Maybe somebody can help me out here, somebody who knows the day-in and day-out grind of a baseball player just a bit better. Or maybe somebody who knows the powers of the all-mighty Greenback just a bit better.
How exactly does somebody start producing better in their contract year? How exactly is Pat Burrell on pace for 44 home runs and career highs in every offensive statistic? How is Joe Crede suddenly gunning for 40 dingers, 120 RBI and a .500 slugging percentage? And how is Rafael Furcal suddenly a 25-home run threat and swinging the bat for a .365 average? And what do you do with these free agents to be?
I know money is one helluva motivator, but how exactly does one player simply just turn it on for a full season? Particularly in baseball, which is as much a skill test as it as an athletic competition. Like golf, the harder you try, the worse a player usually does. You always hear managers talk about keeping players relaxed, or calming down a player who's trying to hard. So how exactly does a player get so much better, so quickly? You can bulk up or down in baseball and see some results, but that's not really the trick in motion/swing sports.
My guess is players with the potential for increased earnings hustle more, watch more tape, study opposing player's nuances and take a more business-like approach day in and out. In other words, they attack all the sport's angles. And that also means they're not doing those things when the big payday isn't on the line.
So if you're in charge of hiring personnel, what do you do with the Pat Burrell's of baseball? The players who, excuse my French, have been half-assing it -- or in other words, squandering their talent by not trying to be the best.
If I'm negotiating with their agents, I combine their best and worst years, divide by two and use that as a baseline. There is no way I allow the negotiation to center around the contract year stat line.
On to the best blogs ... around!
With the NFL Draft season over, something has to fill the mock draft void. Dantheman4250's Sports Blog does a fake NBA Draft, because we all secretly want to be in human resources.
The Red Sox beat the Tigers despite Daisuke Matsuzaka surrendering eight walks. Red Sox Rewind does a Red Sox rewind of Monday's game.
Guess which team had the best combined football-basketball season in the SEC? If you said the Tigers, RockyTopRowdy!'s Fireside Chat agrees with you. Which Tigers? C'mon now.
What to make of Max Scherzer, Dice-K and Johnny Cueto? I White; You Read is back observing in his Fantasy baseball Observations.
Klick of the Day
Not often you come across stories about adding a state to the Union, but North Fort Lauderdale's mayor wants to divide Florida into North and South. He's calling the southern version, South Florida. I call it North Cuba.