Ryan Malmstrom’s Blog

Buster Olney from ESPN posted a response to an email I had sent him in this mornings blog.  (must be an ESPN Insider to view the full blog post)

Perhaps you can shed some light on this. I’ve read various articles over the last few days that have confused me. An example would be “Mets ‘absolutely in’ on Figgins.” Now, Luis Castillo has the same agent as Chone Figgins, but my understanding is that the Angels are the only team allowed to talk with Figgins at this point. Aren’t other teams prohibited from talking to agents about free agents until November 20th?
– Ryan Malmstrom, Minneapolis

Ryan, agents can talk to all teams before the free-agent signing period begins — this year, that will be at 12:01 a.m. on Nov. 20 — but by rule, they are not allowed to talk actual dollars with any team other than the player’s 2009 club. And if you believe the executives and agents all abide by this rule, well, I’ve got some oceanfront land in Vermont to sell you.

I was sure this was the case anyway, but why make the rule if agents and executives are not going to follow it?  This date is put in for a reason:  to allow the teams exclusive negotiating rights with their players that have filed for free agency.   What is to stop Scott Boras from telling Matt Holliday “I know the Mets will offer you more money than the Cardinals, so let’s just wait until after November 20th to sign the deal.”

When it comes to players salaries, no one bats an eye when the advantage falls to the player.  But when a player is not tendered a contract because the team feels the player is not worth what they’ll make in arbitration, the players association is “monitoring comments from team officials that it believes are meant to put a crimp in the money spent on talent this offseason.”

Garrett Atkins is certainly not worth $10 million a year to the Rockies.  Teams are not attempting to keep players salaries down.  They just cannot afford to pay them, knowing what they’ll get in arbitration.  The Yankees can buy a World Series, yet any advantage to the small market teams are either taken away or being questioned.

First off, let me say that I listen to “MLB Home Plate” on XM Radio every single day.  I probably listen to it more than music, to be honest with you.  At least two hours a day.

That being said, I knew the airwaves would be flooded with A-Rod talk.  (if you’re just finding this out for the first time, according to a report by Sports Illustrated, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for anabolic steroids in 2003.) 

So i knew what I’d be up against when I listened on the way out to Grampa Al’s in Faribault, which is a good hour drive for me.  I listened for 3 minutes and couldn’t listen any longer.  It made me sick.

Alex Rodriguez has always been one of my favorite players, despite the fact that he is a Yankee.  I even had more respect for him after the Mitchell Report came out and his name wasn’t in there.  I figured, if there was a “pure ballplayer” — there he is.  Barry Bonds would break Hank Aaron’s home run record, but it wouldn’t matter because a clean player would take on the record in a few years anyways.

I recently read Rob Neyer’s “Big Book of Baseball Lineups” (published in 2002) and each time I got to Alex Rodriguez’s name, I said to myself “wow, what an amazing ballplayer.”  Each time I got to a part about Roger Clemens, I shook my head. 

Oops.

I don’t think I’ve ever turned off baseball in any form.  Even in an off-season that has been focused on where Manny Ramirez will end up.  It’s a game that I’ve loved since my dad and brother introduced me to it.  Yes, I loved the Braves in the 80s.  And since then, I’ve just loved the game, win or lose.

But this one hit me hard and I don’t know how I’ll look at baseball from here on out.  I won’t give up on the game, but I can’t fully trust it either.  Maybe because I fear other of my favorite players being involved.

Alex Rodriguez was the guy that was going to save baseball.  Sort of like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa brought the fans back to the game after the strike of 1995 and put on a show in 1998.  Turns out that all of their paths to saving baseball was by cheating.

“Chicks dig the long ball” but I imagine kids would dig the role model that is clean with pure athletic ability.  Who will save the game this time?  And will they come back?