Astros Want Bagwell to Retire

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

link

 

 

It looks like things could get interesting.

 

Jeff Bagwell intends to play for the Astros this season, but the team isn't sure that's the best financial decision.

 

The first baseman has played his entire career in Houston and leads the franchise in home runs (449) and RBI (1,529), but missed much of last season after shoulder surgery.

 

"Nothing is going to keep me from attempting to play baseball next season," Bagwell told the Houston Chronicle.

 

The team, however, wants him to announce he can't play anymore, he and agent Barry Axelrod told the paper. Then the Astros would be able make an insurance claim for $15.6 million of the approximately $17 million he is owed in 2006.

 

The team is forcing him to see Dr. Andrews in the hope that he'll be declared unable to play. The article states the deadline to claim on the insurance is Januray 31.

 

Here's what Baggy had to say

 

There's no question in my mind I can hit," he told the paper. "It's whether or not I can throw for a full season. Everything has gone exactly the way I thought it should. I'm getting stronger. Am I able to throw 120 feet? No. Am I making progress? Very much so.

 

"I'm going to try and play baseball at spring training. There's no getting around that. Unless something major happens, I'll be there."

[indifferent]

I was wondering when that was going to happen. No matter what Bagwell's done for the franchise in the past, you can't keep paying a guy 17 mil for non-existent production. I'd say he's about as selfish as Clemens.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

While it may be en vogue to call Bagwell selfish, he's been deferring part of his salary for years to help the team. He also was underpaid (relative to what guys of his production got) in the first years of his six year deal. I think it isn't the contract this year, but if he retires he loses the guaranteed 7 million buy-out for next season he's due to receive if the Astros decline his 18 million option for 2007.

 

And while it may appear selfish, the man writing his checks who signed him to that deal is a billionaire. He has the money to pay Bagwell and still field a competitive team if he would dip into his personal finances to do so.

 

It could be that Bagwell feels they signed him to the deal and he has the right to maximize its value.

[indifferent]

That's the case with a lot of older star players (the deferred contracts). Some have chosen to walk away and leave a ton of money on the table. He's been overpaid the last two years. He's a lifelong Astro and he was compensated handsomely. That should count for something.

[UK1679666180]

This isn't about salary, Bagwell has more than enough money. It's all about principle....

 

He doesn't want to retire b/c he hasn't accomplished everything he has wanted and feels he can still hit, crap like trying to get him to retire is only going to push him further into staying.

 

He's basing his 17mil or whatever it is on what he has already done over his career, it's not good for the team, but neither is paying Ausmus tons of money to handle some of the most talented pitchers in the game and then call him a great handler.

 

He's earned that 17mil, if anything Houston should try and analyze a player's decline rate more effectively when dishing out long-term contracts to aging veterans regardless of their stature within the organization.

[Chris]

This has potential.

[indifferent]

This isn't about salary, Bagwell has more than enough money. It's all about principle....

 

He doesn't want to retire b/c he hasn't accomplished everything he has wanted and feels he can still hit, crap like trying to get him to retire is only going to push him further into staying.

 

He's basing his 17mil or whatever it is on what he has already done over his career, it's not good for the team, but neither is paying Ausmus tons of money to handle some of the most talented pitchers in the game and then call him a great handler.

 

He's earned that 17mil, if anything Houston should try and analyze a player's decline rate more effectively when dishing out long-term contracts to aging veterans regardless of their stature within the organization.

 

I'm not excusing management for their dumb decision, I think he should consider the fans. Although it's true there's no guarantee they would do anything worthwile with the dollars.

 

I like the way the Cards structured Edmonds' deal. They have a pricey club option for him in 07, but they can extend him for less if Edmonds agrees.

[BigbadB]

Dr. James Andrews won't be seeing Bagwell before January 31. Bank on it. He has his own medical issues to deal with.

 

I don't see a thing wrong with Bagwell trying to play another season. Houston shouldn't have given him that big contract if they aren't willing to honor it.

[SouthSideRyan]

What are teh Astros gonna do with 15M this late in the offseason besides pocket it? Billy Wagner was right.

[UK1679666180]

This isn't about salary, Bagwell has more than enough money. It's all about principle....

 

He doesn't want to retire b/c he hasn't accomplished everything he has wanted and feels he can still hit, crap like trying to get him to retire is only going to push him further into staying.

 

He's basing his 17mil or whatever it is on what he has already done over his career, it's not good for the team, but neither is paying Ausmus tons of money to handle some of the most talented pitchers in the game and then call him a great handler.

 

He's earned that 17mil, if anything Houston should try and analyze a player's decline rate more effectively when dishing out long-term contracts to aging veterans regardless of their stature within the organization.

 

I'm not excusing management for their dumb decision, I think he should consider the fans. Although it's true there's no guarantee they would do anything worthwile with the dollars.

 

I like the way the Cards structured Edmonds' deal. They have a pricey club option for him in 07, but they can extend him for less if Edmonds agrees.

 

He already has considered the fans by spending his entire Majoe League career in Houston and not opting for FA. It's a two way street, he's done more than enough for the Astros fans, he doesn't owe them anything other than giving 100% and being professional, which he has done his entire career.

[Jon]

Dr. James Andrews won't be seeing Bagwell before January 31. Bank on it. He has his own medical issues to deal with.

 

I don't see a thing wrong with Bagwell trying to play another season. Houston shouldn't have given him that big contract if they aren't willing to honor it.

Are there any updates? All I heard was that he had a heart attack.

 

And stay, Jeff.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

If you want to see some Astros fans reactions, read this.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Also, I found a very interesting quote by Bagwell here.

