Connelly: This time it really feels like the end for Chris Davis as an Oriole

[Frobby]

47 minutes ago, SteveA said:

The odds of another Covid shortened season seem pretty slim.  When MLB restarted, it was not at all clear that they would be able to finish a 60 get season.

But now we are 11 days from the finish line and it really looks like all 30 teams, even the Marlins and Cardinals, will get in 60 games or darn close to it.

I think there is no reason not to expect a 162 game schedule next year.  Maybe the only issue will be whether there are capacity crowds from day 1 or not.

Now if Labor strife might cancel the 2022 season, maybe they hang on to Davis so that if the 2022 season is lost, they save that $23 million.  That's an awful thought!

I truly hope that when next spring comes around, COVID will not be a big factor in anyone’s business or personal considerations.    But it remains to be seen how the colder weather, onset of flu season etc. will affect things.     I don’t want to turn this into a COVID thread so I’ll just say it would be understandable if the remaining uncertainty about whether a full season will be played in 2021 would factor into the Orioles’ thinking about whether and when to cut Davis.   It also might factor into any buyout discussions, since Davis has some uncertainty here, too.   

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

I think $46 mm buys a tremendous amount of self-delusion.    

I still remember from Psych 101 they did this experiment where two groups of people were asked to do a boring, repetitive task for several hours.  One group was unpaid, the other group got a nice stipend.   Afterwards they were asked how interesting the assigned tasks were.   The paid group said it was much more interesting than the unpaid group did.    
 

Now multiply that effect by 46 million, and you have Davis’ situation.  
 

True. I can understand that's a lot of money to walk away from, but he's also made enough money to last three rich lifetimes.

[luismatos4prez]

14 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

True. I can understand that's a lot of money to walk away from, but he's also made enough money to last three rich lifetimes.

Anecdotally, I've spent some time around ultra-wealthy individuals. "I can relax. I've got enough." is not a mentality I ever observed in any of them.

[survivedc]

21 minutes ago, luismatos4prez said:

Anecdotally, I've spent some time around ultra-wealthy individuals. "I can relax. I've got enough." is not a mentality I ever observed in any of them.

True, I just wonder if that mentality among business/entrepreneur types is different among athletes. I always assumed athletes primary motivator for continuing to play was competition/winning.

[DrungoHazewood]

44 minutes ago, survivedc said:

Of course without games we never know who is in which group. Someone thought of as an 80%er, esp in the low minors, occasionally shows their worth and gets their act together. 

I think there will always be games, but MLB seems to be reconsidering the choices they made 100 years ago when they decided to directly employ hundreds of minor leaguers per franchise so that they can figure out which 10 or 15 are major leaguers.  The world would continue to go around the sun and the vast majority of players will be picked out if each MLB team had a couple of affiliates and everyone else played in independent leagues or college or whatever.  MLB operated very happily for over 50 years with essentially no affiliated minor leagues at all.

[DrungoHazewood]

3 minutes ago, survivedc said:

True, I just wonder if that mentality among business/entrepreneur types is different among athletes. I always assumed athletes primary motivator for continuing to play was competition/winning.

There's probably a good book or at least a feature article that could be written by interviewing guys like Rickey Henderson, Julio Franco, Jamie Moyer, Willis Otanez, Cesar Valdez, etc.  Ask them why they played for so long in so many places, moving almost constantly, signing deals for $5000 a season, playing winter ball in Caracas, going to Korea or Japan...   Henderson made $44M in his MLB career, but there he was in '05 at the age of 46 playing in an indy league for probably $2500 a month.

Of course that's not representative of everyone in MLB.  Or maybe even most. There are players who retired in their early 30s when they could have played another 10 years. Mike Mussina stepped away after a healthy 20-win season.

[joelala]

8 minutes ago, survivedc said:

True, I just wonder if that mentality among business/entrepreneur types is different among athletes. I always assumed athletes primary motivator for continuing to play was competition/winning.

