. I didn't like seeing Mac opt out of that bowl game either, but football is a gladiatorial game, even on the college level, so I could understand his unwillingness to risk his entire NFL career (and millions in future earnings) for one last game. If he were to suffer a Bo Jackson type of hip injury in that bowl game, he might have ended up selling life insurance for the rest of his life instead of playing NFL football ... and eating himself alive wondering what might have been.
So if I didn't like it, I understood it.
Snell banked 30 million this year (minus the fat commission of Boras, of course), and probably made 10 to 15 million from San Diego last year, and who knows how much from Tampa Bay before that. Point being, he's already made at least fifty million dollars by age 32, which is more than enough to "put food on the table for his family" - or more likely, live in the lap of luxury -- for the rest of his life and then some. Sure, he's now lined up to score big with a multi-year minimum $150 million contract -- and maybe a lot more -- but refusing to pitch just a few innings for the fans who bought tickets assuming they'd get a chance to see him throw the ball was an incredibly weak -- and very revealing -- move.
What we don't know is how hard Boras leaned on him to bail, but you can bet he did. After all, he stood to lose the huge commission he'll make on Snell's next contract if something went sideways in the final game, and if there's one thing we know about Boras, he's all about the money.
So I'm ambivalent about Snell. If the Giants sign him, okay: maybe they'll get a good two or three seasons out of him before his control begins to falter -- but if goes to another team, that's okay too.
When Posey got the Snell question (about re-signing) at the press conference I didn't think he sounded too enthusiastic about it, and I'd figure that Buster didn't care for Snell declining to pitch.
I take your point. He prioritizes self-care. I wish he had more character. The dude can pitch amazingly well (when he isn't walking peeps), and if his market somehow falls back to earth may be we manage him a bit better in the future.
I was so glad to read your column. When I read that he chose not to play because the game didn’t matter, I was shocked and disgusted. Who gets to make those choices? What about everyone else? So glad to know your opinion matches mine!
I understand your and J.T.’s viewpoint. True Snell has only pitched one 9 inning game, however very few starters complete games anymore. Gone are the days when Juan Marichal won 25 games and completed 25 games. Blame analytics, pitch counts and frequent injuries for lack of complete games. What brings me to the stadium —-quality players. Yes, the Giants need to get younger, but signing Soto and Snell makes the Giants must see baseball and brings sell outs back to Oracle.
Kinda the way I felt when Christian McCaffrey opted out of the bowl game for Stanford because it wasn’t a major bowl game. Sure, he was going to the NFL and one more college game meant nothing. But for plenty of his teammates — guys who had had his back for years — it was their last time on the field and the game meant a lot. But welcome to high level sports, where it’s me first all the way.
Agree. Good comparison
I see this a bit differently. I didn't like seeing Mac opt out of that bowl game either, but football is a gladiatorial game, even on the college level, so I could understand his unwillingness to risk his entire NFL career (and millions in future earnings) for one last game. If he were to suffer a Bo Jackson type of hip injury in that bowl game, he might have ended up selling life insurance for the rest of his life instead of playing NFL football ... and eating himself alive wondering what might have been.
So if I didn't like it, I understood it.
Snell banked 30 million this year (minus the fat commission of Boras, of course), and probably made 10 to 15 million from San Diego last year, and who knows how much from Tampa Bay before that. Point being, he's already made at least fifty million dollars by age 32, which is more than enough to "put food on the table for his family" - or more likely, live in the lap of luxury -- for the rest of his life and then some. Sure, he's now lined up to score big with a multi-year minimum $150 million contract -- and maybe a lot more -- but refusing to pitch just a few innings for the fans who bought tickets assuming they'd get a chance to see him throw the ball was an incredibly weak -- and very revealing -- move.
What we don't know is how hard Boras leaned on him to bail, but you can bet he did. After all, he stood to lose the huge commission he'll make on Snell's next contract if something went sideways in the final game, and if there's one thing we know about Boras, he's all about the money.
So I'm ambivalent about Snell. If the Giants sign him, okay: maybe they'll get a good two or three seasons out of him before his control begins to falter -- but if goes to another team, that's okay too.
Just ... not the effing Dodgers, please.