Because goodness knows knows it isn’t work to be a professional athlete. They’re just playing a game, not like the rest of us.

I think anyone who subscribes to the above sentiment should read David Foster Wallace’s essay about the minor tennis player Michael Joyce, for starters.

In one sense Richie is the victim or just terribly rotten luck: in his walk year after a monster year he stood to cash in for $30-$50M this offseason, more money than most people ever get to dream about, a true lottery payoff—and his shoulder tears on a swing. So he rushes back after far too little rehab to prove ‘he’s healthy’ and keep his market value at peak—and completely blows up the shoulder with a truly terrible injury. Yes, he hurt the shoulder _swinging_, which he will have to do 4-6 times a day, every day, for the rest of his career however long that is for him to have any value whatsoever to a MLB franchise. He then spends the rest of last season on the shelf in return for which his team—who traded a bunch for him—was obligated to pay him the rest of $9M (none of which he offered to give back, it may be said, but then he wasn’t obligated to give it back, no). That impending $30-$50M just went up in smoke. That’s a blow to a person; come on, we can admit that, even if it’s someone else’s misfortune.

. . . But he’s still in denial about the risks and context of his employment as a professional baseball hitter, and that concerns me greatly. It is HIS shoulder, yes, and he’s in a better position than anyone to know how it feels as of today, but he is in no position to evaluate how it will play over the course of next season to say nothing of beyond. He already pushed himself to play with it once when he shouldn’t have, with terrible consequences. What I really hear him saying in that blurb is, “No, no way I’ve just lost $30-$50M, that’s kind of hard to swallow.” In other words, he isn’t even thinking about how to play, and for what next year, he’s still in denial mode on the loss _he’s already sustained_ from this PAST year. I absolutely wouldn’t take his advice on anything regarding his medical condition therefore, and it’s not that I’m calling him ‘a liar,’ he’s just not in touch with his present reality yet. I doubt he could honestly tell anyone anything at the moment, particular with an agent hanging on to him praying that the wallet he had his hand in doesn’t have the gaping hole at the bottom he’s wiggling his fingers through as of today.

And Sexson’s present reality is and should be: one-year, tiny guarantee, nearly all incentives. Richie, buddy, if you are so confident in your shoulder than go on the market for a one-year and prove it to us, just like other guys have to. It’s a tough break that it was your walk year, but it is what it is, and _this_ is what everybody else has do do in your situation. But even if he has a healthy year, which I suspect is highly unlikely, I would never sign him to any long-term guaranteed $, period; just one guaranteed and an option, or at most with subsequent voidables if the shoulder recurrs (which however makes the team look like the bad guy, so probably I wouldn’t do that, either). His shoulder could go at any time, assuming he can play at all.

I completely agree that he is the kind of risk that a rebuilding team should avoid in all circumstances. A team making a run for this year may want to gamble for ‘this year,’ but a team laying a base for several years is crazy to _lock in_ continued high risk at high $$$, which is what Richie will be for at least the next three years. If by outstanding medical care, religious rehab, and proven durability he performs over that span at something comparable to his Milwaukee years, he can start to talk about what he ‘expects.’ I expect a medical trainwreck, I’m sad to say.

Idahobob right there. The statement “I worked hard to get back in shape, therefore I want a contract that makes sure I get paid even if I do nothing to help my team.” Every player has worked hard to get there, including all the guys toiling in the minors. I can understand his feelings, but I can’t help but suspect he’s worried about his shoulder going out again also.

If he’s really that confident in his health he’s going to get much more money on an incentive-based contract than on a guranteed one. His comments don’t make me hate him, but the sense of entitlement bothers me a bit. The work he put in was so that he would have the chance to continue making millions of dollars a year playing baseball, not to be guranteed a cushy ride with no risks. I don’t hate him, I just don’t want to see him pulling an Albert Belle on the M’s payroll.