Can the braves not cut Hampton?
by dabraves
on Apr 15, 2008 8:17 PM EDT
I dont know enough about baseball to know the rules of cutting players from your team. But MY GOD! Im so sick as im sure every brave fan is of getting my hopes that hampton will actually be able to earn his 14mil a year paycheck. The braves have continued to stick with him the past three years with no result of him ever being reliable. CAN THEY NOT JUST CUT THE GUY? Please someone clear this up for meB
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I actually wondered that myself. But if we cut him, someone like the Mets would take him, and he surely at that point would turn into Cy Young reincarnate.
Kevin Ray
Roanoke, VA
by kray1000 on Apr 15, 2008 8:28 PM EDT 0 recs
uh
Baseball contracts are guaranteed. So why not try to get something out of him instead of letting him attempt to pitch for another team?
by bigjoe on Apr 15, 2008 8:45 PM EDT 0 recs
like i said
His contract is still guaranteed. He’s getting his “more money than all of us will make in our lifetimes combined” contract no matter what. So why the hell not try to get 5 starts out of him?
by bigjoe on
Apr 15, 2008 9:12 PM EDT
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at any rate
who is going to take him. To trade him we would have to eat his whole contract and get nothing in return.
by jack_d on Apr 15, 2008 9:26 PM EDT 0 recs
?
did the braves acquire him by trade or free agency? im thinking the rockies are eating some of his contract right now. he is due to make 15.2 mil next year and 20 mil the following year. I hope to God the braves do have to pay for never watching a guy even use the mound
by dabraves on Apr 15, 2008 9:37 PM EDT 0 recs
the braves
got him from the marlins in a trade and I think they are responsible for his salary this year.
by jack_d on Apr 15, 2008 9:47 PM EDT 0 recs
contract
The Braves got him in I think 03 or 02. The Rockies and Marlins paid most of his contract the first 2 or 3 years we had him, and its been ALL of for the last 2 or 3. Brilliant move.
by bigjoe on Apr 15, 2008 9:52 PM EDT 0 recs
well
he is under contract for this year by us. He has a buyout clause for 2009 season for $6 million and WHEN we buyout his contract it will be the Rockies who pay it not us. So we owe Hampton NOTHING at the end of THIS season.
But of course if he DOES finally be reliable toward the end of the year (by some miracle) then we could sign him to a 1 year $1 million deal or something like that. This is IF he looks healthy. Thats a HUGE IF though.
braves#1
by rockybull on Apr 15, 2008 10:36 PM EDT 0 recs
good move to...
...get the rox to pick up that buyout.
by zwillis on
Apr 16, 2008 11:58 PM EDT
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No, we can't cut him...
His contract is guaranteed, which means that if we cut him, we would pay the difference between his $15 million salary and whatever amount his new team signed him for (probably the league minimum $400,000). So is it really worth going cutting him to save $400,000? At least we’re being compensated by insurance while he’s on the DL.
by tgthree on Apr 15, 2008 11:03 PM EDT 0 recs
Could he?
At least sweep out the dugout or something? Sell hot dogs?
by WienerDog on Apr 16, 2008 11:28 AM EDT 0 recs
No.
He’d throw out his left shoulder and hurt his right forearm in the act of sweeping, and probably pull his other oblique.
Selling hot dogs is a guaranteed way he will strain his back, and probably pull both his hamstrings, and have a 34% chance of having his kneecaps pop right out of the flesh of his legs while serving a customer.
one more time ... for sting!! a sports blog written by two opinionated males
by royhobbs on
Apr 16, 2008 12:39 PM EDT
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No...
Major League contracts are guaranteed, meaning if they cut him, they will still have to pay him his full salary. Hampton is a very good pitcher when he pitches, it would be foolish to cut him and waste the money for him only to come back in a month or so and be a very good pitcher.
The Braves have received a large percent of his contract back through the trades and also through insurance. When he missed the full seasons, the Braves insured the contract and got a portion of it back. They’re not losing nearly as much money as you think they are on his contract.
Be patient with him; it’s frustrating, yes, but people are making it out to be a lot worse situation than it really is for the Braves. This is not even close to the Carl Pavano situation with the Yankees. Hampton is very well like and loves to pitch, he just has the most injury prone body ever. It’s hard to fault him for something he can’t help.
by beeniez on Apr 16, 2008 1:54 PM EDT 0 recs
Thanks
Thanks to someone for actually speaking some common sense on Hampton instead of just making more of the same lame and easy jokes.
Section 435 - A Braves blog. From the upper deck at Turner Field.
by 6stringbeliever on
Apr 17, 2008 10:12 AM EDT
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Put him down.
