No where does that seem more true than with professional athletes. The Toronto Blue Jays have missed the play offs this year, finally being officially eliminated on Wednesday. But overshadowing the sad story for the Toronto fans, is the megalomaniacal moron, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Who about an hour before the elimination game had a recorded interview (in spanish) go viral.
“The money they gave me wasn’t for what I’m going to do,” said Guerrero in Spanish. “It was for what I already did. They didn’t pay me because I’m going to hit 40 (home runs) every year, they paid me for what I already accomplished.”
It did not go over well with many Jays fans who took that to mean that now that he’s locked in his money, Guerrero is going to rest on his laurels and take it easy for the next dozen-or-so years,
Even for indifferent fans these remarks didnt go down well either. Vladdy’s most productive season was 2021 were he led MLB in 9 hitting related statistics, Had an All Star, AL MVP runner up. (Shohei won) season. The stuff movies are made of. Dropping to this season, where he was in the bottom 10 (not 10% but 10 players) of all MLB hitters. His drop in long balls, counted for about 1/3 of the Blue Jays decline in Runs from 2025 to 2026.
So he’s made his cash and you all can blow? Could you imagine a drive thru running this way? This week we’re being paid for the burgers we made last month – so sad about that, but you should’ve been here then. That attitude would lead to unemployment tout suite.
For a while there have been rumors that Valddy is uncoachable, refusing all and any help with his mechanics. Refusing to bat lower in the order, were he killed every rally the Jays could muster, hitting into league leading double plays, or just plainly striking out.
Is he really king of the quiet quitters or was he betting against his team? Was he seeing how far down he could take his team?
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Once again, my decision to pay zero attention to MLB since the 94/95 players strike and to focus all my love on semi-pro is vindicated.
Go Titans! Currently 1-1 in the Frontier League championship series.
Most people today cannot appreciate what you are enjoying. I was a bat/ball boy for the Atlanta Crackers (AA) in the late 1940s and in the 1950s I enjoyed many local semi-pro games. These teams would represent small surrounding communities and usually had a local business sponsor. It was very enjoyable to watch.
He’s not really wrong, though. He wouldn’t have landed a huge multi-year multi-million dollar contract if he hadn’t had a career year.
But his comments were certainly inartful. Kind of reminds me of the Randy Moss “effort” controversy from 15 years ago.
OccupantCDN (View Post):
We should be asking that question in every sport! I thought we learned our lesson about professional sports and gambling back in 1919 when the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series. But the proliferation of the FanDuels, Kalshis, etc. suggests we have not.
The effort thing is huge. Happens all the time in the NFL.
You’d think being a rich, famous athlete would be enough to motivate big effort. One serious consideration when selecting a fantasy football player is his contract status. If his current contract expires at the end of this season, he’s in a “contact year.” Players in a contract year usually play with noticeably higher energy and miss less time due to injury. They are auditioning for a big contract in free agency.
And once they hit the jackpot (get that signing bonus and guaranteed money), they often disappoint. The thing that made the team hand him big money is gone and the team is left overpaying an average player. Some will just go through the motions and cash the checks. To be fair, football players at most positions have pretty short careers compared to baseball or hockey.
Hate to see Vlad do that to the fans. They pay as if he were trying.