Wouldn’t that be nice. I think it also depends on the athlete. That may be more true for those who grew up with money and don’t “need” that extra 4 mil. But if you came from nothing I imagine the psychology is very different. 

[Frobby]

37 minutes ago, DrungoHazewood said:

There's probably a good book or at least a feature article that could be written by interviewing guys like Rickey Henderson, Julio Franco, Jamie Moyer, Willis Otanez, Cesar Valdez, etc.  Ask them why they played for so long in so many places, moving almost constantly, signing deals for $5000 a season, playing winter ball in Caracas, going to Korea or Japan...   Henderson made $44M in his MLB career, but there he was in '05 at the age of 46 playing in an indy league for probably $2500 a month.

Have you heard the story of the time the Oakland A’s had a $1 mm discrepancy in their accounting records, and eventually traced it to a $1 mm check that Rickey Henderson had never cashed?    Turns out that he had framed the check and hung it on the wall.     I guess cash flow was not a concern for him!

http://legendsrevealed.com/sports/2017/01/02/did-rickey-henderson-really-frame-his-first-million-dollar-check-rather-than-cash-it/
 

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

I still wonder how possible/probable a buy out is.  Allows them to save money but also allows Davis to walk away with more cash.

This seems like the logical conclusion but  don't think Boros or the union would be happy with that.

[Sports Guy]

6 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

This seems like the logical conclusion but  don't think Boros or the union would be happy with that.

Yea, that’s my guess too.

I don’t even know if it’s legal in MLB.  It happens all the time in the NBA but don’t recall it ever happening in MLB.

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, Sports Guy said:

Yea, that’s my guess too.

I don’t even know if it’s legal in MLB.  It happens all the time in the NBA but don’t recall it ever happening in MLB.

I think it’s happened at least a few times.   Michael Cuddyer is an example.   https://www.google.com/amp/s/nypost.com/2016/03/01/michael-cuddyers-retirement-didnt-save-mets-full-12-5-million/amp/

[maybenxtyr]

2 hours ago, Frobby said:

Have you heard the story of the time the Oakland A’s had a $1 mm discrepancy in their accounting records, and eventually traced it to a $1 mm check that Rickey Henderson had never cashed?    Turns out that he had framed the check and hung it on the wall.     I guess cash flow was not a concern for him!

http://legendsrevealed.com/sports/2017/01/02/did-rickey-henderson-really-frame-his-first-million-dollar-check-rather-than-cash-it/
 

He was one of the absolute best players I ever had a chance to see play. He's a love him or hate him guy, but dang he was good.

[wildcard]

Chris Davis is the O's union rep.  I am sure the union stance on Davis contract is that he is owed 46m for the next two years and he should get 46m whether the O's play him, sit him or release him.

I think the possibility of a COVID shortened season next year and the possibility of a shortened season  in 2022 due to  a MLB/MLBPA  strike are real things that he Orioles ownership and management will consider.  This has been a good thread to point that out. Kudos to SteveA.   

It sure makes me wonder if it is worth keeping the 40th player on the Rule 5 protection list vs keep Davis because it could save them millions.   Its not a question of does he play.  Its a question of going with 26 players without Davis  vs 25 players plus Davis if the second option has the chance of saving 10m dollars due to a shortened season in the next two years.

[NCRaven]

Unless Davis is willing to take less to retire early, I think the O's will wait as long as possible to see what the 2021 season will look like.  That probably means keeping him on the 40 man throughout the winter and up to spring training before making a decision.

[Philip]

4 hours ago, luismatos4prez said:

Anecdotally, I've spent some time around ultra-wealthy individuals. "I can relax. I've got enough." is not a mentality I ever observed in any of them.

I don’t remember the name of the movie about Wall Street, but in it one of the characters asks the bad guy what his magic number is.

“Everybody has a magic number, the number at which they can stop running. What is your magic number?“

and the guy smiles and replies, “More.”