So Opening Day is in the books for most teams. And some of the last 2 days worth of games came with interesting foreshadowing.
The first game of the year featured Brett Myers (starting for an injured Cole Hamels) of the Philadelphia Phillies taking on Derek Lowe of the Atlanta Braves.
Myers started the game with a ball, low and outside, and was behind from there on out. He spent six innings getting behind in counts, letting up at least 1 base runner every inning, with a runner who scored or was in scoring position in 5 of 6 innings.
Lowe, on the other hand, was masterful. In eight innings, he allowed only 2 base runners with neither scoring. Instead of missing low and outside, he consistently dropped his breaking stuff on the outside corner at the knees, a pitch that was too consistently in the strike zone to take and too perfectly placed to drive.
A day later and in distant Cincinnatti, the New York Mets watched as Nick Green, J.J. Putz, and Francisco Rodriguez closed out a scoreless 3 1/3 innings to save the opening day victory for Johan Santana.
Are these signs of things to come? Will Philadelphia’s pitching be the weak link that prevents their potent offense from reaching the postseason again? Will Atlanta’s decisions to remodel the front end of their rotation return them to October? Will the Mets find solace in the strength of the similarly remodeled back end of their bullpen?
Only time will tell.
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by Hans on March 31, 2009
MLB.com reported today that Chipper Jones and the Atlanta Braves have reached an agreement on a 3-year contract extension that would pay Jones $42 million and give him a chance to end his career exactly where he began it.
Jones, who turns 37 this April, was drafted with the 1st overall pick in the 1990 amateur draft. The move was considered a necessary disappointment at the time as Atlanta’s first choice, Todd Van Poppel, had stated he would not play for the Braves if drafted.
The contract itself is quite creative, filled with all sorts of games played bonuses along with two separate options for a 4th year extension for 2013. If Jones plays at least 127 games in 2012 or averages 127 games during 2011 and 2012, a $9 million vested option will kick in. If the option does not kick in, the Braves also have a $7 million team option they can exercise.
In addition to giving Chipper a legitimate shot at 500 home runs (he currently stands at 408), Jones gets the chance to retire as an Atlanta Brave, one of the very few with such talent and accolades who have always played for the same team.
With free agency dollars driving players to new teams, has the era of the franchise player passed? Will we see another generation Cal Ripken Jr’s. in Baltimore, Tony Gwynn’s in San Diego, or the Biggio/Bagwell boys in Houston?
One such remaining player is New York Yankee, Derek Jeter, whose contract will expire after the 2010 season when he is 36. Seeing how the Yankees extended Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada multi-year deals to keep them in pinstripes until they wave goodbye, is there anything that would keep Captain from doing the same?
Either way, a big thank you to Chipper Jones for reminding us that some players do understand the value of their relationship with a city, a team, and its fans. For many of us, that is priceless.
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