Thursday, October 23, 2008

The importance of a veteran presence?


In baseball we repeatedly hear about the need of a veteran presence on a team. Often players who have stopped producing are given contracts based on the need for a veteran and leadership presence in the club house.
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This upcoming offseason the biggest example of this will most likely be Jason Varitek sporting a whopping OBP of .313, yet he is looking for a multi year deal based on his good defense and great game calling. You know who else is old, can't hit for anything, and can call a great game? Try the rest of the catcher free agency market. So why in the world would Boston even think about wasting all that money to bring in an old washed up catcher? Simply because of the veteran and leadership presence he brings?
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The diamondbacks traded for tony clark at the trade deadline to bring in a veteran and leadership prsence, howd that work out? The Rays have clearly shown the need for veterans in the clubhouse to win right? With a total of two starting players over the age of 30 (cliff floyd and carlos pena).
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This isn't high school or college ball, this is Major League Baseball. These players are paid millions of dollars to do their job to the best of their ability regardless of if there is a so called veteran player in the club house. If the younger players really need someone older to speak to they should go to the coaches, the people who's job it is to actually be that veteran presence.

Song of the day- Fallen Soldiers by Demarco http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IDyW4se-hA

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It will be really fun if the Red Sox decide to axe Varitek.