From the Department of "Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse", comes a headline from USA Today:
Giancarlo Stanton's agent warns free agents about joining New York Yankees
As a sports agent, what do you do when your chronically injured, high priced client shits the bed for an entire season and his team complains about it?
One thing you might do is keep mum and count your blessings that the ink on that contract dried long ago. You might take comfort in the knowledge that your client is set for life. You might even mutter something about sticks and stones and leave it at that.
Another alternative, however, was one chosen by Joel Wolfe, Stanton's agent. That would be where you poison the very water in which your client is drowning and make sure your client gets no other teammates who might come in and help lift his game.
This war of words started when Brian Cashman called out Stanton's fragility and miserable season in a few deft, stinging sentences:
“[Stanton]'s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game. He’s injury-prone. We all have lived and known that, but he’s never not hit when he’s playing, and this year is the first time that that’s happened."
Wolfe took some serious umbrage at these words. Wolfe said that Cashman's comments serve as...
"...a good reminder for all free agents considering signing in New York, both foreign and domestic, that to play for that team you've got to be made of Teflon, both mentally and physically"
In my worldview, Cashman would be within his rights to respond as follows:
Teflon? Your client hit .191 last season, including 24 HRs and 60 RBIs in a whopping 101 games. He also set career lows in slugging and OPS. Forget Teflon. Your client is made of porcelain.
So there we have it. We're saddled with a guy to whom we owe $98 million. A guy whose agent doesn't want any more free agents to be signed who might help his client out of his funk.
With respect to premier free agent Juan Soto, Duque wrote this morning:
Bat [Soto] third, and Aaron Judge adds 20 HRs. We might even salvage Giancarlo.
And our favorite $98 Million salvage project doesn't see the fundamental correctness of Duque's observation.
Great. Just great.
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10 comments:
And in other news...
"Padres owner Peter Seidler has died at 63 years old, the team announced Tuesday.
“The Padres organization mourns the passing of our beloved Chairman and owner, Peter Seidler,” Padres CEO Erik Greupner said in a statement." NY Post
Interesting. Also RIP.
Doug K: Wow. Interesting indeed.
If I were Wolfe, I'd be wary of any plan to bury the hatchet with Cashman that includes rappelling alongside him.
On the Kay show today the question was “Is Cashman trying to get fired?”
I can’t see him leaving of his own volition. Ever. Apparently, they think crashman would be a hot property if he hits the open market.
San Diego will be a mess now.
At least we know Ca$hole will fuck it up.
SSDD
I know the agent's first duty is to stand up for his client. But this seems ridiculous. Does he really think nobody will notice what a complete millstone Stanton has been around the neck of this franchise if Cashman doesn't bring it up?
On the other hand...maybe it's all contrived. Could it be that HAL desperately doesn't want to spend the money on Yamamoto, admiral of the eastern sea, so Cashman works up a way to blame it all on this?
I would put nothing past either man just now.
Maybe Wolfe is angling for Stanton to demand a trade?
(Paul Quantrill DFA'd by the Indians) The 28-year-old righty still has two years of control remaining before he hits free agency. The Guardians rarely part with starting pitching without getting something in return, which makes this move even more surprising. Quantrill returned from the injured list on Sept. 1 and owned a 2.76 ERA in the final six starts of the season. He may have struggled earlier in the year as he was dealing with right shoulder inflammation, but his encouraging finish would lead many to believe that there would still be interest in Quantrill from other teams.
Drafted by the Yankees in 2013 out of college, he went back to school for another year. Very Highly regarded, at least early on. His numbers:
SUMMARY
2023
Career
WAR
-0.1
6.7 career
W
4
35
L
7
23
ERA
5.24 2023
3.83 career
G
19
132
GS
19
94
SV
0
1
IP
99.2
570.2
SO
58
427
WHIP
1.465 2023
1.262 career
He seems like a good reclamation project, baseball-ref's numbers don't cut and paste very well. But I don't see any clear evidence on this site at least that he was seriously injured. The down side is that Cleveland is renowned as an "arm factory", so.... Still, he "seems" like a guy you take a cheap chance on, no?
The Genius was the brilliant guy to bring in Big G. The Yankess in retrospect could have used let-handed bat. Big G. is done and The Genius is stuck with him.
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