Don't look now,as I'm sure many of you on this board are aware of this,the Houston Astros look like they are going to feild an entirely white starting eight.Ensberg at 3rd,Everett at short,Burke at 2nd,Bagwell at 1st,Ausmus catching and an outfield of Biggio,Berkman and Lane,throw in Rocket Roger as the staring pitcher and there you go.You gotta love it.I think a healthy dose of white starters for each team would be set at five or more.Teams in that neighbourhood would be Philly,San Diego,St.Louis,Cinncy and of course the afore mentioned Astros.That's for the National League,in the American you have Boston,Toronto,Chicago and Oakland.With a few changes here and there you could probably add a few more teams to this list as the season progresses,like in Atlanta whereI fully expect Mondesi to be out of the starting lineup soon and be replaced by possibly Ryan Langenhurns(spelling) and I don't think Brian Jordan has much left either.
Houston Astros
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Astros' Insurance Plan to Keep Bagwell Away
By MURRAY CHASS
Published: February 2, 2006
IF Drayton McLane drops in at the Houston Astros' spring camp in Kissimmee, Fla., on Feb. 23 or 24, he should plan on seeing Jeff Bagwell.
McLane, the Astros' owner for 13 years, would prefer that Bagwell, the Astros' first baseman for 15 years, stay home. But Barry Axelrod, Bagwell's agent, said yesterday: "Feb. 23  mark the calendar. That's when he's going in."
Astros position players are scheduled to report to the Kissimmee camp Feb. 23 and have their first workout the next day. For 15 years, there has been no question about Bagwell's presence in spring training, but there's a $15.6 million question now.
Bagwell had surgery on his arthritic right shoulder last June, and McLane has said doctors believe the shoulder won't let Bagwell play this year. Usually, a club and its owner would be hopeful that a star player, the soul of the team, would be able to play. Not this time.
There is a method to McLane's madness. If Bagwell doesn't play this year under medical advice, the Astros could collect $15.6 million of Bagwell's $17 million salary from their insurance policy on him. Bagwell's salary is guaranteed, so he will get his money no matter what develops.
But that's what makes this dispute so different. Bagwell says, "I can play." The Astros say: "No, you can't. Stay home, and we'll send your checks the 15th and 30th of every month."
If they hold to their positions, Bagwell and the Astros will most likely end up in internal, if not infernal, baseball litigation, and an arbitrator will decide the case, which will be unusual, if not unique.
"We don't know at this point what will happen," Tim Purpura, the Astros' general manager, said yesterday. "It's something that our attorneys are looking at. It's a real murky situation."
Axelrod knows at least half of the coming storyline.
"Jeff plans to show up for spring training and be ready to participate as he always has," he said. "Can they stop him? I've never been here before. This is uncharted territory for me. I've never heard of a team banning a player from playing when he shows up for spring training."
Michael Weiner, the general counsel for the players union, said he had talked with Axelrod about the case, "but I don't have all the facts."
"It's a strange situation, obviously," Weiner said. "If they say he's disabled so that he can't go on the field, and he says he can play, there would have to be a grievance. They can't just put him on the disabled list. He has to be disabled."
Timing has compounded the complexity of the case. The Astros would have no problem with Bagwell going to spring training if they had until, say, March 31, to determine whether or not he could play. But they had to make a decision by Tuesday  Jan. 31  because that was the day the insurance policy expired. For the Astros to be able to collect on the policy, they had to file a claim by then and they did.
Why was the policy written with a Jan. 31 expiration date? Who knows why insurers do what they do?
"It's as much a timing issue as anything," Axelrod said. "If we didn't have to decide in January if a guy is totally disabled, it would be a different story."
Axelrod said the Astros had told him they tried to get the insurance company to extend the claim-filing deadline, but nothing changed.
"If I were the insurance company lawyers, I'd be licking my chops at the thought of an extension," Axelrod said. "If Jeff goes out and plays, they would be off the hook. That's something that could still happen."
