It is professional sports, you do what is in your best interest because the club is definitely going to do what is in its best interests.
I like JV but at 40 the Mets overpaid. JV was not as good at the end of the season as he was at the first part of the season.
In my opinion he had one last season in him and the Astros were the recipients. But we will see.
The hall of fame decides what he goes in as……players don’t have that option anymore as I understand it……they talk to the player and get their opinion but ultimately comes down to what the hall chooses.
It’s an interesting decision… His best years were with the Stros but majority of his career was in Detroit…
For sure and Id be happy if he ended up wearing our hat into the hall but as of right now about 3/4 of his career came with the Tigers. That includes his ROY, Cy Young/MVP season, and a WS appearances. Smart moneys probably with Tigers.
When does Roy Oswalt go in…?
Can’t believe him & Berkman aren’t getting mote consideration…
We should appreciate the contributions of JV for the Astros. He elevated the team’s national profile, and while his postseason contributions were less successful, his regular season performances were spectacular.
This might be his last contract so taking advantage of the market is understandable. If he gets hurt, it’ll be the Mets problem.
The Astros don’t need him and the money saved will now be applied to strengthen roster weaknesses.
The team objective is to win the WS. How will they get there?
The Astros starting and reliever pitching staff is among the best in MLB. The offense is better with Jose Abreu and by adding another good bat in the outfield, the Astros starting roster is stronger.
IMO, keep Yuli for his versatility. At some point he may be called upon to play multiple positions next season. Also, he’s a fan favorite
Even though the team just won the WS, we’re a stronger, deeper, more experienced team for next season. Barring injuries to key personnel, the Astros should be the favorites to repeat a WS title.
I’m guessing Yuli’s agent is seeing if he can find 2 year 10-12M deal somewhere.
If not I really hope we can get him back….He could probably get 20 starts at 1b , maybe 5-7 more at 3b for Bregman and some at DH……plus if Abreu, Breggy or Yordan spend any time on the DL having Yuli has your backup in that scenario is great.
It was painful to watch Seaver and especially Carlton at the end. Lefty bounced around with something like 6 clubs last couple of years
I thought MLB now made the choice.
I seem to recall an incident where someone was paid to choose a team in the past that wasn’t the team he spent the most time with so MLB took the choice away from the player.
Looked it up. The Hall chooses, but the player has input:
How does the MLB Hall of Fame pick which cap a player wears during enshrinement? - cleveland.com
Reading further down, I see Pollard beat me to it.
Damn.
Not really. Taking time to recoop is one thing but you’re being paid. Never going in the dugout, coming back to town, showing up for media stuff.
I take time to be with my family on vacation or in a crisis. Saying you need to take 10 months paid leave to get better and be with your family might rub some folks the wrong way.
I never hated JV but after reading your post I’ve started. He did a good job in recovery and he did a good job on the mound. But I don’t know that many professionals in their line of work that would just leave their employer for money. And, arguably, the percentage increase aside JV’s would probably affect my acquaintances more profoundly.
And I don’t love Springer or Correa, never loved them when they were here. I do love Altuve.
Good for you
Did the Astros get insurance money when he was out? Surely they had a policy on him.
I think the 2nd paragraph about greed and wanting more money is the exact situation as Verlander. Both of them could have stayed in Houston and had a great career here.
Cole was an absolute tool they way he handled his exit. Telling Smith that he was miffed that coach didn’t use him in relief on short rest. All the while he knew coach was trying not to get him hurt. Then he puts his Boras hat on in the locker room. Like a little #% girl that’s been given everything her whole life intentionally embarrassing her father in public.
Par for the course. He was known as a little bully at UCLA, getting his friends to tell the coaches things when he didn’t like someone. Seeing him almost cry when Boone took him out was one if the highlights of my season. Hopefully we’ll see it again next year.
In my hate fantasy he pitches inside to Bellinger and they get into a fight and both guys pepper spray each other and start crying.
