Tejada AL MVP

[SoxWin]

Originally posted by LivnLegend
I read in the LA Times, per a clause in his contract, A-Rod recieved $200,000 for his finish in the MVP voting.

Does anyone else find it sick that a player making far and away more than any other major leaguer, with more than $20 million in salary earned in 2002 gets a bonus for not winning the MVP??

For $20 mil a year, I think you you take it for granted you're getting one of the top 5 guys in the game. No bonuses should really be needed anymore.

Rich

[LivnLegend]

Exactly Rich.

Jason, I've been around enough that I realize many stars have performance bonuses in their contracts that reward them for winning awards. Every AL Gold Glove winner earned a bonus except for Hunter. My point is, as Rich pointed out, the guy is the highest paid player already, and yet he gets rewarded even more money for finishing second in the MVP. I'm not sure why you assume he will give it to charity or put it right back into the economy (and I'm hardly interested in an economics lesson); perhaps he publicly said so and I am not aware. My feeling is the money goes right into his savings and investment accounts of which he probably already has obscene amounts of money in.

I don’t blame A-Rod; it’s just too bad that the owners have allowed and perpetuated this situation where every agent, when negotiating contracts probably uses a boilerplate contract that includes bonuses for everything from MVP to Gold Glove to Silver Slugger.

[Jason Moyer]

Originally posted by LivnLegend
I don’t blame A-Rod

I missed that part. Whomever the GM at the time was who signed A Rod (i honestly couldn't tell you) was an idiot, no questions asked. I just don't like the idea of faulting the player for cashing his paychecks.

Jason

[SoxWin]

Originally posted by Jason Moyer
I missed that part. Whomever the GM at the time was who signed A Rod (i honestly couldn't tell you) was an idiot, no questions asked. I just don't like the idea of faulting the player for cashing his paychecks.

Jason

I don't fault him for cashing the cheque, he'd be an idiot not to.

I don't see the need to give anyone with a 5mil (pick a number) or so performance bonuses. You're getting paid the 5mil or whatever to perform at an all star level.


Rich

[TotalEnd98]

Originally posted by sixto
There was supposed to be the "Aaron Award" that was going to differentiate between best hitter and most valuable player. I don't know the full story, but I know somehow MLB dropped the ball.

The award exists, it's just that it doesn't get the coverage the Cy Young and MVP do. I'd fully support bumping the Hank Aaron award up to the same level. That way, you'd have the best pitcher, best hitter, and MVP(not that pitchers haven't won both the MVP and Cy Young in the same year - i.e. Clemens '86, Eckersley '92, the two most recent examples).

This year, the Hank Aaron Award went to Bonds in the NL and Rodriguez in the AL. About what you'd expect, especially since they did it last year too.

[Jason Moyer]

How is it possible for the best player to not be the most valuable?

I completely fail to understand the point of giving a guy an award for being the "most valuable player" based on how good his teammates are. Tejada has better teammates than Thome or Rodriguez, so he wins the award. I don't see the logic in that.

Jason

[twins15]

He is the best offensive player in the AL. And, he won the Gold Glove. He's better than Tejada offensively and defensively. Enough said.

[Jason Moyer]

I don't think A-Rod necessarily should have been the MVP, IMHO Thome/Giambi/Ramirez had better years with the sticks, I just think it's silly that the performance of his teammates was factored into the voting at all.

Jason