As I was watching each LCS wind down, it struck me as fitting that the Yankees and Phillies were not going to the World Series. For three reasons… Roy Halladay, Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt.
Stay with me on this one!
In all honesty, I have always liked these three guys as players. I have always appreciated their talent and I honestly always pull for the guys to get to “The Stage” who have never been there. It would have been nice to see any of these guys finally get a ring!
The thing is this… I am getting tired of players holding the team that drafted and developed them or signed them to a long term contract hostage to their whim.
I am also quite tired of the notion that many players have that going to the Yankees or this current version of the Phillies almost guarantees that you are going to win a World Series… or play in one!
Oswalt signed a long-term, no-trade contract that made him difficult to move… then he hand picks the team he will go to? How does that not make it almost certain that the Astros will not get anything close to his true value in return? Same thing with Berkman! Both of these guys left a place they supposedly loved to go to teams that had “a better chance” and ended up $crewing the franchise they supposedly were loyal to. They sold their souls and still are sitting for the World Series!
Halladay was a little different yet not by much. He had a long term deal in place that HE SIGNED! The funny thing is that with the core of young pitching that the Blue Jays already had, Halladay actually could see that team playing in October soon and he could have headed up a rotation that in many ways is like what SF has… A LOT of talented young starters! Toronto has (by far) the best stable of starting pitching in the AL East. The Giants have shown just how far pitching (and pretty much ONLY pitching) can take you!
Both Roys are now on a team that has around 150M committed for next year and probably does not get Werth back… the Phillies are getting old in their core as we saw Utley, Rollins, Victorino and Ibanez battle injury in 2010. The 2011 Phillies could look quite different and that Braves team is on the rise. There is a decent chance that Philly does not even play in October in 2011!
With the staff that the Jays have and the way that the Astros played down the stretch… is it that much of a long shot that those teams are not on the October stage soon?
And, we have plenty of feedback this year on how far 206M in payroll takes you… all the way to the couch in October!
The World Series in 2010, while it looks to be a pretty compelling story already, could be a nice message to the players in MLB… look for the place you like to play with guys you love and trust… do not just follow the paycheck and how much you can break the bank for a “guarantee” that you will play in October! When will some guys figure out that success is that much sweeter when you are part of building it or that if you work hard in MLB, you will make more than enough scratch to set up your family for generations?
As the 2010 LCS for each league was winding down… I just had to laugh a little at Halladay, Oswalt and Berkman! Not nearly as hard as I was laughing at the Yankees… still, I was laughing!
Pretty nice to see a David vs David World Series!