In the meantime, the Astros don't want Bagwell to show up in Kissimmee. "At one point," Axelrod said, "Drayton said, 'Why doesn't he just take a year off?' I said, 'You don't take a year off when you're 37, 38.' "
What makes the situation worse for the Astros is that Bagwell has been the heart and soul of the team. He is immensely popular with teammates and fans.
"That's the sad thing, what this guy has been to the Astros," Axelrod said.
Everyone rooted hard for Bagwell to play in the Astros' first World Series last October, and play he did, serving as the designated hitter in the first two games and pinch-hitting in the last two. His shoulder made it impossible for him to play first base.
"Dr. Andrews saw him last month," said Axelrod, referring to James Andrews, the noted sports orthopedist. "He said Jeff has a bad shoulder with degenerative arthritis and bone spurs and has limited mobility. But he's had that for several years, and he's averaged 160 games, 600 at-bats, 100 runs batted in and 30 homers a year, so he has shown he's capable of playing through the thing."
Other teams have had players whose careers ended because of injuries, and insurance policies paid their salaries, the Mets with Mo Vaughn and Baltimore with Albert Belle, for example. It was clear, however, that Vaughn and Belle could not play.
"I don't blame someone for wanting to save $15.6 million," Axelrod said. "But it's the cost of doing business. I haven't seen any team take such drastic steps to be out from under a deal as we've seen here."
Axelrod said the Astros would have a public relations nightmare if Bagwell "shows up and says, 'Here I am,' and they say, 'You're not welcome here.' "
Axelrod also quoted Bagwell as saying, "It's amazing how badly they don't want me to play."
More than $15 million worth of not playing.
By MURRAY CHASS
Published: February 2, 2006
IF Drayton McLane drops in at the Houston Astros' spring camp in Kissimmee, Fla., on Feb. 23 or 24, he should plan on seeing Jeff Bagwell.
McLane, the Astros' owner for 13 years, would prefer that Bagwell, the Astros' first baseman for 15 years, stay home. But Barry Axelrod, Bagwell's agent, said yesterday: "Feb. 23  mark the calendar. That's when he's going in."
Astros position players are scheduled to report to the Kissimmee camp Feb. 23 and have their first workout the next day. For 15 years, there has been no question about Bagwell's presence in spring training, but there's a $15.6 million question now.
Bagwell had surgery on his arthritic right shoulder last June, and McLane has said doctors believe the shoulder won't let Bagwell play this year. Usually, a club and its owner would be hopeful that a star player, the soul of the team, would be able to play. Not this time.
There is a method to McLane's madness. If Bagwell doesn't play this year under medical advice, the Astros could collect $15.6 million of Bagwell's $17 million salary from their insurance policy on him. Bagwell's salary is guaranteed, so he will get his money no matter what develops.
But that's what makes this dispute so different. Bagwell says, "I can play." The Astros say: "No, you can't. Stay home, and we'll send your checks the 15th and 30th of every month."
If they hold to their positions, Bagwell and the Astros will most likely end up in internal, if not infernal, baseball litigation, and an arbitrator will decide the case, which will be unusual, if not unique.
"We don't know at this point what will happen," Tim Purpura, the Astros' general manager, said yesterday. "It's something that our attorneys are looking at. It's a real murky situation."
Axelrod knows at least half of the coming storyline.
"Jeff plans to show up for spring training and be ready to participate as he always has," he said. "Can they stop him? I've never been here before. This is uncharted territory for me. I've never heard of a team banning a player from playing when he shows up for spring training."
Michael Weiner, the general counsel for the players union, said he had talked with Axelrod about the case, "but I don't have all the facts."
"It's a strange situation, obviously," Weiner said. "If they say he's disabled so that he can't go on the field, and he says he can play, there would have to be a grievance. They can't just put him on the disabled list. He has to be disabled."
Timing has compounded the complexity of the case. The Astros would have no problem with Bagwell going to spring training if they had until, say, March 31, to determine whether or not he could play. But they had to make a decision by Tuesday  Jan. 31  because that was the day the insurance policy expired. For the Astros to be able to collect on the policy, they had to file a claim by then and they did.