Can’t we just put him down like a lame horse?
by JDMaker1 on Apr 16, 2008 3:33 PM EDT 0 recs
Doing anything other than keeping him...
...doesn’t change the fact that the Braves will owe him money. And if I’m not mistaken, since he is on the DL, he isn’t exactly occupying a roster spot, unless it’s like the NBA where there is an “injured reserve AKA extended roster” list, so he’s not hurting anyone.
What would hurt is if the Braves DID cut him, and he is picked up by another team, likely a division rival, finally gets back to pitching shape, and then ironically makes a start against Atlanta where he goes 6.2 innings with 4Ks and like 8 ground ball outs. Aside from getting the win against us, we’d still owe him a ton of money.
That’s why the team cannot and will not cut / put down / euthanize / or humanely put him out of his misery.
one more time ... for sting!! a sports blog written by two opinionated males
by royhobbs on Apr 16, 2008 3:39 PM EDT 0 recs
Bad Energy!
That would be my reason to cut him. I’m a quarter serious. As frustrating as it has been for us it is no less frustrating for the team and it just sucks the wind out of you. to hell w/ 5 starts. royhobbs, if that guy goes 7 strong in a game anytime soon I would die from shock. funny we were all excited literally an hour before his start a few weeks ago and making jokes that barring some bizarre injury he would be starting… sure enough. it’s really ridiculous.
by finchy on Apr 16, 2008 6:33 PM EDT 0 recs
hm
i wonder if they players have a sense of humor about this, or if they’re just like “oh man, thats a shame, mike’s such a great player, this blows”
by bigjoe on Apr 16, 2008 7:14 PM EDT 0 recs
I'd bet the latter...
David O’Brien wrote about how Hampton didn’t sleep the night after he was scratched. Make fun of the man all you want, but to me this is a guy that truly loves the game and truly feels bad taking home his paychecks having never set foot on the mound. He WANTS to pitch…everything I’ve read has said that. Everything I’ve read says he’s done all his rehab and done everything he could to get back on the diamond.
Braves fans seem to love hating Hampton, and I just don’t know why. He’s been a worker this whole time, and he just isn’t the kind of guy that’s laughing all the way to the bank. When you trade for a player, his contract comes with him. And part of signing a guy to a contract involves an understanding that he might get hurt. If you aren’t prepared to accept that risk, don’t sign him to the contract.
by tgthree on
Apr 16, 2008 9:40 PM EDT
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Believe me
I like Mike Hampton. Yeah, I know, I probably crack more of the lame and easy jokes on him more than anyone else does, but I really do like the guy. When he was on, he was a hell of a pitcher, and I was ecstatic when the Braves got him. The only guy in the last decade to win the Greg Maddux Glove award, the same guy who was a groundball machine when he was on, and the same guy who often helped his own cause with the bat! What’s not to like about him?
I was at his last big league start in ‘05 against the Padres, and I was at that miserable rainy game against the Pirates hoping to be present at his first big league start in ages. Anyone present at the game should’ve heard the quiet tentative silence when the PA announced “warming up in the bullpen, the starting pitcher Mike Hampton” and the low collective groan and grumbling when Jeff Bennett came out of the bullpen.
I’ve read all the same things, about how he’s a gamer, and wants nothing more than to come back, and I’m sure that all his teammates support him, and commiserate with his unfortunate luck with injury. That’s all admirable and respectable, but it doesn’t change the fact that he hasn’t contributed to the betterment of the team. If it’s happening, I’d love to read about how he’s mentoring young lefty pitchers, or something other than constant rehab stories.
It gets to a point where all fans like myself can do is laugh. Not just about baseball, but in life – anyone ever hear the saying that “sometimes all you can do is laugh at a bad situation,” because that’s pretty much what many of us are doing. But in the end, we’re all hoping that Hampton quietly comes back into the rotation, and much like Jorge Sosa did for us a few years back, just all of a sudden have a 13-3 record out of nowhere. I’m willing to bet that most true Braves fans will gladly eat their words with a side of sauerkraut if that ever happened, because I most certainly would.
one more time ... for sting!! a sports blog written by two opinionated males
by royhobbs on
Apr 17, 2008 10:34 AM EDT
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well said roy hobbs
i think real fans have to laugh at some point. nobody hates him. it’s just ridiculous. question: how long did nick esasky hang around on the dl with vertigo? was it this long? does this remind anyone of that or is it just my faulty memory?
by finchy on Apr 17, 2008 1:53 PM EDT 0 recs
I'm not afraid to laugh...
and neither is Hampton. But dabraves isn’t laughing…just read the top post. I don’t mind joking, but I have encountered plenty of Braves fans on forums who truly bash the man at every turn.
by tgthree on
Apr 17, 2008 3:29 PM EDT
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