JV and the Astros mutually benefitted from their relationship. It’s questionable whether the Astros would have won two World Series without JV, and it’s also questionable JV would have won two WS and two Cy Youngs if he had not come here.
JV made the best decision, for him, to go to the Mets. The Astros made what they thought was the best decision as well in not resigning him. No argument with either one of those.
However, to describe coming back from TJ at 39 as a sacrifice is a stretch. What exactly did he sacrifice? He was paid somewhere between $50M-$65M for two seasons in which he started a total of one game. Add in the fact that apparently he wasn’t with the team much during that time, and that doesn’t seem like much of a sacrifice.
I don’t begrudge JV getting paid when he was hurt- that’s how the system works…but let’s not say that he made a sacrifice in rehabilitating to return. That really doesn’t hold water.
Honest question but have you ever thrown your arm out and had to have surgery? I get JVs a millionaire with a hot wife, so it’s hard to boo hoo for him too much, but rehabbing sucks. He could have half assed his rehab and collected his money and then hung ‘em up. But he didn’t, as evinced by his Cy Young, he put in a lot of work to get back to the top of his game. That’s why I’m not bothered at all by the fact that he wasn’t with the team for a year. I’m also an Angels fan. We’ve had more injuries over the last 6-7 seasons than any other team. I could care less if Anthony Rendon is sitting in the dugout asking Mike Trout about where he’s gonna eat after the game. I just want the guy to come back healthy and play at an elite level (which he won’t).
Back on JV tho, I don’t think you guys are giving him enough credit for coming back. I know he had a financial incentive to rehab his injury. But the reality is majority of pro athletes in his situation would’ve hung them up. They’d have been content to just ride out, stay in bed with their hot wife, and not put themselves through rehab process (which again is not fun). Or even if they had had enough desire to rehab they probably would’ve come back a shell of themselves. His drive and sacrifice put us over the top last year and got us a 2nd ring.
But that’s just my thoughts. I realize I’m probably not swaying anyone’s opinion on here.
To answer your question, I never blew out my arm and had to rehab. I pitched through college and never really had any serious arm trouble. I’m very grateful for that.
I don’t have anything against JV. I was incredibly impressed with how he pitched when he came back, and I do realize that rehabbing really must suck- hats off to any one who does that.
I guess we have different definitions of sacrifice. You are right- he could have done his rehab halfway and still collected his money in 2020-21. I appreciate the fact that he dedicated himself to coming back so strong, and he was a huge reason why they won the WS this season.
However, because he worked his butt off in rehab, he’ll make somewhere over $110M from 2022-24…and I’m fine with that. I just don’t see much sacrifice- in my mind, you can’t take the $ out of
equation. He did what he needed to do to come back and perform at an incredible level, and he will be very well compensated for that.
I’m not trying to change your mind, just giving my opinion. Maybe it’s just semantics over the word sacrifice.
Yes, I have a 5 inch scar on my right shoulder……I absolutely shredded my cuff and had major surgery.
It was so bad that I was told at 22 I would never pitch again but I would be able to toss the ball around with the son I never had at that point.
So yes, the rehab is excruciating although I don’t know what is the easier recovery, cuff or TJ.
For 50M + I could muster up the courage….lol
And JV didn’t rehab only because it was his job. That dude still wants to make money and isn’t ready to leave the limelight, which is true of most high-level athletes. He had his own motivation to put in that work, and it paid off for him.
“Sacrifice” is putting that work in while in the minor leagues and not getting paid squat, not knowing if you’ll ever get paid. Those guys have to decide to put their lives and non-baseball careers on hold to pursue a dream.
JV didn’t give up or risk anything to rehab - he just went to work. That’s not a knock on him, but the fact is that he was getting paid to be a ballplayer, and his rehab was part of that. Guys who go on road trips and play a full season sacrifice a hell of a lot more than he did.
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