Why was the policy written with a Jan. 31 expiration date? Who knows why insurers do what they do?
"It's as much a timing issue as anything," Axelrod said. "If we didn't have to decide in January if a guy is totally disabled, it would be a different story."
Axelrod said the Astros had told him they tried to get the insurance company to extend the claim-filing deadline, but nothing changed.
"If I were the insurance company lawyers, I'd be licking my chops at the thought of an extension," Axelrod said. "If Jeff goes out and plays, they would be off the hook. That's something that could still happen."
In the meantime, the Astros don't want Bagwell to show up in Kissimmee. "At one point," Axelrod said, "Drayton said, 'Why doesn't he just take a year off?' I said, 'You don't take a year off when you're 37, 38.' "
What makes the situation worse for the Astros is that Bagwell has been the heart and soul of the team. He is immensely popular with teammates and fans.
"That's the sad thing, what this guy has been to the Astros," Axelrod said.
Everyone rooted hard for Bagwell to play in the Astros' first World Series last October, and play he did, serving as the designated hitter in the first two games and pinch-hitting in the last two. His shoulder made it impossible for him to play first base.
"Dr. Andrews saw him last month," said Axelrod, referring to James Andrews, the noted sports orthopedist. "He said Jeff has a bad shoulder with degenerative arthritis and bone spurs and has limited mobility. But he's had that for several years, and he's averaged 160 games, 600 at-bats, 100 runs batted in and 30 homers a year, so he has shown he's capable of playing through the thing."
Other teams have had players whose careers ended because of injuries, and insurance policies paid their salaries, the Mets with Mo Vaughn and Baltimore with Albert Belle, for example. It was clear, however, that Vaughn and Belle could not play.
"I don't blame someone for wanting to save $15.6 million," Axelrod said. "But it's the cost of doing business. I haven't seen any team take such drastic steps to be out from under a deal as we've seen here."
Axelrod said the Astros would have a public relations nightmare if Bagwell "shows up and says, 'Here I am,' and they say, 'You're not welcome here.' "
Axelrod also quoted Bagwell as saying, "It's amazing how badly they don't want me to play."
More than $15 million worth of not playing.
I have been a Bagwell fan for his entire career, but he really does need to retire. He has been hurt off and on for the past two years and his production when he does play doesn't justify $17 million. They could get a lot of good players for that kind of money.
That's where the strength of the players' union in baseball actually hurts guys like Bagwell because no contracts are allowed to be renegotiated. Bagwell could still be productive, but no team would want him at his current price. He was my favorite player for the past 10+ years and it'll be a shame if he's done.
white is right
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The Twins in the late 80's won with a virtual all white lineup(except for the rapist,adulter,cheapskate). I remember some media morons saying stuff about them, but this had no logic, as they won it all? Were they supposed to have more black or latino players and lose?
white lightning
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I don't want to jinx one of my favorite teams,the Astros but they are within a 1/2 game of the Cards.The Rocket pitches on Friday.Can they get back to the playoffs?I sure hope so because they are capable of beating anyone out there if they get in.Their pitching staff with Clemens,Pettite and Oswald can shut down most teams.I really want to see them get back to the World Series like last year but this time win it.This team is just a blast to watch play.Good luck to them with only four games left!
Don Wassall said:
That's an interesting take. And I agree with it 100%. I still argue that league minimums in the NFL hurt white players too. Face it, if you're a white athlete and know you aren't going to get a fair shot, you simply reduce your salary requirements as a way to get the chance to prove yourself. Now, if you are the GM and you could hire a guy who you think is borderline(a white player WR of course) and pay him 75% less salary as compared to another guy you also think is borderline(a black player QB turned WR), wouldn't it be logical to go with the less expensive guy?
But if you got to pay them both the same, and you will receive instant criticism and maybe calls of racism for going with the white player over the black, how many people in the NFL have the guts to take that?