Anyone noticed how much better some players
perform when it's their "contract year"? My cynical
side can't help but wonder why they get so much
better when their... financial futures are on the line.
Adrian Beltre is a great example of this. Now he's a
young guy (supposedly), so it's possible that his
numbers just "shot up" all of a sudden because of a
natural progression of his skill and talent. Who
knows.
This season he increased his output from the
previous season by 25 homers, 41 RBIs, 66 hits, 94
points on his batting average, 98 points on his OBP,
205 points on his slugging, 54 runs, and 139 total
bases. Wow.
Over the previous five years, he averaged 18.4
homers, 73.4 RBIs, and a .265 batting average.
What a difference a contract year makes!
The other free agent everyone is talking about is
Carlos Beltran. Most of his numbers are more
similar to previous years, except his home runs (12
more than last year). He averaged 26.3 homers over
his previous three seasons, and had 38 this year.
His batting average actually dropped 40 points from
last year (I guess because he was trying so hard to
hit homers so that he could get a big contract
because he and his agent know that that's all that
anbody cares about nowadays.)
It's funny how all the commentators have repeatedly
said "Kansas City has known for years how good
this guy was, and now we all know." He was good,
maybe even very good, but not great, in Kansas City.
Or at least that's what the numbers say.
perform when it's their "contract year"? My cynical
side can't help but wonder why they get so much
better when their... financial futures are on the line.
Adrian Beltre is a great example of this. Now he's a
young guy (supposedly), so it's possible that his
numbers just "shot up" all of a sudden because of a
natural progression of his skill and talent. Who
knows.
This season he increased his output from the
previous season by 25 homers, 41 RBIs, 66 hits, 94
points on his batting average, 98 points on his OBP,
205 points on his slugging, 54 runs, and 139 total
bases. Wow.
Over the previous five years, he averaged 18.4
homers, 73.4 RBIs, and a .265 batting average.
What a difference a contract year makes!
The other free agent everyone is talking about is
Carlos Beltran. Most of his numbers are more
similar to previous years, except his home runs (12
more than last year). He averaged 26.3 homers over
his previous three seasons, and had 38 this year.
His batting average actually dropped 40 points from
last year (I guess because he was trying so hard to
hit homers so that he could get a big contract
because he and his agent know that that's all that
anbody cares about nowadays.)
It's funny how all the commentators have repeatedly
said "Kansas City has known for years how good
this guy was, and now we all know." He was good,
maybe even very good, but not great, in Kansas City.
Or at least that's what the numbers say.