 

"Nothing is going to keep me from attempting to play baseball next season," he said.

 

He let that thought hang in the air. He seemed defiant.

 

"Nothing," he said again.

 

 

It doesn't sound like Bagwell will willingly retire. I don't know if there's anyway for the Astros to force him into retirement based on medical evidence either. I'm sure the players association would file a grievance if they did.

 

I'm glad the soap opera will be in Houston this year and not Chicago.

 

Look at Bagwell's thoughts about the trip to see Dr. Andrews.

 

Bagwell is going because the Astros insist.

 

Purpura said it's to get an evaluation of the bum shoulder. Bagwell, 37, believes it could be to build a case that he no longer can be an everyday player.

 

Either way, he sees the whole thing as a waste of time.

 

"I don't know Dr. Andrews," Bagwell said, "but I'm pretty sure he's going to say, 'You have a bad shoulder, sir.' I already know that. That doesn't mean I can't play. No matter what he says, I'm still going to go to spring training to play baseball."

 

 

Go for it Baggy. You've got one more season left in you!

[Coach C]

I wonder, what if Houston won the WS last year? Would Bagwell then retire, knowing that he got a ring?

 

Just something to discuss about.

[Balsa]

I wonder, what if Houston won the WS last year? Would Bagwell then retire, knowing that he got a ring?

 

Just something to discuss about.

 

Oh I'd bank on it. It would have been a storybook ending for an amazing career. Proabably Clemens as well.

[BigbadB]

Dr. James Andrews won't be seeing Bagwell before January 31. Bank on it. He has his own medical issues to deal with.

 

I don't see a thing wrong with Bagwell trying to play another season. Houston shouldn't have given him that big contract if they aren't willing to honor it.

Are there any updates? All I heard was that he had a heart attack.

 

And stay, Jeff.

 

I heard that and that all of his upcoming appointments were being rescheduled for later dates.

[Mark_R]

Not every team gets the "hometown discount" contracts like the Loo.

 

Houston's gotta pay like everyone else.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Not every team gets the "hometown discount" contracts like the Loo.

 

Houston's gotta pay like everyone else.

 

In reality, Bagwell did give them a discount.

 

His salary also needs to be seen in context. He signed a five-year, $85 million deal in December 2000. That was the month Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and Mike Hampton got insane contracts.

 

 

Bagwell's contract was to average 15 million a year. This was the same offseason that Manny got 20 million a year and Rodriguez got 25 million a year.

 

In 2000, Baggy hit 310/424/615 and those numbers aren't much worse than Manny's 351/457/697. It's not inconceivable that Bagwell could have gotten 17.5-18 million per year on the open market. Instead, he signed with Houston at 5/75. Houston just decided to put nearly half that value in the last two years of the deal instead of paying it evenly throughout the contract.

[TruffleShuffle]

Don't want to pay a guy who is late in his contract? Don't sign him that long. When you sign a guy to huge money through age 38, you run the risk of him becoming unproductive due to age or injury. The Astros knew that when they signed him, and now they don't want to take their medicine. Stay and play Jeff, if it's what you want to do, then you've earned it.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Astros deny they have asked Bagwell to retire.

 

The Astros, however skeptical about Jeff Bagwell's chances to return to the field in 2006, have not formally asked him to retire.

Nor are they using Bagwell's meeting with Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham on Thursday as a way to prove the first baseman's right shoulder is too damaged to be able to play a six-month Major League season.

 

General manager Tim Purpura reiterated on Wednesday that the meeting is nothing more than a way to get an evaluation and that he does not expect Dr. Andrews to make any sweeping claims in either direction.

 

 

Here's a quote from his agent.

 

"Would they want Jeff Bagwell now making $17 million, or opt for access to $15 million?" Axelrod said. "I can understand that. But he's under contract. Sometimes you have to live with it."

 

[JGalt73]

Dr. Andrews is a trooper...

 

Houston Chronicle

 

"I threw 20 balls and took about 15 swings on videotape and went and saw Dr. Andrews, who was a heck of a trouper for seeing me in his hospital bed after a heart attack," Bagwell said. "We had a good conversation. He examined me, and that's about the extent of it right now."

 

The Astros face a Jan. 31 deadline for filing an insurance claim that would pay the club about $15.6 million if Bagwell decides he can't play. Bagwell is scheduled to make about $17 million this year and insists he will to try to play.

[BigbadB]

Hah! You beat me to it. I guess I was wrong about him getting his appointment in. I'm not sure if it falls under the category of "classy" if you put a guy in the awkward position of worrying about someone else's physical problems instead of your own. :-k

[LeftCoastCubFan]

I don’t get the retirement talk, that’s not what the Astros asked for. If he retired he would forfeit his entire 17 mil for 2006. They asked him do declare himself physically unable to perform for only next year so they can collect the 15.6 mil in insurance, while paying him his full 17.

 

If the Astros truly believe that he is very unlikely to play a good part of the season, there is nothing wrong with them asking him to make the decision by the 31st so they can take advantage of the insurance. If they are doing it because they really don’t want to pay him, or that his performance doesn’t warrant it; then it goes somewhere between unethical and insurance fraud.

 

It sounds like Bagwell wants to play in 2006 and possibly beyond, so he would be playing for his next contract. That is his right.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Word out of Houston is that the Astros are planning to file an insurance claim and have told Bagwell he is not welcome at Spring Training.

 

I don't have a link, but a friend in Houston is telling me it's being reported on the radio. I'll try to confirm when I can.

[Balsa]

Wow. That's awful.