That's because he doesn't have to. He gets paid regardless.
Watched the Phillies get humiliated by the Braves, last night. Guess Harper ain't the savior there either.
Trouble with baseball, is too rigid, that innovation is stifled. Comments on Wilkerson, were more of the why did the manager so mishandle his pitching staff to put himself into that position, rather than oh Gee! How about that. The Philly play by play crew made me long for Garry Cohn and Kieth Hernandez.
Boris
Hey Boris, I guess you are right about Manny getting paid regardless, but it's hard to me to fathom. I played semi-pro baseball and football and it was never about the money, I would have played for free and paid my own expenses. I played for the love of playing, personal pride and I never played in front of more than a few thousand people! How can these guys play half-assed in front of 50K+? Many times I played in front of less than 50, but I always played hard.
I still feel most of the injuries I suffered playing and I would happily do it all again. I played and coached sports for nearly 50 years. The only championship team I ever played on was my 9-10 basketball team. I coached some championship teams, but coaches only put the players in position to win, players win championships. I may have only played on one championship team, but it was never because of a lack of effort. You can't win them all, but winning is surly more satisfying than losing!
I'll never understand how a player can be at the top of the talent pool without having a love of the game. One thing almost all great players have in common is the love of playing. It's especially true in todays game because the level of talent is higher then ever! Todays players have more talent, they train more than ever, but their sports IQ does not come close to the players of the past.
Harper could have gotten more per year from the Nationals, but they weren't willing to give him a 13 year contract. He is a great player and he plays hard everyday, but I doubt he will be worth 25 million a year 10+ years from now.
I don't care how many superstars you have, it all comes down to pitching and defense. Harper does not pitch and his defense can be inconstant. He may have one of the strongest arms in the game, but it don't help if you miss the cutoff man or throw to the wrong base.
See how little "experts" know? Braydon Hyde has not mismanaged the pitching staff. The Orioles' starters seldom go 6 innings, many never make 5!. Throw in a 16 inning game on a west coast road trip and there were no pitchers left. I've been saying for years baseball needs to expand the rosters.
I'd like to see a few changes to baseball;
1. Expand the rosters to 30 - Greedy billionaire owners don't want that! Capitalisim is the best/only system, but without conscience it is always the same, greed rules!
2. Get rid of the DH - Let the guys who can't play the field be pinch hitters, see expanded rosters.
3. Electronic Strike Zones. - In addition lets use the rule book, pitches at the letters are strikes! Let's see those homerun hitters hit a high fastball with their new "launch angle" swings.
4. A Pitch Clock, - "Batter up, ready or not here it comes" If the pitcher is not ready, it should be an automatic ball, if the batter is not ready, it should be an automatic strike. Play ball for God sake!
Why do so many players have to adjust their batting gloves after every pitch? Even when they don't swing!!! Or pitchers stepping off the mound between pitches, 3-4 hour 9 innings games are ridiculous!
Speaking of the word ridiculous, would commentators please go back to using the word as it is defined?
Ridiculous- adjective: Deserving or inviting derision or mockery; absurd.
Same goes for the word, filthy and others. Somebody give these clowns a dictionary, please! I don't think it's cool. It makes me turn the sound down. Welcome to the "age of stupidity"! One look at Washington, DC proves my point.